Prince Andrew will be ‘left out’ of plans for Philip’s 100th birthday
Prince Andrew faces being ‘airbrushed’ out of his father’s 100th birthday celebrations next year, it’s been reported.
The scandal-hit prince won’t be invited to several of the major celebrations for Philip’s centenary and organisers of a photo exhibition have been told to leave out pictures of him, according to The Sun.
A palace source told the newspaper: ‘There is a warning from up high to play down Andrew. He will be included as little as possible.
‘It’s not whitewashing history because you can’t leave him out entirely. But it will not make a big deal of his relationship with the Duke of Edinburgh over the years.
‘This is obviously proving difficult because he is his son and it’s playing down his role in the family.’
Prince Andrew stepped down from Royal duties late last year after his Newsnight interview which was widely seen as a disaster.
He claimed he couldn’t have slept with Virginia Giuffre when she was 17 because he was at Pizza Express in Woking on the night in question.
The prince still faces questions about his relationship with billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, who has been arrested for allegedly trafficking underage girls. Andrew has consistently denied any wrong doing.
Prince Philip’s 100th birthday in June comes in the same year the Queen celebrates her Platinum Jubilee, marking 70 years on the throne.
Andrew was cut out of the official photos of his daughter Princess Beatrice’s wedding earlier this year and had his own 60th birthday celebrations cancelled in February.
The Royal Collection Trust, which looks after art and displays across all 13 of the Royal residences, is putting together a special exhibition for Philip’s birthday.
But Andrew is not expected to feature heavily and Philip’s team have also apparently vetoed him from writing the introduction to the exhibition programme, according to The Sun.
The Royal Collection Trust said: ‘Plans are not yet confirmed.’
Prince Andrew was pictured lunching with the Queen on the Balmoral estate this week, amid talks he had travelled to Scotland for ‘crisis talks’
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