I don’t find it particularly contradictory to hold these two ideas at once: Prince William is stupid for demanding credit for Prince Andrew’s demotion AND William is right to want Andrew punished even further. Like, as a PR exercise, I don’t know why William is rushing around to claim credit for the weaksauce Andrew demotion. William should actually say, on the record, that he thinks there should be a police investigation into Andrew’s relationships with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, and that Andrew should effectively be under house arrest while that happens. Instead, William and the rest of the Windsor clan has treated this latest issue like they really did something and now everyone can move on. It’s abundantly clear that William had very little to do with any of this as well – this was a gentleman’s agreement between Andrew and King Charles, and Andrew struck a pretty sweet deal without any actual consequences. Anyway, the Sunday Times had a longer piece about where everything stands now. There’s a sense that they’re all bracing themselves for more drama. Some highlights:
Royal relief: It was many years too late, but when the inevitable final curtain fell for Prince Andrew at 7pm on Friday, some in royal circles breathed a sigh of relief.
This won’t be the end: Now Charles, 76, an embattled King who is still having weekly treatment for cancer and navigating endless family dramas, hopes this knuckle-rap for Andrew will be the end of it. It won’t. Why? Because with the publication of Giuffre’s posthumous memoir, and many more details expected to emerge from the “Epstein files” in the US, the drip, drip, drip of scandal will keep coming.
Andrew still lives a comfortable life: Nothing has really changed for Andrew, who, according to visitors to Royal Lodge, spends much of his time playing video games. He is still technically a duke — only an act of parliament would strip him of that title. He is still technically an HRH, a Knight of the Garter, the highest order of British chivalry, and he is still the Earl of Inverness and Baron Killyleagh. In palace-speak, his titles are “in abeyance” and “extant but inactive” — a bit like Andrew, who will continue to live at Royal Lodge, his sprawling mansion on the Windsor estate that he shares with his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson.
QEII could have done more: Could Elizabeth have nipped this in the bud if she had been firmer six years ago, and stripped him of all his titles in 2019? Perhaps. But as one of her courtiers says, she couldn’t bring herself to do it. “It is very hard for a mother to humiliate her son — far easier for a brother to do it. That story is as old as the Bible.”
Was it a sign of strength from Charles? Some will see Andrew’s further demotion as a sign of strength in Charles, who is said to have considered the exposure of his brother’s lie, that he had broken off contact with Epstein in 2010, a tipping point. A grim email published this month, sent by Andrew to Epstein in 2011 and telling the financier that they would “play some more soon”, has raised questions about what else Andrew might have lied about. The email was sent the day after the infamous photograph was published of Andrew with his arm around Giuffre. Others will see the latest development as a royal fudge, the empty gesture of another monarch showing their weak spot with an errant, embarrassing relative.
Ruthless Scooter King: The next monarch will be more ruthless. Buckingham Palace says the Prince of Wales was “consulted” on the decision, but it is understood that he is not satisfied with the outcome and knows the “Andrew problem” will be in his in-tray at some point. When William is King, Andrew will be banned from all elements of royal life. He will be excluded from public and private royal events, including the coronation, and banned from most state occasions. Since Charles’s accession, despite ongoing scandal, Andrew has been allowed to attend “family occasions” with senior royals, including Christmas at Sandringham in 2022 and 2023 — latterly with Ferguson — as well as Easter services at St George’s Chapel, Windsor and the Duchess of Kent’s funeral at Westminster Cathedral last month. William, 43, considers his uncle a “threat” and a reputational risk to the monarchy, and is understood to be concerned about the message Andrew’s presence at royal events sends to victims of sexual abuse.
Sarah Ferguson will be banned as well but Eugenie & Beatrice won’t: It is understood that William will also ban Ferguson from royal events. A former courtier who knows [both Andrew and Fergie] well says: “She can be naive but has a decent heart. He’s stupid without one [a heart].” No scandal seems to weaken their bond, and losing their titles is another humiliation they will bear together. William remains close to their daughters, his cousins Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, whose titles and status are unaffected, and will continue to include them in family and official events.
Why isn’t anyone paying attention to the other left-behinds? Above all, Charles hopes it will refocus minds on the work of his family. On Friday, William visited the London Ambulance Service to mark its 60th anniversary, and on Wednesday Charles hosted indigenous leaders at St James’s Palace. But Andrew stole the headlines, and will continue to do so — a frustration for the King and his heir. “A clear line has been drawn so hopefully we can move on,” said a source close to Charles, who will become the first monarch to pray with a Pope since the Reformation when he visits the Vatican this week. Others in royal circles are more realistic. “It has clouded everything,” another source said. “It’s really important that people see the work of the wider family, but at the moment, this is still a huge distraction. The King is about to do one of his most important state visits to the Holy See, but it comes against this backdrop and it’s very difficult for him.”
Lessons for William: There will need to be big institutional changes to future-proof the monarchy against a repeat of the mistakes made along the way in the sorry, sordid saga of the prince formerly known as a duke. What lessons might William take away from this latest chapter, which almost certainly has not yet closed? Be much firmer, move much faster — and find something useful for a spare to do.
That last line – “find something useful for a spare to do” – is the only reference to Prince Harry in this piece. It’s no consolation, but at the very least, these horrid people are no longer pretending that “Harry marrying Meghan” is somehow just as bad as Prince Andrew’s sleazy and despicable crimes. Luckily for the Scooter King, he won’t have to “find something useful” for his spare to do – Harry has taken care of that himself, which is another reason why William is so full of rage. Now, I actually don’t have a problem with William’s plans to ban Andrew and Fergie from all aspects of public and royal-family life. I understood including Andrew in his mother’s funeral, but what I never understood was why Charles allowed Andrew to come to his coronation. Not only allowing him to attend the Chubbly, but wear his Garter robe too! Andrew also shouldn’t have been allowed to openly attend holiday church services with the family. So on those narrow issues, I’m actually on William’s side. Anyway, this week is going to be… interesting.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
