The wedding planners: Prince Andrew drives ex-wife Sarah Ferguson from his Windsor home

Prince Andrew has spent the day in Windsor with his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson following the announcement their daughter Beatrice is to marry in May.

The beleaguered Duke of York was pictured stony-faced behind the wheel of his Range Rover, which swept out of his house in Windsor Great Park this afternoon.

Although the Queen fired her middle son from frontline Royal duties in November, he found himself under the spotlight this week when a US lawyer berated him for refusing to cooperate with the Jeffrey Epstein investigation.

And eager not to fan the flames of public outrage even more, he turned down a promotion to the rank of Admiral awarded to mark his 60th birthday. 

But Andrew was at last given reason to smile yesterday as his eldest daughter Princess Beatrice set the date for her wedding to Italian businessman Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi. 

The beleaguered Duke of York was pictured stony-faced behind the wheel of his Range Rover which swept out of his house in Windsor Great Park this afternoon

Princess Beatrice set the date for her wedding to Italian businessman Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi

With less fanfare than her younger sister Eugenie’s nuptials last year, the couple will marry at the intimate 150-seat chapel at St James’s Palace in London on May 29. 

Andrew will take centre stage at the event and walk his daughter up the aisle before presumably giving a speech at the Buckingham Palace reception as tradition.

In the aftermath of his car-crash Newsnight interview late last year, the Duke retreated from public life and would rarely break cover in public.

Harry and Meghan’s bombshell decision to quit as senior Royals shifted the scrutiny from him, and last month he attended church with the Queen at Sandringham in a sign Her Majesty was easing her son back into the public eye.

Beatrice’s wedding – albeit a private ceremony – will be his most high-profile outing and will likely be fine-tuned by Buckingham Palace to avoid any further embarrassment.

Sarah, Duchess of York, who Andrew divorced in 1996 but remains firm friends, will also be a staple of the event. 

With less fanfare than her younger sister Eugenie’s nuptials last year, the couple will marry at the intimate 150-seat chapel at St James’s Palace (pictured) in London on May 29.

Andrew yesterday emerged in his Bentley (pictured) driving from his home in Windsor

Today the couple were pictured driving in silence, with Sarah seemingly engrossed in her phone while wearing a black coat zipped up to her throat.

Andrew, who yesterday emerged in his Bentley, wore a purple shirt and black coat.  

He is under mounting pressure to engage with the FBI, which is investigating the Duke’s dead billionaire friend’s former crimes.

He would have been alarmed this week at talks of swapping him for Anne Sacoolas, the US spy’s wife who killed 19-year-old Harry Dunn and is refusing to return to face justice.

Yet he will bury this to the back of his mind to plan his daughter’s wedding.

Buckingham Palace said in a statement yesterday: ‘The wedding of HRH Princess Beatrice of York and Mr Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi will take place on Friday 29th May 2020. The couple became engaged in Italy in September 2019.

‘Her Majesty the Queen has kindly given permission for the ceremony to take place at the Chapel Royal, St James’s Palace.

‘The ceremony will be followed by a private reception, given by the Queen, in the gardens of Buckingham Palace.’