Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson will NOT be joining the Royal Family at Sandringham this Christmas… and will stay holed up in Royal Lodge after Chinese ‘spy’ friend was exposed

Prince Andrew has retired from joining the royal family for Christmas at Sandringham, it can be revealed.

The beleaguered Duke of York has agreed not to further embarrass the King and has voluntarily decided to miss the annual celebrations in Norfolk, along with his ex-wife, Sarah, Duchess of York.

It is believed the couple will likely remain at Royal Lodge.

The Mail understands that their children, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, had already made the decision to spend Christmas with their respective in-laws after not having the chance to do so for several years.

The Daily Mail revealed today that His Majesty did not want to ban his brother from attending the meeting, but hoped he would ‘do the decent thing’ and decide to stay away in light of the growing spy scandal.

Clearly, the King and Queen were hoping that none other than the Duchess of York would come to their rescue and save the family’s festivities this Christmas – and it looks like she has.

Their Majesties had privately made it clear that it would be a ‘blessing’ if Sarah – still known to them as ‘Fergie’ – convinced her ex-husband to ‘see sense’ and tactfully withdraw over the next week from public meetings, because the The storm surrounding his dealings with an alleged Chinese spy is still raging.

Although the Duchess has been at the center of several royal scandals over the years, Charles and Camilla – like Queen Elizabeth before them – ‘adore’ her in their hearts.

They rather admire her loyalty both to Andrew, despite his repeated public trials, and to the monarchy in general.

And they believe she may have been the only person who could persuade the Duke of York to ‘withdraw’ himself from the family’s very public walk to church at Sandringham on Christmas Day – and possibly withdraw himself from Royal Lodge .

Remarkably, the couple still live together in the large Windsor mansion that Andrew has rented on a long-term basis from the Crown Estate, which has been at the center of many of his most recent controversies.

In an interview last weekend, Sarah likened herself to a “carer for a sad man” and also spoke of her love for the king and his kindness towards her.

It comes as alleged Chinese spy Yang Tengbo, who has forged links with Andrew and mixed up with other British establishment figures, has insisted he has ‘done nothing wrong or illegal’.

Mr Yang said it was “completely untrue” to claim he was involved in espionage and said he was the victim of a “political climate” in which tensions between Britain and China had increased.

Businessman Yang became a ‘close’ confidante of the duke and has also been photographed with senior politicians including Lord David Cameron and Baroness Theresa May.

In a statement after a High Court judge revoked an order granting him anonymity, he said: ‘Due to the high level of speculation and misreporting in the media and elsewhere, I have asked my legal team to reveal my identity.

“I have done nothing wrong or illegal and the concerns raised against me by the Home Office are unfounded. The widespread description of me as a ‘spy’ is completely untrue.”

Yang lost an appeal last week over a decision to ban him from entering Britain on national security grounds. He was known in the lawsuit only as H6 until the anonymity order was lifted today.

As for Andrew, although he has disappeared from public life since stepping down from official duties, he remained front and center during the royal family’s appearance on Christmas Day.

Last Christmas, Andrew walked to church from Sandringham with the other royals – symbolic of his gradual rehabilitation within the monarchy.

And after the service, the Duke smiled and raised his hands as he joked with well wishes, and was joined by Sarah – marking his return to the royal fold after missing Sandringham for a number of decades.

But the latest controversy surrounding the duke, involving Mr Yang, who was said to have become his ‘closest’ confidante, appears to have put an end to his involvement in Christmas at Sandringham.

Andrew withdrew from public life after the furor over his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein — and a few years later paid millions to settle a civil sexual assault case with Virginia Giuffre, a woman he claimed he never met.

The major development came a few days after his disastrous Newsnight interview in 2019, when he said he had “no regrets” about his friendship with Epstein, who had trafficked Ms Giuffre, and was heavily criticized for showing no compassion for the victims of the sex offender.

The duke, said to be Queen Elizabeth II’s favorite child, announced at the time that he would be “relinquishing his public duties for the foreseeable future” and disappeared from a series of high-profile national events involving the monarchy.

Andrew’s status as a member of the royal family was shattered three years later when the Queen stripped him of his honorary military posts, retained royal patronages and he gave up his HRH style as dramatic fallout from his civil sex case.

The royal family’s influence on national life is as much about where and when they are seen as what they say, and the duke has been absent from official events for more than four years.

In recent years, Andrew has taken part in the family gathering after Trooping the Colour, appearing on the balcony of Buckingham Palace with the other royals.

But he has not been seen at the national celebration for several years, nor has he attended the Remembrance Sunday commemorations at the Cenotaph, the annual Commonwealth Day service or the public elements of Garter Day at Windsor Castle.

The Garter event is one of the most colorful of the royal calendar when the royal family walks through the castle grounds in lavish robes for the annual service in honor of the order, but Andrew takes part in events behind closed doors.

But this year Andrew, once second in line to the throne, will not appear with his relatives at the king’s private home at Sandringham in Norfolk for Christmas.