A source has claimed that guests are “dreading the thought of seeing Andrew there.”
Andrew and Fergie are reportedly attending their granddaughter’s christening.
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Andrew Mountbatten Windsor and Sarah Ferguson will attend their first royal event since the former duke was stripped of his titles, it has been reported.
Disgraced Andrew, 65, and the Duchess of York, 66, will reportedly step out of exile to be present at their granddaughter’s christening on Friday.
The divorced couple will be in attendance as their daughter Princess Beatrice, 37, and her husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, 42, christen their second child, Athena, at the Chapel Royal at St James’s Place, it has been claimed.
Though Andrew’s relationship with Princess Beatrice is said to be “not warm”, a source has claimed she believed it would be “cruel” to “deprive him” of being at the christening when he “dotes” on his grandchildren.
Other guests, however, are reportedly “dreading the thought of seeing Andrew there.”
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Princess Beatrice and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi will reportedly christen their second child, Athena, in St James’s Palace.
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The insider claimed to the Daily Mail: “Beatrice has, of course invited her father. But things are not warm between them. However, she’s worried about him. He’s going through a low ebb with his mental health and she recognises that he dotes on his grandchildren and it would be cruel to deprive him of the chance to attend the christening.
“Some careful conversations and diplomacy with King Charles will have taken place to get to this stage.”
Andrew’s reported attendance at the christening comes days after he was stripped of his last remaining royal titles.
Earlier this week, King Charles today instructed Andrew’s membership of the Order of the Garter – an ancient chivalric order – be cancelled.
Andrew’s Knight of the Grand Cross of the Royal Victoria Order has also been cancelled.
Andrew was recently stripped of his last remaining royal titles.
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The former Duke was banished from the monarchy and demoted to a commoner by his brother, the King, because of his “serious lapses of judgment” over his association with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Andrew, who was stripped of his Prince and Duke of York titles in October, denies any wrongdoing.
Meanwhile, Ferguson also proved a PR disaster for the royal family, cast from their midst amid her “toe-sucking” scandal in the 1990s and fell deeply into debt.
In 2010, she was caught up in the cash-for-access scandal, offering to sell an introduction to her ex-husband for £500,000 to an undercover reporter posing as a businessman.
Last month, she was dropped by numerous charities when it emerged years later that she wrote to convicted sex offender Epstein, calling him a “supreme friend” despite publicly disowning him in the media.
Rejected by the good causes she once championed and now unable to use her Duchess of York title, Sarah is likely to be spending Christmas with Andrew, as the couple will not join the royal gathering at Sandringham.
They had missed the traditional festive event last year after the prince again hit the headlines, after a High Court hearing revealed that alleged Chinese spy Yang Tengbo, who was banned from the UK, was said to have been a “close” confidant of Andrew.
LBC has contacted Buckingham Palace and Andrew’s former lawyer for comment.