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It’s almost that time of year again when millions of people around the world who celebrate Christmas spend time with their families. This is true for the British royals also as family members gather at Sandringham for the holiday and make a public appearance, led by King Charles, on their Christmas morning walk to church.

The monarch’s brother, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, now lives in Norfolk in a property close to where the family will be. And reports say that while the ex-prince won’t join the public walk, the king will invite his sibling to join everyone at the Sandringham House for lunch that day. But one senior royal who is reportedly dead set against having a holiday meal with Andrew at the home is Prince William.

A Palace insider has told RadarOnline, “The idea of Andrew sitting around the Christmas table as though nothing has happened is going to be incredibly difficult for some members of the family. There are still very strong feelings about everything that has happened … The family has spent months trying to draw a line under his Epstein scandal, and bringing him back into the middle of Christmas celebrations could undo a lot of that work.

“As future king, William is particularly conscious of the damage the Andrew scandal has done to the monarchy. He believes the institution has to look forward, and there is little appetite for anything that could drag the family backwards. Princess Catherine also wants Christmas to be about the children and the wider family. The last thing anyone needs is another deeply uncomfortable gathering dominated by Andrew’s presence.”

The insider continued, “But Charles is in an impossible position. He is still Andrew’s brother, but he is also king. Every decision he makes has consequences for the reputation of the monarchy. Yet there is a feeling that the king cannot afford to appear to be rewarding Andrew with a place at the family table after everything that has happened.”

The same source also brought up the possibility of Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, attending the family Christmas feast as well, saying, “And if Harry and Meghan were also there, the tension would be enormous. The family desperately wants a peaceful Christmas, but an invitation for Andrew could turn it into another public relations headache. And nobody wants the headlines that would follow.”

Both Andrew and his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, were excluded from Christmas last year after the disgraced royal’s titles were stripped. The former couple did not join King Charles and the rest of the royal family for the traditional Christmas Day church service or the private gathering and instead spent the holiday together themselves at Royal Lodge, which they have since been evicted from.

The former duke and duchess’s two daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, did attend the festivities at Sandringham and made the walk with the rest of the royals to St. Mary Magdalene Church.

As for Harry and Meghan, they haven’t spent Christmas with the family since 2019, and it’s almost certain that the Prince of Wales would prefer if they skipped Sandringham again this year.

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