Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was conspicuously left out of his brother Prince Edward’s birthday celebrations, weeks after his disgraceful royal arrest.
To mark Edward’s 62nd birthday on Tuesday, the Royal Collection Trust posted a throwback photo on Instagram of the Duke of Edinburgh playing with his older siblings, King Charles and Princess Anne (minus Andrew).
The caption read: “Happy Birthday to the Duke of Edinburgh, who was born on this day in 1964.” “Prince Edward is playing with his brother and sister in this photo from 1969.”
The contempt comes less than a month after Andrew was arrested on his 66th birthday on suspicion of misconduct in office for allegedly transferring trade secrets to the late convicted felon Jeffrey Epstein.
Andrew was released later the same day, but if convicted he could be sentenced to up to life in prison.
Since the former Duke of York’s relationship with Epstein was revealed, the royal family has made several efforts to sever ties with him.
Andrew agreed in October 2025 to “retire from public life”, admitting that “ongoing accusations” about his relationship with Epstein were “disrupting the work of Her Majesty and the Royal Family”.
Later that month, he was stripped of his title and given “formal notice” to vacate his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson’s Royal Lodge home.
The former couple had lived together in the mansion since 2008, but were evicted from the premises in February.
Andrew has moved to Wood Farm on the Sandringham Estate, but Ferguson, 66, is looking for a place to live separately from his ex-spouse.
It is notable that Andrew was accused of sexual assault in 2021 by Epstein’s accuser Virginia Giuffre (who died by suicide in April last year), but Andrew denied the accusation.
He and Giuffre reached an out-of-court settlement in February of the following year.
The agreement comes after Andrew was stripped of his military titles, royal patronage and the use of “His Royal Highness” in January 2022.
In 2019, Prince William reportedly asked his father Charles and the late Queen Elizabeth to “out” Andrew for trying to protect his relationship with Epstein.
“Refusing to apologize for the relationship and refusing to acknowledge the real trauma of Epstein’s victims was an absolute red line for William to cross,” author Russell Myers told Us Weekly last month.
When Prince Charles, 77, declared that “the law must stand as it stands” following Andrew’s arrest, Prince William, 43, and his wife, Duchess Kate, said they “fully support” the king’s statement.
