Prince Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson received a frosty response from the royal family as they defiantly attended the Duchess of Kent’s funeral.
Katharine, the wife of the late Queen’s cousin the Duke of Kent, died peacefully last week aged 92.
The Duchess of Kent was a Catholic and her funeral was the first requiem mass for a member of the Royal Family in modern history.
King Charles, Prince William, Princess Catherine and much of the extended royal family attended the funeral, including the Duke and Duchess of York.
However, Queen Camilla was forced to pull out after suffering from acute sinusitis.
The Duke of York and his ex-wife was given a prominent position in the front row as he joined other members of the Royal Family for the private memorial.
Fergie – who was persona non grata at royal occasions for decades after her 1996 divorce – looked pleased to be given the full royal treatment.
Her appearance at the service comes months after she was granted access into the royal box at Wimbledon for the first time in decades.
But the cold English winter appeared to come early for Andrew and Fergie, who were largely ignored by the royal family during the event.
Outside the cathedral, awkward photos show senior royals visibly displeased, possibly due to Andrew’s presence at the sombre occasion.
The King looked less than impressed after Andrew jockeyed himself between Charles and William in full view of photographers.
The Duchess of Edinburgh, one of the UK’s most popular royals, turned away from her disgraced brother-in-law, possibly to avoid meeting his gaze.
Bizarrely, the Duke also broke into laughter while standing next to Prince William, who looked visibly uncomfortable and embarrassed next to his uncle.
According to body language expert Judi James, William was attempting to “reject” any conversation with Andrew.
“The Duke of York tries to engage his nephew in a good-humoured chat and all William’s non-verbal responses suggest awkwardness and a subliminal desire to reject the overtures, making this look like a very frosty transaction,” she told the Daily Mail.
While neither of the Yorks carry out any official duties on behalf of the monarchy, the happily divorced pair continue to show up at some royal events.
The Duke of York’s insistence on showing up at public occasions has created a public relations nightmare for the palace.
Earlier this year, the palace was caught out attempting to crop the Yorks out of official photographs taken during the Easter Matins celebrations.
Andrew stepped down as a working royal over the scandal surrounding his past association with paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein and allegations of sexual abuse by Virginia Giuffre.
The Duke of York has denied all wrongdoing but paid out a multi-million pound settlement to Ms Giuffre, who took her own life earlier this year.
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‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.skynews.com.au ’
