William and Kate will not be attending King Charles’ traditional pre-Christmas lunch at Buckingham Palace – with Duke and Duchess of York also missing festivities after Chinese ‘spy’ scandal

The Prince and Princess of Wales will not attend King Charles III’s pre-Christmas lunch at Buckingham Palace today, it has been confirmed.

Prince William and Kate are instead said to be looking forward to spending time with members of the royal family at the Sandringham estate as usual over Christmas.

MailOnline understands the family are already in Norfolk and always intend to be.

The king arrived at the palace today for the private event for senior royals and their wider family who will not be attending the Christmas celebrations at Sandringham.

Over lunch, dozens of family members will enjoy organic Norfolk turkey and all the trimmings at the monarch’s official residence in London.

It’s designed to give anyone who doesn’t make it to Sandringham – cousins, nieces, nephews – the chance to celebrate with older relatives.

But the Duke of York pulled out of the meeting yesterday as he continues to be dogged by his links to an alleged Chinese spy.

Andrew decided not to attend the event after speaking to his ex-wife and close friend Sarah, Duchess of York, according to a source.

The move was another embarrassing moment for the King’s brother, who has already withdrawn from Sandringham’s senior royals over the festive period.

Earlier this week, it was revealed during a High Court hearing that alleged Chinese spy Yang Tengbo, who was expelled from Britain, was said to have been a ‘close’ confidant of Andrew.

Mr Yang, named after the anonymity order that was revoked on Monday, has insisted it was “completely untrue” to claim he was involved in espionage and that he “did nothing wrong or illegal”.

The businessman, previously referred to only as H6 in the lawsuit, was the founding partner of the Chinese arm of the Duke’s Pitch@Palace initiative and visited Buckingham Palace twice in 2018 to meet the late Queen’s second son.

It is also said that he entered St James’s Palace and Windsor Castle at the invitation of Andrew.

On Friday, the Duke’s office said Andrew had ceased “all contact” with the then-unnamed businessman when concerns about him were first raised.

Andrew met Mr Yang through “official channels” where “nothing of a sensitive nature was ever discussed”, a statement said.

The duke, now 64, has disappeared from public life since stepping down from official duties in 2019 following the furore over his friendship with convicted US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

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 protection and he gave up his HRH style in dramatic fallout from a US civil sex case brought against him . .

The legal process ended with him paying millions to settle the civil sexual assault case with Virginia Giuffre, a woman he claimed he never met and whom Epstein trafficked.

The Duke no longer attends the commemorations of Trooping the Colour, Remembrance Sunday at the Cenotaph or the annual Commonwealth Day service.

But he was at the king’s coronation and is still a member of the Order of the Garter, taking part in the annual service of the higher knighthood behind closed doors but not appearing in the public procession.

Andrew continued to join the royal family on Christmas Day and walked with the other royals from Sandringham House to church last year – seen as symbolic of his gradual rehabilitation within the family, but it remains to be seen whether he will return to the herd.

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