Camille fills in for Andrew at Trooping the Color’s birthday parade after the prince was forced to retire from a valuable role.

The disgraced Andrew, 62, was forced to resign as Colonel of the Grenadier Guards when he was sacked from his royal post by the late Queen when he paid out millions to Epstein’s sex slave Virginia Roberts Giuffre.

Buckingham Palace announced last night that Camilla, 75, had accepted the rank of colonel, ending months of speculation. The sun reports.

“Many nails have been driven into the coffin of the Duke of York and there has been a desire to return to public duties, but this is without a doubt the last of the last nails,” the source said.

As a result of a major reshuffling of military ranks, the 40-year-old Princess of Wales was appointed colonel of the Irish Guards, succeeding her husband William in this post after eleven years.

The 40-year-old Prince of Wales replaces Charles and becomes a colonel in the Welsh Guards.

Andrew, who was active in the Falklands War, was promoted to colonel by his father, the Duke of Edinburgh, in 1975.

His honorary military rank was suspended when he retired from public duties following a car accident in a Newsnight interview with Jeffrey Epstein in late 2019.

The announcement comes six months before Trooping the Color, when members of the royal family will appear at the Horse Guards parade in honor of the King’s first birthday parade.

Trooping the Color has also been rescheduled from the second weekend of June to the third of the month and falls on Saturday 17th.

The Queen Consort and the Princess of Wales are not expected to appear on horseback or in military uniform.

Sources close to Camilla say the “senior” post was chosen as it was previously held by spouses and is directly below the king.

The Queen Consort takes her appointment “very seriously” and is “excited” at the prospect of developing a relationship with the regiment, sources said.

But Camilla never officially served in any military position.

Her father, Bruce Shand, was a high-ranking World War II soldier, and her ex-husband, Major Andrew Parker Bowles, served as a squadron leader in the Household Cavalry.

A palace spokesman declined to say when Andrew was made aware of the appointment or his immediate response.

This summer, a former Grenadier Guardsman criticized the scandal-stricken Duke of York for continuing to wear his Grenadier Guards cypher while riding outside his £54m ($54m) 31-room mansion at the Royal Lodge.

Despite his infamy and ceremonial role being put on hold, Andrew still managed to attend a conference with the colonels of the Household Department hosted by Prince Charles at St James’s Palace in 2021.

The Grenadier Guards greeted the news that Prince Andrew had been stripped of their honorary colonelship, “three cheers” in honor of the Queen in January.

In a statement, the palace said the Prince of Wales is taking over as a regimental colonel in the Welsh Guards from King Charles, who served from 1975 until he became king in September 2022.

The Princess of Wales becomes Regimental Colonel of the Irish Guards from Prince William, who served from February 2011 until he became Prince of Wales in September 2022.

The queen consort succeeded Andrew, who had served as a regimental colonel in the Grenadier Guards since 2017.

The Duke of Edinburgh held the post from 1975 until his retirement, and was held for one year in 1942 by the then Princess Elizabeth.

Queen Victoria’s husband Prince Albert also held the post for nine years.

As monarch, King Charles III would be appointed commander-in-chief of all regiments of the Palace Division.

Each regiment traditionally has a colonel, who is usually either a member of the royal family or a senior officer.

The troops of the colors have been celebrating the official birthday of the British sovereign for over 260 years.

More than 1400 soldiers, 200 horses and 400 musicians will take part in it.

The parade moves from Buckingham Palace and down the mall to the Horse Guards Parade, along with members of the royal family on horseback and in carriages.

The pomp and ceremony ended with an RAF overflight, watched by members of the royal family from the balcony of Buckingham Palace.

This article originally appeared on The sun and reproduced with permission

Originally published as Camille fills in for Andrew at Trooping the Color’s birthday parade after the prince was forced to retire