Prince Andrew’s royal duties haven’t been reinstated but he’s still speaking on behalf of the Queen

The Royal Family is continuing to have one of its most disastrous years in history and it’s only February. Even before the surprising exit of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the monarchy was already dealing with the scandal surrounding Prince Andrew. The Queen’s son has been relinquished of his royal duties, but now it appears as though Prince Andrew has taken it upon himself to once again represent Her Majesty.Prince Andrew dined with Liu Xiaoming last week along with Andrew’s ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, their daughter Princess Beatrice and her fiancé Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi. Xiaoming is the Chinese ambassador to Britain and shared a picture of himself with Prince Andrew following the dinner. In the tweet, Xiaoming thanked Prince Andrew for relaying a message from Her Majesty the Queen, offering her prayers for those suffering from the coronavirus. While the sentiment was appropriate, the messenger was not.

Her Majesty The Queen sent an encouraging message to President Xi and Chinese people: At the critical time of fighting #coronavirus, I express my sincere sympathy for Chinese people, and pray for the speedy control and victory over the virus. It was conveyed by Duke of York. pic.twitter.com/RZItxQ26WS

— Liu Xiaoming (@AmbLiuXiaoMing) February 8, 2020

[video_embed id='1898162']RELATED: The new royal 'Fab Four' unite on the basketball court[/video_embed]Following the death of pedophile and sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein and the fallout from his criminal case, Prince Andrew’s friendship with Epstein quickly came to light. The prince denied any wrongdoing, including allegations he knew about underage girls being sex trafficked, but made headlines again when he gave a disastrous interview with the BBC. Following the interview, Prince Andrew released a statement on November 20 saying that he would be stepping away from his royal duties for the foreseeable future.It’s possible that the Queen quietly reinstated Andrew’s duties, but that’s highly unlikely. Andrew’s name was recently removed from the website for his company Pitch@Palace, which helps to connect new companies to investors. The company has already relocated from its office space at Buckingham Palace and according to the BBC has begun removing pictures of Prince Andrew from the company site after many prominent investors removed their funding following the allegations made against the Queen’s son.Duties among the royal family are beginning to pile up on certain members. Harry and Meghan were hoping to maintain some of their royal posts after leaving the UK in order to gain space from the intense racism Markle had been forced to endure, but the Palace decided that the couple could no longer be working members of the Royal Family.  Their vacancy means that some of their duties, such as Prince Harry’s work with the military, have fallen on other members of the family, including Harry’s aunt, Princess Anne.  With Prince Andrew already placed on leave before Meghan and Harry’s exit, other members continue to shoulder more of the weight.[video_embed id='-1']BEFORE YOU GO: This delivery guy seems to be having a really bad day[/video_embed]