Princess Eugenie set to 'decline' Harry and Meghan's invite as she joins forces with Jack Brooksbank

This comes as the Duke of York's "close confidante" Yang Tengbo, an alleged Chinese spy, was banned from entering the UK.

On Monday, a High Court judge ruled that the alleged spy, previously referred to as H6 for legal reasons, could now be named after an anonymity order was lifted.

Yang said in a statement it was “entirely untrue” to claim he was involved in espionage and that he was a victim of a “political climate” that had seen a rise in tensions between the UK and China.

The Duke of York said he “ceased all contact” with the alleged spy after receiving advice from the Government in a statement from his office last week.

Andrew's daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, will also avoid Christmas at Sandringham, according to reports in The Mail.

The princesses are understood to have made the decision to spend Christmas with their respective in-laws, having not had the chance to do so for several years.

Beatrice is married to Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, and the couple share a three-year-old daughter named Sienna.

Meanwhile, Princess Eugenie is married to Jack Brooksbank, and the couple share two sons, August, three, and Ernest, one.

As Eugenie is tipped to join forces with her husband, this would mean she will have to "decline" spending Christmas with her cousin, the Duke of Sussex.

Prince Harry, 40, and Meghan, 43, invited Eugenie and Jack to bring their two young sons to Montecito for the festive season, sources told The Express.

The Brooksbanks were reportedly considering spending time in the US closer to the new year so that August and Ernest could spend time with their cousins, Prince Archie, five, and Princess Lilibet, three.

However, it is likely they will now spend Christmas in the UK with Jack's mother, Nicola Brooksbank, 71.

It is understood that King Charles did not want to ban Prince Andrew from attending the festivities at Sandringham.

However, he hoped Andrew might "do the decent thing" and decide to stay away in light of the growing spy scandal.

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Sarah Ferguson, 65, made the decision to join Prince Andrew at Sandringham in 2023 for the first time in over three decades.

The last time the Duchess of York had spent the festive season in Norfolk was in 1991, when she was still a working royal.

Andrew and Sarah divorced in 1996 but continue to share a close relationship, even cohabitating together at Royal Lodge in Windsor.

Their children, Beatrice, 36, and Eugenie, 34, are not working royals, but have spent every Christmas with the Royal Family since their childhood, with the exception of 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.