Gross Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor photo emerges

But clearly desperate times call for the junking of sensible maxims with Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor now having dragged the innocent ponies of Windsor Castle and his four-year-old granddaughter into his PR fight.

And just when you thought your estimation of him could not get any lousier, huh?

Recently, the only person currently selling ‘Duke of York’ number plates on Facebook Marketplace was conspicuously photographed out riding with his daughter, still-Princess Beatrice and her oldest daughter Sienna Mapelli Mozzi.

My, what message could they be sending? Anyone have a royal decoder ring handy?

If only Temu made ‘Team Andrew’ jumpers they could have sold an entire one this week to the faithful Beatrice.

For the 37-year-old princess, it was an unambiguous declaration of support for her dear old dad, who is currently boxing up his decades of first class British Airways toiletry kits as he prepares for the one-way journey to the Siberian remove of rural Norfolk.

These new shots — which emerged before other questionable photos of Andrew were released in the newest Epstein files dump — serve as a handy counterweight to the recent reports that Andrew’s other daughter, Princess Eugenie is giving the iciest of shoulders to him and their mother Sarah Ferguson as the Epstein crisis continues to unfold.

Last week the Daily Mail reported the art curator princess is not speaking to Andrew, did not see him over Christmas and cleared out her Royal Lodge bedroom.

A source said “There is no contact at all, nothing. It’s Brooklyn Beckham level – she has completely cut him off.”

Similarly, the Telegraph separately reported that Eugenie has been “distancing herself from her parents” and is “frustrated” that, thanks to them, the whole York family has been “tarnished”.

We can also add biographer and historian Andrew Lownie, author of Entitled: The Rise And Fall of The House Of York to the list of those reporting that Eugenie is estranged from her father.

It is against this backdrop that we get these shots of Beatrice and Athena, showing them having a smashing day out, clip-clopping about with the former duke.

Funny how it’s this week, when Andrew’s fatherly image has taken a walloping that his other daughter and granddaughter are seen with him in a sweet family tableau.

There are West End shows that seem less stagey.

The report accompanying the Beatrice images, first published by The Sun, also features a royal friend also denying that Eugenie has cut Andrew off, saying, “She has seen him several times this year and is supportive. She is there for her father whenever he needs her.”

Just clearly not ‘there for him’ when a grandchild might come in very handy for PR purposes.

What is truly astonishing is that the former prince still seems to think he can still win the publicity war and make some sort of comeback.

I think typhoid or the Crazy Frog ringtone have a better chance of truly turning the tide of public opinion in their favour than Andrew, the unrepentant, self-pitying, delusional great mate of the world’s most notorious pedophile.

Also, that the 66-year-old former duke still seems to think he can sway the public back to his side – the most idiotic, destined-to-fail quest since the Charge of the Light Brigade or the live action Cats – suggests a startling lack of contrition. Would a man who has spent even a second in self-reflection still think they could charm or worm their way back into Britain’s good books?

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For Andrew these riding photos represent him resorting to the same tired tactics he and Queen Elizabeth used to resort to back when Her late Majesty was his staunchest defender and the founding – and only – paid up member of the Andrew Appreciation Society.

Again and again she used proximity and obviously shows of motherly affection to signal her continued backing of her son, even in the face of increasingly damning headlines.

In August 2019, the day after Jeffrey Epstein was found dead in New York, she plonked him on the back seat of her state Bentley and made sure photographers saw him by her side as they arrived at church.

In November of that year, days after his car crash, dumpster-fire Newsnight interview – triggering the most serious royal crisis in decades – and Andrew being forced to quit royal duties, Her late Majesty did it again, allowing herself to be photographed out riding with him at Windsor.

In 2022, the late Queen pulled the same manoeuvre, letting the then duke have a starring, spotlight moment turn at Prince Philip’s memorial service at Westminster Abbey by having him personally escort her to her seat while everyone from then Prince Charles down had to watch on.

With these Beatrice photos, Andrew is now continuing the tradition of multi-generational horsey semaphore, helping him try and reframe himself as a doting grandpa and as a father with at least one child who will be publicly associated with him.

Yes, you have to feel for the girls, caught between their love for their parents, professional pragmatism, protecting their own images and staying onside with Crown Inc.

These shots also reveal something else – that Beatrice and Eugenie, two peas in perennially-fascinator-clad-pods, who have been an HRH-twofer on holidays, yachts, at parties, book launches, fashion shows, awards nights, more yachts and champagne society suppers since their mother Sarah Ferguson started buying matchy-matchy Bonpoint smocks in the 80s, it looks like they are going their separate ways.

This is the royal equivalent of the surgical separation of conjoined twins.

All, you have to ask, for what? The former duke back to his morose packing of teddy bears and whoopee cushions and Kazakh real estate deal paperwork; the princess back to her glam London life, having changed nothing; and I doubt any of the 90 per cent of Brits who have a negative view of Andrew will change their mind.

There’s only one thing for it: It’s time for the ponies of the Windsor Castle mews to unionise and to put a stop to being used as PR props. They have their pride.

Daniela Elser is a writer, editor and commentator with more than 15 years’ experience working with a number of Australia’s leading media titles.