King Charles 'refuses' to give up on disgraced brother Prince Andrew

Despite Prince William's warnings that the Duke of York is "toxic" and ought to be permanently banished, the King is determined to keep Prince Andrew in the family, according to insiders.

Despite being mentioned 69 times in hundreds of pages of court records detailing the sex abuse committed by pedophile Jeffrey Epstein and his friends, Charles has promised his brother he "won't be abandoned."

According to royal insiders, the King feels obligated to his late mother to make sure Andrew "isn't cut adrift." Insiders claim the King would only take further action if his brother was charged with a crime, despite calls for Scotland Yard to look into the Duke's ties with friend Epstein.

One insider said: “Charles’ position has not changed in terms of allowing Andrew back into the family fold. As King, he decided to order the rest of the family to fall in line and welcome him back and that was the end of the matter. [Charles] had discussed it with others, including Prince William, but his decision was final. Charles promised his late mother he would not abandon Andrew once she was gone and that remains the situation, unless, of course, he finds himself engaged in a criminal matter.”

William warned his father last year not to let Andrew back into the family, stating that the Duke could not be sure that new accusations of sexual misbehavior would not surface considering the scope of the Epstein affair.

A source said: “William was very clear [that in his view] Andrew can not be trusted. There are investigations and revelations emerging in the cases brought by Epstein’s victims. This will haunt Andrew and the family forever. In William’s view, [Andrew] should have no role with the family at all.”