King Charles ‘overruled Prince William’ to welcome disgraced royal ‘back into family’

The King overruled Prince William by ordering the family to fall in line in welcoming the disgraced Duke of York back into the family fold, it has been claimed.

The monarch has made it clear to the senior royals that Prince Andrew would not be shut out any longer and suggested the Prince of Wales would be the one to drive him to church in Scotland last Sunday, sources have revealed. His appearance alongside the future king and queen, while knowing they would all be photographed, has been seen as a major boost in the York camp towards the Duke’s rehabilitation.

One Balmoral insider suggested there had been some confusion over how Andrew, 63, would be travelling to church until he received a call on Sunday morning prior to going. After the public declaration of support from William and Kate, with Andrew riding in the car to and from the service in Balmoral where the royals are on holiday, one source said: “It’s more than he (Andrew) could have wished for.”

Royal sources have deemed the support for Andrew a remarkable turn of events after both Charles and William last year both lobbied the late Queen to strip him of his prized military titles and charity patronages after he was forced to pay his sex abuse accuser £12million. The settlement was made without any admission of liability and Prince Andrew has denied the allegation.

After making the extraordinary settlement with Virginia Giuffre, in order to stop a full trial in a US court, William also said he would boycott a major royal event with wife Kate last June if his uncle was allowed to take part in the procession. The Queen had wished her disgraced son to join in the Garter Day parade at Windsor Castle, but was blocked by her heirs who reacted furiously, suggesting there could be a “backlash” if he was seen in public.

One insider said that while William may have attended private functions with his uncle, namely last Christmas at Sandringham aside from the Queen’s funeral and King’s Coronation, he had absolutely no desire to be seen with the Duke in public. “It appears he may have had his wings clipped somewhat”, said another source.

Rachael Maskell, MP for York Central, who raised a bill in parliament seeking to strip the royal of his Duke of York title, said “any perceived public rehabilitation” for Prince Andrew would be “unpalatable”. She said: “Any public rehabilitation of the Duke of York is certainly not something the country as a whole would welcome at all.

“The Duke carried an ambassadorial role across the world and to be represented by someone with a questionable past, certainly for the people of the country that I represent, is not something we want. People have welcomed the slimming down of the monarchy, both in terms of royals and vast numbers of staff working for them. And with an increased cost of monarchy, up to record figures this year, at a time of great hardship for so many millions of people across our country, this is not something the country is looking for.