It took about 92 hours after Prince Andrew’s catastrophic BBC interview for Andrew to step down from public life and royal duties. This is absolutely about the PR disaster and not about the facts of the Jeffrey Epstein case, although to be fair… the royal family is in the PR business, and when someone f–ks up as badly as Andrew, that’s a fireable offense. Which brings me to Andrew’s statement, where he was (of course) allowed to make it sound like he was “stepping down” by choice, that it was his call. The Daily Mail’s sources say that’s not what really happened. Prince Charles has been in New Zealand throughout Andrew’s controversy, and Charles apparently called his mother and told her this cannot continue. The Queen finally agreed, and she basically called Andrew to the palace and fired him. Highlights from this Daily Mail story:
Prince Charles called his mother from NZ: Prince Charles, who is in New Zealand with his wife Camilla, is said to have stepped in and made it clear his younger brother be stripped of all royal duties. The siblings have had high-profile rows. Andrew will lose his £249,000 annual income from the taxpayer-funded Sovereign Grant as a result – but will keep his grace-and-favour home in Windsor and cash will still come in from his mother’s Duchy of Lancaster estate, the source of her multi-million pound private income. Andrew will also keep his grace-and-favour Royal Lodge home, which he has spent £7.5million renovating in recent years and taxpayer-funded police bodyguards.
Charles spoke to Andrew as well: The Duke was forced out of public life after lengthy discussions with his eldest brother the Prince of Wales, who is touring New Zealand, and the Queen summoned Andrew to Buckingham Palace and told him to step down but allowed him to draft his own statement. A royal insider said: ‘When the Queen and the Prince of Wales stand firm together they are a pretty formidable combination in terms of getting things done.’
Will Andrew agree to an FBI interview? The Duke of York is today being urged to fly to America to speak to the FBI with lawyers for Jeffrey Epstein’s victims warning him ‘any delay’ must lead to US agents heading to London to interview him before Christmas. Attorney Lisa Bloom, who represents five of Epstein’s ‘slaves’, has said she is ready to subpoena Andrew and force him to give evidence in the US – but prosecutors would treat him as a witness to help prosecute Epstein’s ‘helpers’ and co-conspirators rather than a criminal suspect. Ms Bloom said: ‘Andrew and his staff must cooperate with all investigations, show up for civil depositions and trials, and produce all documents. Nobody is above the law and everybody should have to answer questions’.
Andrew’s patronages had already abandoned him: More than 20 major companies and charities – including Barclays, KPMG and the English National Ballet – distanced themselves from Andrew and the initiatives he has been backing;
How the Queen fired her son: Last night, a friend of Andrew told The Sun: ‘The Queen summoned the Duke to Buckingham Palace to tell him her decision. It was a devastating moment for both of them. His reputation is in tatters. It is unlikely he will ever perform royal duties again. He is disgraced.’ The devastated prince, who is eighth in line to the throne, was told he could write his own statement in an attempt to allow him to bow out gracefully.
It’s true that I’m just looking for sh-t to rage about, but Jesus, all of this was mishandled from the start and it’s STILL being mishandled. The disgusting photo-ops the Queen did with Andrew throughout the summer, the lack of preparation for the BBC interview, the f–ked up arguments Andrew made in the interview, and the fact that 24 hours ago, the palace courtiers were still circling the f–king wagons around Andrew and doing the most to protect him… in a way they’ve never done for the Duchess of Sussex. And then Andrew gets to walk away with significant spoils AND he got to write his own resignation. This is one of those moments where it would look better if people knew that Andrew was FIRED for cause. The cause being, he’s a rapist buffoon, an entitled misogynist and a f–king liar.
Also: I would love to know more about the call Charles made to the Queen. I want to believe Charles raised his voice at the Queen in a John McEnroe-esque “YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS” way.
Photos courtesy of WENN, Avalon Red, Backgrid, the BBC.
Well, it’s the DM so… But I hope it is true that Charles said PA had to go!
On another note: Would it even be possible to subpoena a non-US citizen and force him to give evidence in the US?
You can request to have a non-US citizen speak to you through the British government, but a subpoena doesn’t necessarily hold as much water if the British citizen refuses and the Brits refuse to enforce. Which they may do for a royal, but who knows. Legally, it doesn’t hold the same punch as it does here, and I also doubt the US would go after him with a subpoena. Their first step would be to try and get him to speak to him without it through British legal sources. One interesting information in his interview was he hasn’t been asked to speak with anyone from the US about this yet, which I tend to believe, but who knows why or what direction the case is going, now that Epstein is dead. Now we do have a good relationship with the Brits with FBI offices in the UK so he could just speak with them there. Even according to Andrew’s debacle of an interview he said he would speak to them, although he did add if required and not sure what that meant. I think it may have meant he wouldn’t speak in US civil disputes about it, and honestly from a legal point of view that is probably wise. Pretty sure the Brits wouldn’t be required or force any citizen to submit to civil subpoenas or interrogations. My one advice for him he really needs an attorney with him when he speaks with the FBI or any US officials. If he comes off even a 100th of what he sounded like in that interview he may be in trouble.
