Prince Andrew secretly visited the Queen under the cloak of night to discuss his £12 million (NZD$24.3 million) sex case settlement and his future role in the royal family.
The Duke of York reached the deal earlier this week with accuser Virginia Giuffre and accepted she'd suffered as a victim of abuse. But he made no admission of liability and continued to deny the allegations she made against him.
She alleges he sexually abused her on three occasions when she was 17 years old.
The Sun reports that the prince made the 8-kilometre journey from his Royal Lodge home to Windsor Castle every night this week to speak to the Queen.
"Andrew has been very careful and is trying to keep out of sight… He knows there are photographers in the daytime and his best chance to avoid them is after dark," a royal insider told The Sun.
"He knows he is meant to be keeping his head down and it's a short trip, but he is extremely contrite and apologised to the Queen for all the trouble he has caused her."
The duke has also apologised to his two daughters, Beatrice and Eugenie, over the scandal and he fears their young children may have to grow up hearing about the case.
"He realises how serious this whole issue has been and the damage it has done to the monarchy," the source told The Sun.
"The last thing he wanted to do was cause his beloved mother so much anguish at her age and in her Platinum Jubilee year."
The exact details of the prince's conversations with the Queen aren't known, but other sources told The Sun he's exploring life as a non-royal potentially in the United States, similar to his nephew Prince Harry and his wife Megan.
"Andrew has been in turmoil about the whole thing. And one thing he has done is reach out to Harry about life outside 'The Firm' and things like security and what he can do in the future," the source said.
"He has seen how Harry has managed to carve out a new life for himself away from the royal family."
On Saturday, flowers and cards were seen being delivered to Royal Lodge on the prince's 62nd birthday.
His birthday was marked quietly as he laid low after settling his sex abuse case. There was no tolling of the bells or hoisting of flags to celebrate it - both of which were scrapped by Westminster Abbey and the United Kingdom government respectively.
Running to his mother in times of legal crisis isn't new for the prince. He twice drove 1600-kilometre round-trips to Scotland to hide at Balmoral with the Queen mid last year as lawyers in the United States attempted to serve him legal papers.
