Prince William made an ultimatum over his uncle Prince Andrew’s plans to return to the spotlight at yesterday’s Order of the Garter ceremony, sources claim.

He is said to have threatened to not show up if the Duke of York was given a public role at the Windsor Castle event.

Eventually Andrew was stopped from attending as planned, as it is feared the crowds might have booed him, according to palace insiders.

While the royals made a ‘family decision’ to ban the duke, William and Charles were said to have lobbied the Queen.

In January Andrew was stripped of his military titles and patronages as his sex abuse lawsuit brought shame on the palace.

Prince Andrew – who denied all wrongdoing – settled the lawsuit out of court, paying his accuser Virginia Giuffre a multi-million settlement.

Ms Giuffre, 38, claims she was trafficked by billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein – an old friend of the duke’s.

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a webbrowser thatsupports HTML5video

She says she was forced to have sex with Andrew when she was 17 and a minor under US law. The duke vehemently denied all allegations – including after paying his settlement- and says he can’t even remember meeting his accuser.

But the damage to the palace has already been done, which is why royals weren’t so keen on him having such a public presence at yesterday’s event.

A source told the Evening Standard: ‘The Duke of Cambridge was adamant. If York insisted on taking part publicly, he would withdraw’.

A palace insider said that the decision to exclude Andrew – who is still a Knight of the Garter – was a ‘family decision’.

Meanwhile a Buckingham Palace spokesman said: ‘The Duke of York will attend the investiture and lunch today but will not be part of the procession or service.’

The Order of the Garter dates back to 1348, when King Edward III founded it apparently inspired by tales of King Arthur and his knights.

The event features a church service, an investiture for new members of the order, and a lunch.

Andrew was allowed to join the Queen, 96, at the formal investiture of new members – including the Duchess of Cornwall and ex PM Tony Blair – and as well as the lunch afterwards.

Her Majesty missed the procession and service due to her ongoing mobility problems, but she intended to do the formal investiture of the new Garter knights.

The palace did, however, release a photo of her standing with Prince Charles and his wife Camilla at Windsor Castle beforehand.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected].

For more stories like this, check our news page.

Source: Read Full Article