Duke of York is on Garter Day guest list

THE DUKE OF YORK will attend Garter Day with the Queen and other senior members of the Royal family and will be listed in the next day’s Court Circular.

The ceremony, one of the highlights of the Royal family’s summer schedule, will take place at Windsor Castle on June 13 for the first time in three years.

The Duchess of Cornwall will be among those invested into the country’s oldest and most senior Orders of Chivalry before the traditional procession to St George’s Chapel for a short service.

The Duke will attend in a private capacity as a Royal Knight. The Queen, as sovereign of the order, appoints Knights of the Garter without consulting ministers. Her son’s appointment was therefore considered a private one.

The Duke was effectively sacked as a working royal as he defended himself against a sexual abuse civil case. In January, Buckingham Palace announced that he had been stripped of his military titles and has agreed to no longer use his HRH title in any official capacity.

Just weeks later, he settled the civil case out of court with a reported £12million payment to his accuser, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, including a donation to her sex trafficking charity, although he denied any wrongdoing and did not admit liability.

A Palace source said the Duke’s inclusion in the Court Circular would be “standard practice”.

Critics will fear the Duke’s presence will overshadow the event as it did the Duke of Edinburgh’s service of thanksgiving in March, when he travelled with the Queen and walked her to her seat.

Hundreds traditionally gather to watch the colourful spectacle as Garter Knights process through the grounds of Windsor Castle in elaborate velvet robes and plumed hats, accompanied by military units.

However, plans currently under consideration could see them abandon the ceremonial robes entirely in order to enable the Queen’s comfort. If the monarch were to join the procession to the chapel, she would be unlikely to wear the heavy robes, meaning that those accompanying her would follow suit.

Should she be well enough, the Queen is thought to be likely to attend the ceremony in the Garter throne room and lunch in the Waterloo Chamber, but skip the public procession and church service because she has mobility problems. In that instance, the Knights and Ladies Companion would put on the full display of pomp and pageantry, the first since 2019.

The Duchess of Cornwall was admitted into the order in recognition of her increasing importance in the Royal family, the first Royal Companion to be created since Prince William in 2008.

She joins seven other senior family members including the Princess Royal, the Duke of York and the Earl of Wessex, but not the Duke of Sussex.