Queen and Prince Charles arrive for church in Sandringham but no sign of Prince Andrew

THE Queen and Prince Charles have arrived for church in Sandringham – but scandal-hit Prince Andrew stayed at home.

The Duke of York was famously forced to step down from public duties following the backlash over his relationship to paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Queen Elizabeth was driven from Sandringham Palace to the nearby St Mary Magdalene Church with Sophie, Countess of Wessex.

Prince Charles meanwhile opted to walk with sister Princess Anne.

Andrew was widely ridiculed after a calamitous BBC interview where he failed to express any sympathy for Epstein’s victims.

Andrew said he did not regret having been a friend of Epstein, who killed himself in jail aged 66 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking.

The Duke was also slammed for his repeated denials of any sexual relationship with then 17-year-old Virginia Roberts.

He claimed he had taken his daughter Princess Beatrice to a Pizza Express in Woking on the night he is accused of sleeping with Roberts, a “sex slave” of Epstein.

He was stripped of his royal duties and £249,000 sovereign grant.

It comes after the Queen referred to her family’s “bumpy” 2019 in an emotional Christmas message.

The year has been labelled her second “annus horribilis” – the Latin phrase she used to describe 1992 after the marriages of three of her children collapsed.

Prince Andrew was hit with claims he slept with a teen sex slave while husband Prince Philip was involved in a car accident at the start of the year.

The duke faced criticism for taking too long to contact the occupants of the other car and for being seen driving without his seat-belt in the days that followed.

And the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have spoken about their struggles living in the public eye.

Brexit has divided the country and Parliament, leading to huge uncertainty.

Her Majesty’s comment is thought to be her first public reference to the personal events her family has experienced this year.