This is why Sarah Ferguson was noticeably absent from daughter Princess Beatrice's wedding pictures

Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, was noticeably absent from Princess Beatrice's wedding pictures - and now a royal commentator has revealed why.

• An expert said royal advisors thought it would be best to not share pictures of Prince Andrew due to the controversy surrounding his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein. The Prince denies any wrongdoing in connection with his former friend.
• Because of this, only pictures of the newly-married couple with the Queen and Prince Philip were released.
• This follows royal news that the Queen is reportedly ‘distraught’ over husband Prince Philip’s ‘health setback’.

Princess Beatrice's secret wedding (opens in new tab) surprised many royal fans around the world, coming weeks after the announced she had to cancel the bigger ceremony she had planned.

But after the news was confirmed and official pictures of the beautiful nuptial (opens in new tab) were released, there was one noticeable absence - her mother, Sarah Ferguson.

The royal caused confusion when she failed to mention the joyous day on her social media channels (opens in new tab), and instead continued to post as usual.

Now, a royal expert revealed that the picture snub was down to Prince Andrew's connection to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein (opens in new tab).

Camilla Tominey wrote in the Daily Telegraph, 'Despite their 1992 separation and divorce four years later, Andrew and ‘Fergie’ vowed to remain amicable for the sake of their own two princess daughters - Beatrice and Eugenie.

'So their exclusion from their eldest child’s official wedding photographs, amid a continuing scandal over the Duke’s links to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, will cut like a knife.

She continued, 'It seemingly wasn’t enough for the ceremony to be held in secret - effectively sparing the Queen’s beleaguered son from appearing in public.

'The Royal powers that be had clearly decided it was probably not a good idea for him to feature in the historic pictorial record of the event either. It is undoubtedly a spectacular fall from grace for the 60-year-old Royal who had gained a reputation for leaving no one in any doubt of his status as the sovereign's second-born son.

'Instead, the public has been treated to two - admittedly beautiful - images of the bride and groom emerging through the floral archway of the intimate 19th-century church in Windsor Great Park, and posing alongside the Queen and Prince Philip, 99.'