Prince William was spotted driving his uncle to church recently in a sign that the Duke of York has been welcomed back into the fold.

However, there could be a more strategic reason behind the Royal Family’s acceptance of the scandalous prince.

According to an extremely well-placed source, the Firm has huddled together to prevent Prince Andrew, 64, from penning a book about his associations with Jeffrey Epstein.

“Andrew keeps bringing up the idea of getting his side across via a book,” said the source. “But the family believes it is the worst thing he can do.

“He doesn’t want to pen a tell-all like Spare, but he’s very keen to set the record straight about the Epstein mess and the subsequent fallout.”

The source adds that the Royal Family are so concerned that Andrew might turn rogue like Prince Harry that they have decided to keep him close.

“Another Harry would be catastrophic for the family,” said the source. “It’s better to keep Andrew close than to cut him off.

“The feeling is that keeping him in the thick of it will cause less damage than if he were to go rogue and start firing shots at the family from the outside.

“There are also discussions ongoing about helping Andrew with his living arrangements and for him to remain at Royal Lodge.”

The news comes after Prince Andrew appeared relaxed and at ease during a horseback ride in Windsor today, despite the release of a bombshell new royal drama tomorrow.

The Duke of York even managed a wave as he rode with a groom before driving back to Royal Lodge, which is currently causing a dispute between him and his brother, King Charles.

The horse ride comes on the day before the release of a new bombshell series ‘A Very Royal Scandal’, which focuses on the prince’s scandalous Newsnight interview.

In the Amazon Prime series, which is based on Emily Maitlis’ perspective in securing an interview with Prince Andrew for BBC’s Newsnight to discuss the Jeffrey Epstein debacle, Andrew will be portrayed by actor Micheal Sheen.

Other actors include Ruth Wilson as Emily Maitlis, Joanna Scanlan as Amanda Thirsk, Clare Calbraith as Sam McAllister and John Hopkins as Jeffrey Epstein.

The series is based on ‘Prince Andrew & the Epstein Scandal’ which aired on Newsnight on the BBC in November 2019, and also questioned the Prince’s relationship with Virginia Roberts Giuffre who alleged he sexually assaulted her.

The Duke consistently and vehemently denies the allegations. He reached an out-of-court settlement with Virginia, who had brought a civil case against the Prince for sexual assault. The settlement was not an admission of guilt and Andrew accepted no liability.