Duchess of York hints of remarriage to Prince Andrew and says 'he’ll always be my prince.’

Her relationship with Prince Andrew has been the subject of much speculation in recent weeks, but the Duchess of York did little to quell rumours they might remarry, admitting: “He is still my handsome prince.”

The Duchess of York
The Duchess of York did not confirm or deny rumours that she might remarry the Duke of York Credit: Photo: Julian Foxon
PICTURES
PICTURES

The Duchess, who was speaking about her latest children’s book, said their own story “has a happy ending all the time”, adding that they respect and honour one another every day.

She did not confirm or deny rumours that they might remarry, instead saying it was “lovely” that they shared such a strong commitment to their daughters and “what is good”.

Speaking at the Bath Children’s Literature Festival, she told an audience of children she had “married a handsome prince” who was “very, very, very good-looking” and “even married with a sword”.

“We had a very beautiful wedding,” she said. “Mummies and Daddies in the audience might remember it – I think they might have had a day off.

“He really is still my handsome Prince. We really believe in being good parents for our girls.”

When asked later about rumours the pair might formally reconcile or

re-marry, she added: “He’s still my handsome prince, he’ll always be my handsome prince.

“It’s lovely that we are such a family and the story has a happy ending all the time.

“In our every day, we really respect each other and we honour each other and it’s just lovely to have that sense of integrity, to what we believe is right; to what is good and compassion and love and kindness.

“And that’s the way we are.”

The couple are widely reported to have remained close since they divorced in 1996, and both live at Royal Lodge, in Windsor.

Earlier this month, they joined Princess Beatrice, 25, and her sister, Princess Eugenie, 23, for the weekend at Balmoral, the Queen’s Scottish retreat.

The Duchess was appearing at the festival to speak about her latest book, Ballerina Rosie, as well as a campaign to keep bookshops in business.

She said it was “key” for children to experience the “magic” of a real bookshop, as she lamented the trend for texting and using apps over traditional books.

“That’s not right really, it’s not encouraging children to write properly, spell, punctuate and keep a discipline,” she said.

“They can text after that but how are they going to learn if they’re just taught at the very early age to put – well, I don’t even know how you do it actually, don’t you have to abbreviate everything?

“We must continue, no matter what, to encourage reading, writing, literacy in children.”

The Duchess, who is supporting the Books Are My Bag campaign, continued: “I think it’s key that children have the magic of touch and absorb themselves into a book rather than just looking at a screen.”