King Charles May Ban This High-Level Royal From Spending Christmas With the Family

Charles is also working hard at getting the royal removed from an estate at Windsor Castle.

King Charles is attempting to kick out one family member from occupying a royal estate—and now the boot may extend to said person's participation at the royal family's Christmas festivities this year, too.

In light of Prince Andrew's involvement with Jeffrey Epstein, Charles has been left fuming at how his brother has tarnished the reputation of the royal institution and is taking more extreme measures to write him out of the picture. The Times reports that Charles is working on evicting Andrew from the Royal Lodge, a £30 million estate located on Windsor Castle where Queen Mother once resided—but somehow, Andrew managed to scrounge together funds managed to find £1 million to avoid eviction.

“Charles realised that Andrew’s association with Epstein made him a loose cannon,” Stephen Bates, former royal correspondent and author of The Shortest History of the Crown, told the outlet. “The allegations about his behaviour were never successfully quelled and made him damaged goods.”

Now, Charles may take the next step in excluding Andrew by preventing him from walking with the rest of the royal family at the annual Christmas Day service at Sandringham. Queen Elizabeth might have acted differently—she attended church with Andrew and "always believed in Christian forgiveness,” royal biographer Sally Bedell Smith told The Times—but Charles may make Andrew keep his distance. “Charles has a clear sense of the damage Andrew has done to the institution of monarchy,” Bates added.

The outlet further noted that "if Andrew attends the Windsor gathering for the Christmas Day service at St Mary Magdalene Church, Sandringham, it will mean that he has not been completely frozen out by Charles."

This year's Christmas celebrations were going to look different, regardless of Andrew's attendance or not. "Christmas at Sandringham has been absolutely central to the family for years, and that legacy looks certain to continue with Charles," royal expert Duncan Larcombe explained in a recent interview with the Mirror. "I don't think Charles will exactly rip up the rule book, but there's a strong chance he'll loosen some of the rules. I think a lot of the more stoic aspects of Christmas were down to the Duke of Edinburgh, who was a stickler for timings. But I think the King is more relaxed about these things."

Aside from the Sandringham Christmas Day service, Kate Middleton and Prince William is also expected to throw their own set of Christmas festivities. "William and Kate are expected to host a 'rival Christmas party' at their home on the Sandringham estate, Anmer Hall, with Kate’s family including her parents, Mike and Carole, in attendance," according to The Daily Beast. Middleton will also host her annual Christmas concert.