Kate and William 'to avoid' disgraced Andrew amid King's chance to confront him

King Charles hasofficially started his Balmoral summer holiday - and it can only mean one thing.

The majority of his royal relatives will all be heading to the Scottish Highlands to join him for the annual getaway to the Aberdeenshire estate.

Family members such as the Prince and Princess of Wales and the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh nearly always join the monarch. But it seems one family member has raised eyebrows by also travelling to Balmoral this year - Prince Andrew. He and ex-wife Sarah Ferguson have reportedly headed to the estate despite humiliatingclaims about the pair in a brand new biography.

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They are said to be staying at the seven-bedroom Craigowan Lodge, which was a favourite place to stay of the late Queen's. And while his inclusion on the holiday might be a surprise to some, it isn't to former BBC royal correspondent Jennie Bond.

She told the Mirror : "The summer break at Balmoral is very much a private time for the Royal Family. There’s no big walk to church - as at Christmas at Sandringham - there’s no Easter service as at Windsor each year, so members of the family can come and go pretty much unnoticed.

"Charles is not an unkind man, and nothing is ever going to change the fact that Andrew is his brother. He’s very fond of his nieces, Beatrice and Eugenie, and he wouldn’t want to deprive them of special family time with their parents.

"So Craigowan Lodge is ideal for the whole York family to be together on the Balmoral estate, but not under the same roof as the King and Queen.

"It’s well known, anyway, that Charles and Camilla much prefer to be at Birkhall rather than in the castle. So, it’s anyone’s guess as to who will be staying where.

"With several properties on the estate, it’s a great way for the extended family to be together for walks, picnics, and dinners perhaps - but also to have time apart. And that, as many people will recognise, is the ideal recipe for a relaxed holiday with relatives."

In years gone by, the late Queen would stay at Balmoral, her beloved home, for weeks on end during the summer with various family members coming and going.

Jennie says many of the visits are carefully coordinated to ensure there are no awkward encounters. And she believes this will be the case when it comes to Andrew and his nephew Prince William, whose relationship has been described as "incredibly strained".

She explained: "The visits by various members of the family are carefully coordinated: for example, when the Duchess of York was invited there in the past, it was deliberately timed to avoid her running into Prince Philip. Similarly, I rather expect that Andrew’s stay will not coincide with William and Catherine's."

Andrew's relationship with his older brother, the King, is also said to be strained, with the monarch keen to get his sibling to move out of his huge Royal Lodge home into a smaller property.

It comes after several scandals have plagued Andrew in recent years, with a new book called Entitled by Andrew Lownie depicting him as sex obsessed, a “useful idiot” and easy prey for Jeffrey Epstein.

Jennie added: "I very much doubt that the King has read Andrew Lownie’s book about the Duke, but he will have been made aware of its content.

"You would imagine that the Balmoral holiday would give the two brothers the chance to sit down and talk about the damage all the allegations against the Duke have done.

"But, years of reporting on the Royal Family have taught me that they are sometimes quite strange in their dealings with one another.

"And it may be that they will just politely get on with enjoying the traditional break they have had as brothers for so many decades, and avoid the elephant in the room."