Andrew and Fergie to come out of exile for granddaughter’s palace christening… but royal insiders say other guests dread seeing ex-Duke
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Sarah Ferguson will attend their first royal event since their dramatic exile from public life when their granddaughter is christened on Friday, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
The former Duke and Duchess of York will step inside a royal palace for the first time since they were stripped of their titles after fresh revelations about their relationships with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Princess Beatrice, 37, and her property developer husband Edo Mapelli Mozzi, 42, will bring close family and friends to the Chapel Royal at St James’s Palace where their second daughter Athena – born several weeks prematurely in January – will be baptised.
One source said: ‘It’s going to be a royal occasion but everyone is dreading the thought of seeing Andrew there.’
Beatrice is said to have remained close to her mother Sarah during the turbulence of the Epstein saga, but relations with her father are understood to be more strained.
An insider said: ‘Beatrice has, of course invited her father. But things are not warm between them. However, she’s worried about him. He’s going through a low ebb with his mental health and she recognises that he dotes on his grandchildren and it would be cruel to deprive him of the chance to attend the christening.
‘Some careful conversations and diplomacy with King Charles will have taken place to get to this stage.’
Andrew was stripped of all his royal titles in October after a leaked email published by the MoS proved he lied in his interview with BBC’s Newsnight when he claimed he ‘never had any contact’ with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein after they were pictured together in New York in December 2010.
This newspaper also revealed a gushing email that his ex-wife Sarah sent Epstein just weeks after publicly disowning him in which she called him a ‘steadfast, generous and supreme friend’.
It is thought Athena would have been christened earlier this year, had it not been for the painful scandal engulfing her grandparents. Her sister Sienna, now four, was baptised in 2022 within six months of her birth.
Beatrice’s sister Eugenie and her husband Jack Brooksbank will also attend what is expected to be a private ceremony. Also attending will be European royals, including Princess Nina of Greece and Denmark, 38, who is a godmother.
It is understood the King was invited but is not expected to attend – although he has no official engagements listed that day.
Princess Anne will be away visiting The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst Sovereign’s Parade at Camberley, in Berkshire.
Princes George and Louis were also christened in the Chapel Royal, but the Waleses are not expected to be there.
While Andrew is likely to be filmed exiting and returning to his home in Royal Lodge, Windsor, he will not appear in any official photographs from the christening and will avoid cameras outside the chapel.
It will be his and Sarah’s first significant public appearance since they attended the funeral of the Duchess of Kent at Westminster Cathedral in September, when they still had their royal titles.
A source said: ‘Beatrice is determined to keep the focus entirely on her daughter, but there is no escaping the moment’s significance as this will be the former Duke and Duchess of York’s first appearance at a Royal Family event and possibly the last time he steps foot in St James’s Chapel.’
Andrew has not been invited to join the Royal Family at St Mary Magdalene Church for their traditional Christmas Day service at Sandringham. Both Beatrice and Eugenie have been invited, and are both expected to attend.
Beatrice’s inner circle remain fiercely loyal and have rallied around. Friends Holly Branson –who is grieving the loss of her mother Joan – Willow Crossley, a society florist, and nutritionist Gabriela Peacock, godmother to Sienna, are expected to attend.
Princess Beatrice has described the premature birth of Athena as ‘humbling’. The baby weighed 4lb 5oz when she was delivered at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital on January 22.
Beatrice said: ‘Nothing quite prepares you for the moment when you realise your baby is going to arrive early… there’s so little control.’
