However, a royal expert suggested that the princess may alter her plans to avoid leaving her parents alone.

Royal biographer Ingrid Seward claimed that Beatrice, who is pregnant with her second child, may end up spending Christmas with Andrew and Fergie.

She told the Telegraph: “Somehow or other, I think that Fergie and Andrew will be with Beatrice, Edo and the kids, either at Royal Lodge or the in-laws.

“She is very close to her father and will want to support him and be with him at this time. I cannot possibly see Fergie sitting alone at Royal Lodge.

“She has lots of friends and family and would want to be with them. Andrew possibly wouldn’t mind. He would sit there in front of the TV, but Sarah would organise something with Beatrice.”

Earlier this week, it was revealed in a High Court hearing that alleged Chinese spy Yang Tengbo, who was banned from the UK, was said to have been a “close” confidant of Andrew.

Mr Yang, who was named after an anonymity order was lifted on Monday, has insisted it was “entirely untrue” to claim he was involved in espionage and that he has “done nothing wrong or unlawful”.

The businessman, previously referred to only as H6 in the legal case, was the founder-partner of the Chinese arm of the duke’s PitchPalace initiative and twice visited Buckingham Palace in 2018 to meet with the late Queen’s second son.

He is also said to have entered St James’s Palace and Windsor Castle at Andrew’s invitation.

On Friday, the duke’s office said Andrew “ceased all contact” with the then-unnamed businessman when concerns were first raised about him.

Andrew met Mr Yang through “official channels” with “nothing of a sensitive nature ever discussed”, a statement said.