Prince Andrew's 60th birthday: Royal family celebrates but friends snub Duke

Not many of those invited to Prince Andrew's birthday bash have accepted the invitation. Photo / Getty Images

The royal family celebrated Prince Andrew's 60th birthday today with an Instagram post some are calling "inappropriate" due to the circumstances in which he stepped down from royal duties.

The post featured a photo of Andrew as a baby and read: "On this day in 1960, Prince Andrew was born at Buckingham Palace, the first child born to a reigning monarch for 103 years.

"Happy Birthday to The Duke of York."

But Andrew's fall from grace means not many are willing to attend his 60th birthday celebrations, reports The Sun.

View this post on Instagram

On this day in 1960, Prince Andrew was born at Buckingham Palace, the first child born to a reigning monarch for 103 years. Happy Birthday to The Duke of York. Photographs: Press Association and copyright reserved.

A post shared by The Royal Family (@theroyalfamily) on Feb 19, 2020 at 1:06am PST

It's been reported that a number of those invited have said they're "unavailable" for the festivities.

Andrew's ex-wife Sarah Ferguson is "scrambling" to gather the numbers for the event, it's been claimed, as her assistant Jane Clarke has been forced to send out more invites to fill up seats.

The cocktail celebrations will be held at the Royal Lodge. It's a downsized version of the party that was originally planned for the milestone birthday.

Instead, a "small family dinner" is to be held.

Andrew fell from favour after his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein was revealed. Photo / File

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are said to be among those who have declined to attend, as it's believed they'll send a gift and a video message to be played at the event instead.

More debate around Andrew's birthday was had earlier in the month, when it was revealed that reminders were sent to UK councils about flying the flag for the prince's birthday on February 19.

But the flag policy had since been changed, as the government said there was "no requirement" to fly the flag for the prince.

He was effectively sacked following his disastrous BBC interview in which he defended his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.