Prince Andrew reunited with his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, to deliver care packages for people working on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic in his first public appearance since his royal step down.
The 60-year-old Duchess of York’s assistant, Antonia Marshall, shared a series of photos via Instagram on Thursday, April 9, of the former couple making care packages.
In the photos, Andrew, 60, and his former wife pack cupcakes with the words “Thank you” written in icing into pink gift bags along with other goodies including bottles of lotion. Other pictures show Andrew carrying the packages to deliver to a hospice center in the U.K.
“@sarahferguson15 and @hrhthedukeofyork packing all the care packages for @thameshospice in Windsor today. The York Family are a wonderful and steadfast unit and through this crisis, are continuously helping others. So proud of them all…,” Marshall captioned the photoset.
This was Andrew’s first public appearance since he stepped down from his royal duties in November 2019 due to his association with his longtime friend Jeffrey Epstein. The financier allegedly took his life in August 2019 at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York, where he was serving time after being convicted of one count of human trafficking of a minor.
“It has become clear to me over the last few days that the circumstance relating to my former association with Jeffrey Epstein has became a major disruption to my family’s work and the valuable work going on in the many organizations and charities that I am proud to support,” the duke said in a statement in November 2019. “Therefore, I have asked Her Majesty if I may step back from public duties for the foreseeable future, and she has given her permission.”
Despite the controversy, Ferguson paid tribute to the royal on his birthday three months later. She shared a black-and-white photo of Andrew via Instagram in February captioned, “Happy 60th Birthday to Andrew.”
Andrew and Ferguson were married from 1986 to 1996. They are the parents of daughters Princess Beatrice, 31, and Princess Eugenie, 30. Although Eugenie wished her father happy birthday via Instagram in February, Beatrice opted not to honor her father on social media.
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