Birthday snub as Royals fail to send Duke public greeting

THE QUEEN, Prince of Wales and the Duke of Cambridge all failed to publicly wish the Duke of York a happy birthday yesterday.

The three most senior Royals broke with recent convention by not using official social-media channels to send their congratulations.

A source said: ‘For the Queen, there is business and there is family. The two are very different.’

Days after settling a civil sexual assault case brought against him by Virginia Giuffre, Andrew is thought to have marked his 62nd birthday privately at Royal Lodge, his home in Windsor.

Since 2019, when he stepped back from Royal duties in the wake of the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, Andrew has not been awarded the honour of having flags flown on town halls to mark his birthday.

The Duke last week agreed a deal with Ms Giuffre, who says she was forced to have sex with him on three occasions by Epstein – claims he has always strongly denied.

He has been given 30 days to settle a seven-figure payment but The Mail on Sunday understands that funds from the sale of his Swiss ski chalet are not yet available because the deal has not been completed.

A source suggested that Andrew may require a short-term bridging loan – possibly from the Queen – to settle his debt to Ms Giuffre. There are also questions about whether he can afford the upkeep of Grade II listed Royal Lodge and meet the annual £260,000 ‘peppercorn rent’.

A source said: ‘Parts of Royal Lodge really need updating and he obviously doesn’t have the money to make the repairs, so there are questions over whether he ought to be allowed to stay there if he can’t look after the place.’

But an ally of Andrew said it was ‘deeply unlikely’ that he and his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, who also lives at Royal Lodge, would be forced to leave the property.

Andrew is expected to attend a memorial service for his father, the Duke of Edinburgh, next month but will not take any role in the Platinum Jubilee celebrations in June.