Andrew makes surprise public appearance with royals amid King's ban

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, who has been shunned from all public royal gathering following orders from Buckingham Palace, left onlookers in shock when he was seen supporting two key senior royals.

King Charles has a very close-knit of trusted royal members in his circle, which includes the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh. Prince Edward and his wife Sophie are often delegated critical diplomatic missions at the behest of the monarch.

Hence, it came as quite the surprise when Andrew broke cover amid his ongoing exile to Sandringham in close proximity to Edward and Sophie. According to The Sun’s Matt Wilkinson, the disgraced ex-royal has come out to support his sister-in-law at the Sandringham Horse Driving Trials.

Sophie was competing in the SanDrivingHam Challenge as Edward watched. Andrew arrived on the venue on Sunday driving his own Land Rover Defender.

Andrew came early morning and left when Sophie’s bit was over.

“Andrew sneaked in and sneaked out and definitely didn’t want to be seen,” one attendee said. “But I saw Andrew leave the field at 10.30am, just after Sophie had ridden her round, then I saw Edward walking towards his car smiling shortly afterwards.”

This is not the first time Edward and Sophie have contacted the shamed ex-royal. They reportedly had a private dinner ahead of the Easter service, in what is being dubbed as a wellness check after he sparked some concerns over his health.

However, Palace sources have previously stressed that the King has made no direct or indirect contact with his shamed brother, neither does he intend to.