What to do about Bad Uncle Andrew? That’s the pressing problem facing King Charles over his morning egg – and it’s not an easy one to solve.
The latest batch of court documents exposing more lurid details about Prince Andrew’s friendship with Jeffrey Epstein would test even the closest brotherly bond.
They reiterate claims by Virginia Giuffre that Andrew sexually assaulted her three times when she was 17 and 18, including once during an orgy, and include testimony from one of Epstein’s housekeepers that Andrew had daily massages while spending ‘weeks’ at the paedophile financier’s home.
Despite all this, it’s clear that Charles feels a degree of sympathy towards his younger brother, who has strenuously (if not entirely convincingly) denied all the allegations.
The appearance of Andrew and his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, alongside other members of the Royal Family at church at Sandringham on Christmas Day would certainly imply as much.
The latest batch of court documents exposing more lurid details about Prince Andrew’s friendship with Jeffrey Epstein would test even the closest brotherly bond
But as King, Charles’s first duty must always be to the Crown, as his mother’s was before him. And this new chapter in this wretched business might force him to think again. Indeed, how he responds may be the first serious test of his reign.
Even if the specific allegations are never proven, Andrew’s association with two sex offenders, Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, casts a shadow over the Monarchy, and in particular the moral integrity of an institution that has, thanks in large part to another troublesome sibling, Prince Harry, taken rather a beating of late.
However absurd or unlikely the accusations levelled at senior Royals by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, however hard it is to prove what happened between Prince Andrew and Giuffre two decades ago, the fact is that mud sticks. We live in a world where a mere allegation is enough for people to assume guilt, and where concrete evidence is not necessarily a requirement to obtain a conviction in the court of public opinion.
The truth is that Prince Andrew is the gift that keeps on giving for those who want to get rid of the Monarchy.
It doesn’t matter how impeccably the rest of the Royals behave, how tirelessly they devote their time to good causes, how adorable the young’uns are. With Andrew in the fold, their efforts will always be undermined.
Note how the anti-monarchist group Republic reported Andrew to Scotland Yard and is calling for the latest accusations to be investigated by the police. Note, too, how Sir Keir Starmer has said that wherever ‘credible’ allegations have been made, they should be investigated. In the past, Sir Keir has said he ‘often used to propose the abolition of the Monarchy’. Maybe he now sees his chance.
If King Charles is to uphold his mother’s legacy, he cannot afford to let his brother’s past jeopardise the future of the Crown. He must distance himself and the institution from the object of these appalling allegations. He has to make it clear that he takes these accusations seriously, and that while his brother deserves a fair hearing, until and unless the matter is resolved satisfactorily in his favour, he cannot expect to enjoy the trappings of a full-blown Royal.
As King, Charles’s first duty must always be to the Crown, as his mother’s was before him. And this new chapter in this wretched business might force him to think again. Indeed, how he responds may be the first serious test of his reign
Crucially, the King must not find himself backed into a corner. He has to act before he is forced to.
The late Queen made a start by stripping Andrew of his HRH and retiring him from Royal duties. The withdrawal of funding for security at Andrew’s home, the 30-bedroom Royal Lodge (the name is rather misleading: it’s basically a palace), should be the next step.
Hopefully this would force him to move to the less ostentatious Frogmore Cottage which, while not exactly a hardship by most standards, would at least be a step in the right direction.
But even that wouldn’t, I suspect, lance the boil. Because however the King deals with Prince Andrew, he’ll always be Prince Andrew: entitled, arrogant, entirely lacking in self-knowledge. In fact, not unlike Prince Harry. Two spares with a talent for driving everyone else even more spare.
And it shows, every time he opens his mouth in public. Not just in that disastrous Newsnight interview, but at Sandringham on Christmas Day, when he asked Royal fans why they were there and filming him. When it was explained that they found the scenes ‘wonderful’ and ‘lovely’, Andrew responded: ‘You ought to come and stand on this side and see what it’s like’. Aaargh. Talk about ungracious.
I’m afraid there’s no choice: Andrew needs to be out of sight and out of mind. I suggest a lengthy sojourn on a Caribbean island, but given the circumstances that might not be ideal. Perhaps, rather than Frogmore, he could live quietly at Sandringham, hosting dinner parties for the hunting/shooting/fishing set. Just keep him away from the front gates.
