In recent weeks, there have been dozens of horrible stories about Prince Andrew, all coming out of Andrew Lownie’s book about the House of York. I’ve skipped many of the most lurid stories, partly because I find the whole thing disgusting and partly because most of the terrible stories are decades-old and they’ve already been reported on and discussed ad nauseum. If there’s one optimistic note for the Yorks, it’s that people have thought that Andrew is a buffoon and a nonce for years, so few people are newly scandalized by these stories. Still, we’re going through another round of “poor Princess Beatrice and Eugenie” for some reason. Like, I don’t believe Bea and Eugenie should have to “pay” for their parents’ crimes, but they’re also grown women with families of their own, and it’s past time for B&E to distance themselves from their horrible father, not to mention the entire monarchy. Some highlights from Tom Sykes’ Royalist Substack:
Innocent victims: Friends of Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie have described them as “innocent victims” and “collateral damage” after Lownie’s book came out. One contemporary of the sisters exclusively told The Royalist: “All they have ever done is stand by their parents in the most horrifically public circumstances. I don’t think it’s fair to criticize them for that. They’re sweet girls who understand that they are immensely privileged, and have always been grateful for the privilege they’ve had, and have tried to use it to do the right thing. They were told to get jobs by the firm and they did that, so it seems unfair to attack them for making money.”
More from B&E’s contemporary: “It would be totally inaccurate to say they are devastated or heartbroken by the book, or any of this c**p that is going around, because there are absolutely no new revelations in it at all. It’s just a massive rehash of a load of things that have already been said by different people, brought together in one place. The family used to wonder when this would ever end; now they know it never will. It’s just, the tide comes in and the tide goes out. They deserve to be allowed to get on with their own lives. Beatrice has set up an AI business and Eugenie is a director at [art gallery] Hauser and Wirth, and she is extremely good at her job.”
A friend of Fergie: “Sarah has only ever tried to make a living for herself through her writing, something she is now doing, and they are all incredibly proud of her for it. The family have been pilloried and bullied by the British press for a generation, so they are well used to it by now. Sarah has seen it all before. She’s a tough old bird and I don’t think this latest series of revelations, which actually aren’t revelations at all, just a rehash of information that is already out there, will do very much at all. It’s interesting that so many of the people quoted are either anonymous or dead.”
Fergie & Andrew will not remarry: There have long been suspicions that Fergie and Andrew were happy enough with an open marriage, and that it was only the publication of those photographs that forced a divorce. These rumors have been fueled by the fact that the couple have continued to live together, apparently very happily, at Royal Lodge, Andrew’s home, ever since, appearing in many ways to be a married couple. I have been told they live in separate wings of the house. Rumors of remarriage have persisted, though friends regard them as tabloid fantasy, given they no longer have a romantic relationship and the attention it would attract.
York associates believe the whole thing will blow over: Speaking to several of Andrew and Sarah’s friends this week, I have been struck by how many of them think the controversy will quickly “blow over.”
I kind of agree with the “sources” that it will likely blow over. I’m not saying that’s what should happen or that we should breeze over the constant stream of depravity, arrogance and abuse from Andrew. I’m just saying that Andrew has always been lucky – his mother spent decades covering for him, and just when Andrew’s years of degeneracy were coming back into the public sphere in a big way, the entire British media and British establishment decided that the bigger story was “Meghan and Harry.” As for Sarah… she’s a survivor, she’ll find a way to survive in some form no matter what. Eugenie and Beatrice need to understand that there’s never going to be a moment when a current or future king will welcome them with open arms and want them to be “working royals.”
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Avalon Red, Cover Images.
