Prince Andrew will not celebrate the New Year with his family at their £13million ski chalet after being ‘sacked’ from royal duties last month.
The shamed prince will be ‘lying low’ at home after a bombshell interview over the Jeffrey Epstein scandal led to him stepping down from royal duties, an insider has claimed.
Andrew was reportedly pushed to step back from public life by the Prince Charles, 71, and the Queen, 91, over allegations connected to his friendship with US paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
His daughters, Beatrice and Eugenie, will join their mother Sarah Ferguson for their annual winter break at the £22,000-a-week property in the Swiss village Verbier.
Andrew is said to have been at the property – bought in 2014 – with close friends when news of the Epstein sex scandal broke in 2015.
A friend of Sarah, told The Daily Mail: “The Duchess of York will be spending Christmas in Switzerland.
“Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie will be joining her after they’ve spent the festive period with the Royal Family at Sandringham.
“Prince Andrew will not be joining them this year. He will be lying low back home.”
Andrew and Sarah – who divorced in 1996 – bought the seven-bedroom property as a family investment.
The extravagant pad boasts seven bedrooms, a heated indoor swimming pool with an entertaining area and a sauna.
Family pictures from 1998 show Prince Andrew celebrating his 38th birthday at the resort in Switzerand’s Valais Canton, with his daughters then aged eight and 10.
Speaking at the time, a source said: “They have bought the chalet as a family investment. Neither of them have their own property and wanted to buy the chalet as an asset to leave to their children.
“They holiday in Verbier several times each year as all the family are keen skiers and it makes sense to have their own place there.”
Following a car-crash BBC Panorama interview last month, Andrew has been criticized for his friendship with billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
He has been accused of having sex with Virginia Guiffre, one of Epstein’s victims, three times including when she was underage, after she was pressured into it.
The Duke of York claimed to have no recollection of meeting Virginia and denies all allegations of sexual activity.
