Members of the Royal household were left furious after Prince Andrew’s ‘completely inappropriate’ move right after Prince Philip ’s death.
At a private funeral service for Prince Philip, Prince Andrew was described as “straight out the blocks” to get “in front of the cameras”.
In the aftermath of the funeral, he was one of the first royals out and onto camera, speaking also after he was facing accusations of sex abuse.
He said that the UK had lost the ’grandfather of the nation’.
The Prince paid £12million to avoid having to go to court to testify in a sex abuse case brought against him by Virginia Giuffre.
She alleged they had had sex on three separate occasions when she was a 17-year-old sex slave under dead convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Andrew has always strenuously denied the allegations.
Andrew left members of the royal family outraged at his timing, which one source speculated was “definitely a hand being played”.
A source told the Mirror, in light of recent manoeuvres from Andrew to put himself front and centre of Prince Philip’s memorial: “There is definitely a hand being played.
“He (Andrew) was straight out the blocks in front of the cameras when the Duke of Edinburgh died, which was seen within the family as being completely inappropriate.
“Now this situation has unfolded, a fair few hold the view that he (Andrew) is manipulating his position for his own gains.
“The Duke of York’s reputation precedes him and he’s made no secret that he’s not ready to fade away into the background, as much as everyone may want him to.”
The shocking revelation comes only weeks after the Queen withdrew him as a frontline royal, but the prince seemingly has other ambitions.
Royal sources even went as far as to say Andrew was trying to “manipulate” his position within the royal family.
Despite that, she overruled both Prince William and Prince Charles who raised concerns about him being so prominent in the memorial service.
She told both her heirs it was her “final decision” that Andrew would accompany her front and centre of her late husband’s memorial service.
Both royals went out of their way to warn the Queen that being seen publicly with Prince Andrew might not go down well after the accusations he faced.
Both senior royal family members warned her about the optics of such a move “on more than one occasion”.
The two future kings were “absolutely united” against Andrew having a prominent position in the ceremony.
They thought it was “simply unnecessary” for Andrew to position himself as the only person to escort the Queen to church.
But, regardless of their protests, and accusations against Andrew, the 95-year-old told them that it was “her wish” that he chaperone her into the Abbey.
