Is Britain still a country for a disgraced old Prince called Andrew, given centre stage by his Mother, the Queen, at his Father's Memorial Service ?

Sixty-two year old Andrew Windsor, aka 'Prince Andrew' and the 'Duke of York', prompted controversy yesterday, after being given an unexpectedly prominent role escorting the Queen in the Memorial Service for his father, Prince Philip. It was his first public appearance since settling the sexual assault case filed against him by Virginia Giuffre in which he paid her £12 million, but continued to deny the allegation. He stepped down from public life, not over this, but rather his friendship with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. 

Former BBC royal correspondent, Peter Hunt, said he was surprised to see the role Andrew was given at the service, noting that it would not have happened “by chance” and risked overshadowing the memorial and generating controversy around the world. He said that Andrew : “Could have sat in the congregation with others, with his relatives, but they actively decided that he would have this role of supporting her. So she has chosen, in essence, to remind people that he hasn’t admitted any wrongdoing, he’s not guilty of anything, he’s innocent. And she’s very clearly stating that he has a role at family occasions”.

However, a body language expert Judi James, put forward a different explanation when she said : 'Defiant but isolated', Andrew was 'shunned by the Royal Family and didn't interact warmly with them' and while the Queen appeared to have 'looked unequivocal' in her support of her second son, the rest of the family offered 'no signs of support or encouragement' and 'pretended to not even see him'. Andrew was given a front-row seat at the proceedings, next to his brother, Edward Windsor, the Earl of Wessex and across the aisle from his other siblings'. Judi said : 'Edward sat looking splayed in a rather incongruent display of nonchalance as he appeared to read his programme with interest rather than notice the lack of connection around him, but we can see Edward tilt his head away as though keen to create a larger spatial gap between them'.

She said : 'Edward and Sophie are often used as the buffers of the royal firm, famously chatting animatedly to avoid the frost between William and Harry on their last public outing, but there were no signs of warmth or connection between these brothers until the singing of the hymn. Andrew turned his head to speak to Edward and Sophie and they replied with the coolest of responses'.

After the service was over Andrew waved at photographers as he and the Queen returned to Windsor Castle and Judi said : 'Andrew's wave to the cameras is an upright, palm-flattened 'hail' gesture here. This is usually a greeting ritual from someone with higher status who is expecting a positive response, suggesting Andrew might actually be expecting some popularity by association, with his mother's public signals and non-verbal'.

Another Royal expert, Angela Levin, said of the Queen's eldest son, Charles and his son, William : 'They would have been very disappointed and uneasy about Andrew's presence but they would have known that this was the Queen's decision. I'm sure they were probably thinking something very different inside, but Charles and William have always known that the Queen has a soft spot for Andrew and if she wants her favourite son with her, she would be entitled to do that. It was one of those moments when the Queen exercised her position, both as a mother and the Queen. She obviously needed someone to help her on that small walk, but I noticed that when she got up to leave at the end of the service, Prince Charles got up too, as if to help her. But she ignored him and wanted Andrew to take her out instead. She turned to him, not Charles'.

Peter Hunt said of the family : 

'The key issue today for them is remembering Prince Philip. Instead of which people are remembering Prince Philip and commentating on the fact his son, Prince Andrew, had such a prominent role at his memorial service.' 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuBCg3QG2z4