Will Prince Andrew Ever Return to Royal Duty?

Prince Charles is committed to a slimmed-down monarchy, and Prince William is said to be skeptical about his uncle's chances to rejoin public duty

Prince Andrew. Photo: STEVE PARSONS/POOL/AFP via Getty

When Prince Andrew, 61, "stepped back" from public duties in November 2019, in the wake of his disastrous interview with the BBC about his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, he no doubt thought the move would be temporary.

What followed instead was a dramatic downfall for the man many say is Queen Elizabeth's favorite son.

He was dropped by dozens of charities and organizations and remains in the shadow of two major court cases: a civil suit filed by Virginia Giuffre accusing him of sexual assault when she was 17 (Andrew has denied any wrongdoing) and the criminal case against Epstein's ex-girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell, who is charged with sex trafficking.

While the Queen's personal loyalty to him has never wavered—and she has allowed him to keep both his HRH title and his major ceremonial military attachment, colonel of the Grenadier Guards—the family institution is cutting him out.

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The palace has released no photo nor posted one of Andrew on the royal family Instagram since 2019 (he was not even included in the official photos released of his daughter Princess Beatrice's wedding in July 2020).

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Prince Charles is committed to a slimmed-down monarchy, and Prince William is said to be skeptical about his uncle's chances to rejoin public duty. With that, it would seem Andrew's chances of a comeback are doomed.