Queen posed for photos to 'support' Prince Andrew after royal ban

Queen Elizabeth II was 'intrigued' by Prince Andrew's friendship with Jeffrey Epstein.

Her Majesty, who went on to strip her favourite son of the royal duties, was seen posing with the Duke of York the very next day after the official announcement.

In a photo-op, the Queen was spotted riding horses with Andrew at Windsor Castle.

Royal author Gyles Brandreth writes: "Prince Andrew stepped down from public life in 2019 over his friendship with the ‘billionaire paedophile’ ­Jeffrey Epstein.

"He was stripped of his honorary military roles, including Colonel of the Grenadier Guards, and obliged to give up his HRH style in public. ]

"But his mother stood by him. She loved her boy. She retained her ‘confidence’ in him.

"That said, there had been a cloud hanging over his reputation, and the Queen was a realist. She essentially fired her own son," they noted.