Duke of York ‘hosted shooting party’ after being stripped of his royal titles

Prince Andrew reportedly hosted a shooting party at his home after being stripped of his royal and military titles by the Queen.

The Duke of York welcomed a dozen family and friends to his Grade II-listed mansion, Royal Lodge, in Windsor Great Park before some of the guests headed out on a shoot in the house’s grounds.

According to reports in The Sun, the occasion is believed to have been Princess Eugenie’s Christmas present from the Queen. Princess Eugenie and her husband Jack Brooksbank are said to have organised the event and invited along family and friends. The Princess’s parents, Prince Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, did not attend the shoot itself but instead drove to the party for lunch at the York Club two miles from the royal residence.

Despite one source telling The Sun on Sunday that the ‘penny has finally dropped’ for Prince Andrew, another commented on the audacious nature of hosting an event given the current controversy surrounding the Duke of York and his connection to convicted sex offenders Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.

A source told The Sun: ‘It seems quite brazen of Andrew to host a party and let his family go shooting with all the controversy raging.’

Virginia Giuffre alleges that she was forced, by Mr Epstein, to have sex with Prince Andrew and spent time with him on a number of occasions in London and New York when she was just 17. Prince Andrew vehemently denies all of these allegations.

Sources close to the Prince have said that he felt like his ‘insides had been ripped out’ and was reportedly in tears after having his titles, patronages and HRH status stripped from him on Thursday by his mother, the Queen.

A close friend of the Duke told The Sun: ‘He is in turmoil. Up until now, on advice of his lawyers, he didn’t think it would go this far.

‘But he has now finally realised how bad the situation is and feels he has let the Queen down.

‘He desperately wants to make amends, although he accepts that it will take a long time. He is relying on the love and support of his family to get through this.’

After losing his titles and therefore becoming a public citizen, there are now fresh calls for Prince Andrew to lose his £30million Berkshire mansion that he shares with ex-wife Sarah Ferguson. There have also been suggestions that he should lose his 24-hour security, which is funded by the taxpayer.