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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
World
Lydia Chantler-Hicks

Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson pictured together at memorial for King Constantine of Greece

Prince Andrew has been pictured arriving at a memorial service for the late King Constantine of Greece, along with his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson.

Prince William was forced to pull out of attending the service for his godfather King Constantine II at Windsor Castle on Tuesday, due to an undisclosed “personal matter”.

But the scandal-mired Duke of York, 64, was among a host of royals from the UK and overseas who attended the service at St George’s Chapel.

He was pictured smiling as he arrived with his ex-wife, the Duchess of York, widely known as Fergie, along with Mike and Zara Tindall, Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence, and his wife Anne, the Princess Royal.

The Duke and Duchess of York’s daughter, Princess Beatrice, was also pictured at the ceremony with her property tycoon husband, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi.

The Duke of York, Sarah, Duchess of York, Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence, and Zara Tindall, attend the thanksgiving service for the life of King Constantine (Andrew Matthews/PA Wire)

Once inside the chapel the pair sat apart, with Andrew seated between Princess Alexandra the Honourable Lady of Ogilvy, Marina Ogilvy, and the Duchess of Gloucester.

Andrew and Sarah are last thought to have last been photographed in public when they appeared at the royal family’s traditional Christmas Day church service on the King’s Sandringham estate.

Andrew stepped down from public life in late 2019 after a disastrous BBC interview about his friendship with paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.

The late Queen stripped Andrew of all his royal titles, including the use of HRH, and military affiliations, in 2022, as he faced a civil sex abuse case in a US court brought by Virginia Giuffre, who claims she was one of Epstein's alleged sex trafficking victims.

Andrew denied the allegations made against him.

Prince Andrew, Duke of York (L), Sarah, Duchess of York, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi and Princess Beatrice of York arrive for the Royal Family's Christmas Day service at St Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham on December 25, 2023 (AFP via Getty Images)

Later in 2022, he reached an out-of-court settlement, in which he paid Ms Giuffre a reported £12 million.

Andrew claims never to have met Ms Giuffre, and paid the settlement without admitting any liability.

After the duke was stripped of his titles, some sources said the scandal-hit duke would “disappear from sight”.

But he attended the King’s coronation last May, and went to church with the rest of the royal family at Sandringham on Christmas Day - appearances viewed as part of a gradual rehabilitation for him within the monarchy.

The newly wed Prince Andrew, the Duke of York and his wife Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, wave to crowds on July 23, 1986, from the balcony of Buckingham Palace while Queen Elizabeth II and Queen Mother look on (AFP/Getty Images)

Sarah, Duchess of York was also pictured walking to the Sandringham church service on Christmas Day for the first time in years, walking beside her ex-husband and smiling broadly at the press.

Andrew and Ms Ferguson married at Westminster Abbey in 1986, gaining them the titles of the Duke and Duchess of York. They went on to have two children, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie.The couple divorced in 1996 after four years of separation, but remain close friends.In 2019, as scandal grew over Andrew’s friendship with Epstein grew, Ms Ferguson came out in public support of her ex-husband as she branded the accusations against him "nonsense", adding "he is the best man I know".

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