Images of a smiling Royal Family gathering together on Easter Sunday on March 31 dominated headlines worldwide as King Charles happily greeted and waved to the public upon entering St George’s Chapel in Windsor.
As King Charles, who is bravely battling cancer, showed signs of a family “sticking together”, the monarch was joined by wider members of the Royal Family including Prince Andrew, Sarah Ferguson, Princess Anne and her husband Sir Timothy Laurence, and the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh with their son James.
Eagle-eyed royal fans noted Prince Andrew “going first” at the service, to which a royal biographer has recently explained the reason why.
Angela Levin speaking on GB News America said this was because the Duke of York was deemed “less important”. She said: “The least important goes first and the most important, the King and Queen, go last, so he went first.”
Speaking on GB News America, the royal commentator added: “So in an ironic way, they think of him as the lowest one as he’s leading them into church.”
Royal fans also spotted Prince Andrew was missing from official social media pictures uploaded on the Royal Family’s Instagram account after the service. The caption also did not directly reference the royal and read: “The King and Queen, The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, The Princess Royal and other members of the Royal Family attended the Easter Mattins Service at St George’s Chapel today.”
It comes ahead of a brand new Netflix production dramatising Andrew’s explosive BBC Newsnight interview in 2019 with presenter Emily Maitlis regarding the accusation of serious sexual offences by Virginia Guiffre.
Prince Andrew has always denied these allegations and settled a claim by Virginia Guiffre in 2022 without admitting wrongdoing and stepped down from public life in 2019 after he came under fire for his friendship with the late Jeffrey Epstein.
Some fans, however, commented on the Duke of York’s appearance and rushed to comment on social media under the posted photo. User, @petra_reimann1960 wrote: “So Happy to see His Majesty looking well and relaxed and joyful and absolutely delighted to see the Duke of York joining the family. Happy Easter.”
Although also not in the official social media pictures, Fergie, 64, beamed as she waved to crowds on Easter Sunday as she stood beside her ex-husband as they attended the service together at St George’s Chapel in Windsor.
It was also the first time Sarah Ferguson had also joined her ex-husband for the Easter Service on March 31, since she divorced Andrew in 1996. The past few months have seen her invited back into the royal fold, having joined the Firm for the Christmas walkabout last year at Sandringham.