Former royal butler Jack Stookes has suggested Prince Andrew's absence from King Charles' private Christmas lunch could be due to him being the "black sheep" of the family.
His comments come after it has been reported that Prince Andrew will not attend King Charles' private Christmas celebrations following recent controversy over his alleged connections to a suspected Chinese spy.
The Duke of York and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson will instead celebrate privately at their Royal Lodge home on the Windsor estate.
Speaking about the duke's absence on GB News, host Stephen Dixon said: "Maybe the penny has finally dropped that he is frankly an embarrassment to the family, isn't he?"
Prince Andrew has withdrawn from Christmas celebrations at Sandringham with the Royal Family PAStookes told GB News: "I think this is the trouble. It seems to be one thing after another that keeps on on happening with him and I don't know how or why, but trouble seems to keep on finding him at the moment,.
"Which is rather unfortunate because, with the new King, we are trying to get everyone on board with the new way of the Royal Family.
"Having lost the amazing late queen that everybody loved and adored, I think in England, people just want to have this Royal Family that is perfect and doesn't have any problems going on behind the scenes.
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"In reality, they're a normal family. You're always going to have a black sheep in the family.
"There's always going to be things and issues and problems that that do arise, unfortunately."
He added that the royal absence could also be because he wants to spend time with his daughters, who reportedly will be spending Christmas with their in-laws this year.
He explained: "It is a private lunch today, it's not so much a political one. So I can't see what where this is coming from with him saying he's not now attending.
Former royal butler Jack Stookes shed light on the dukes decision
GB News
"Unless he's decided he doesn't want to be seen by anybody. I think that his children might be attending today because they're they're going to their own in-laws [for Christmas.]
"What we might find is that he might be wanting to spend time with them prior to them disappearing for Christmas, and then he might just have a quiet Christmas at home."
This marks a significant change from last year when the pair participated in the annual Christmas walk to St Mary Magdalene Church at Sandringham.
The decision comes after reports emerged about Andrew's links to Chinese businessman Yang Tengbo, who has been banned from the UK due to security concerns.
Prince Andrew 'may want to spend time' with his daughters Beatrice and Eugenie
GettyThe decision appears to have extended beyond the main Christmas celebrations, with reports that Andrew was also excluded from Kate Middleton's annual carol service for the second consecutive year.
Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie will break with tradition this year by missing the Royal Family's Christmas gathering at Sandringham for the first time.
The sisters have accepted invitations to spend Christmas with their respective in-laws, arrangements that were made several months ago.
This marks a rare absence for the princesses, who have only missed one Sandringham Christmas in the past decade - during the 2020 Covid restrictions.
