The Duke of York could be spending a very long period away from public duties due his damaged reputation and questionable judgement, a royal expert has said.

The future holds uncertainty for Andrew who has suspended his work with his charities, organisations and military units because of the fallout from his friendship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Ingrid Seward, editor-in-chief of Majesty magazine said: “I don’t think Andrew will come back, when he says he’s going to step down for the foreseeable future I think he means for a long time.”

She added his reputation would always be tainted because of his association with Epstein: “He can’t be exonerated because we know he was involved with Epstein.

“I’m afraid this might forever be hanging over him.”

With the US authorities still investigating Epstein despite his suicide in a jail, the issue of his friendship with Andrew is likely to make headlines for months to come.

But Andrew remains a member of the royal family and could still attend major national state events – that are separate from his personal public duties.

These include appearances on Buckingham Palace’s balcony after the Trooping the Colour ceremony or the Remembrance Sunday service at Whitehall’s Cenotaph.

Ms Seward said Andrew will almost certainly find himself out of the core royal family, if reports are correct that the monarchy will be slimmed down when the Prince of Wales becomes king.

She commented on a Buckingham Palace balcony appearance in 2012 where only the Queen, Prince of Wales, Duchess of Cornwall, Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Duke of Sussex were present.

Ms Seward added: “Charles did make that very pointed, I suppose, image when it was just a few of them on the balcony of Buckingham Palace.”