Prince Andrew is spotted for the first time at Balmoral

Prince Andrew was pictured driving his Range Rover ten miles from Balmoral today as he visited his mother at her summer residence.  

The Queen’s second son, 60, who wrapped up warm for the Scottish autumn, sporting a black polo neck, green coat and sunglasses, was seen just days after claims he visited his 94-year-old mother for ‘crisis talks’.

Princess Anne was also spotted driving nearby with her husband Sir Timothy Lawrence and their English Bull Terrier as the family headed to a grouse shoot near the Scottish castle. 

The Princess Royal, 70, donned sunglasses, a riding hat and green coat as she sat in the driver’s seat of her Land Rover Discovery. 

Her husband Tim, 65, a retired Royal Navy officer and former equerry to the Queen, sported a Barbour coat, fleece and checked shirt as he travelled in the passenger seat, with the couple’s beloved dog perched between the pair. 

Prince Andrew has been accused of failing to help US prosecutors in their investigation into paedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein and the financier Ghislaine Maxwell. 

A source told the Sun: ‘The Queen and Andrew will have lots to discuss. So much has come out over the summer.

‘The Queen wants to be kept informed and she will not be back at Windsor until early October.’ 

Last month, Virginia Giuffre claimed the Prince played a ‘guessing game,’ with Maxwell about her age before comparing her to his daughters.

The accuser spoke out in a documentary series, Surviving Jeffrey Epstein, claiming she met the royal in London, describing him as an ‘abuser,’ and ‘not the prince from the fairy tale stories you read’.

Ms Giuffre, who says she was trafficked by paedophile financier Epstein, alleges the duke had sex with her on three separate occasions, including when she was 17, still a minor under US law.

Andrew has categorically denied he has had any form of sexual contact or relationship with Ms Giuffre.

The Duke’s friend, British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, is awaiting trial in the US after being charged with procuring teenage girls for Epstein to abuse. She denies this. 

The Queen travelled up to the 50,000 acre estate at the start of August and will be joined by family members throughout their stay, which is will last until October. 

However this year, many visitors, who typically include the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall and Prince Edward and the Countess of Wessex, will likely maintain social distancing while on site.

Family members will not stay in the castle with the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh as they have done in previous years and will instead be housed in other properties in the grounds of the estate.

They will be able to meet her for outside activities instead including walks, horse riding and picnics.  

Last week, Prince George, seven, joined his father Prince William on a grouse shoot.

The third in line watched as Prince William, 38, and other senior royals spent the morning bagging birds in Corgarff, a short drive from Balmoral.

And it shows that George, the third in line to the throne, will very much be brought up in the country sports tradition that the royals enjoy, despite continuing condemnation from anti-bloodsports campaigners.

Both William and his brother, Prince Harry, hunted and shot from a young age. They were so enthusiastic that their mother Diana, Princess of Wales, jokingly dubbed them her ‘Killer Wales’. 

But since meeting his wife Meghan, Harry has hunted significantly less – although he did take part in the annual Boxing Day pheasant shoot at Sandringham in 2018. 

The duchess is known not to approve, although claims she had ‘banned’ him were wide of the mark.