@noway – Hi, long time no see!
Do you really think he will speak with the bureau and who could compel him to?
He might do it willingly, but I don’t think the British government or the US would compel him to. I think it depends on what he really did and if it was illegal, and if he thinks it might help him to talk to them and not be implicated. He may think it’s his road to redemption. Unlike people on here who have made up their minds, I still think its possible he was just a crappy stupid womanizing privileged pig who was used to having young women and money thrown at him and didn’t bother to question anything. I still remember when he was the hot prince, and all the attention he did get. It was like Harry, but honestly a lot more. After that interview he certainly seems dumb enough that scenario is more than plausible. Plus the one odd thing which keeps popping up in even the victims assertions is it’s always pointed out she was 17 when this happened. Which coincidentally is beyond the age of consent everywhere this happened. Then you have to go with if the Prince knew what was going on. It does seem plausible the victim of these crimes wouldn’t be telling the men this either so he’d have to know some other way. Then you run into he is a total idiot and you just kind of go okay it’s plausible. Just saying it’s a defense with the way it is being presented even by the victim.
Noway,
You seem to know more about this than I do, and I appreciate your explanation, but I think you’re being generous with the age of consent point. It reminds me of the Onion headline saying Epstein claims no knowledge that his sex slaves were underage.
The only way that Andrew will see consequences for this is if the British decide to do something. Due to his trade ambassador role, he had full diplomatic immunity during his friendship with Epstein. He could confess everything and the US still couldn’t touch him. That’s why the whole thing was dropped years ago when it first came out. The argument was that he had immunity at the time and couldn’t have committed a crime even if he did something illegal.
It doesn’t matter what Andrew’s criminal exposure is, he won’t be prosecuted in the US. If the FBI goes after the Johns (which is unlikely), there are plenty of Americans they can prosecute.
@noway-
thanks!
Just cannot see him with a mea culpa
(somewhere Koo Stark is glad she never took on this)
@Megan
I agree with your point that the FBI is unlikely to really go after the so called Johns in this case. There are people who were atop the trafficking pyramid with Epstein, and the FBI would be focusing on them. Ghislaine Maxwell is the most obvious candidate for prosecution but she has not been charged with anything and is not on any kind of FBI most wanted list.
If he agrees to be a witness and name names for the FBI, it’s only a matter of time before he too is “suicided”.
Also, if the FBI got their hands on any of the blackmail material held by Epstein, they may have some leverage over Andrew.
I don’t know, they’re giving him lifetime RPOs… but also, how likely is it that he even knows anything of value? After all, he’s not bright and is very oblivious to boot.
He’s acting oblivious because he doesn’t want to admit anything, but is he really oblivious? Who knows. And no he’s not bright. But a bright person would keep their mouth shut. If he feels panicked enough, I think he would blab to save his skin. But I doubt he’ll ever feel that panicked. He is so well buffered, he’s never known a vulnerable moment.
.
Sorry, I keep deleting my comments- I can’t make up my mind, about his obliviousness or a lack of courage, now that that’s been mentioned.
Considering the fact that the wife of a US diplomate recently flew out of the UK claiming diplomatic immunity after she killed a teenager while driving on the wrong side of the street, I’m not sure how willing the DOJ or the FBI would be to forcefully go after Andrew… They’d be opening a bit of a can of worm right there
Yeah that won’t go after him. It would be too much on a fiasco at an international level.
The stripping of royal duties will be all he receives for a punishment.
Well, it sounds like Andrew (and Fergie — if story true that she strongly encouraged Andrew to do the tv interview) finally gave Charles enough rope to hang him. Andrew (and Fergie) have been an ongoing liability to the Crown for years that Charles has wanted to marginalize for their unethical business decisions. Surely, Charles pointed out to the Queen that her entire life’s work and all the sacrifices to public duty versus personal happiness that have been made (especially by her own father) to the survival of the CROWN after Abdication crisis were in serious jeopardy if she did not step up to the plate and do the right thing as Queen. Of course, I agree with all those who have commented (Lainey’s post especially good) that this is all about PR and not Andrew’s actual behavior with Epstein.
I think we’ve seen all the “punishment” for Andrew’s involvement with Epstein that we are likely to get. It seems a small step to us, but not since the Duke of Windsor being marginalized has any senior member of the royal family been forced in to being made an outsider when it came to royal duties.
“…which he has spent £7.5 million renovating in recent years and taxpayer-funded police bodyguards”.
Remembers a time when Sussexes were skewered for spending a third of that amount renovating their home.
And it’s just an aside here. No article about £7.5m of taxpayer money for the 8th in line to redo his house…
Yep.
Royal Lodge technically isn’t grace-and-favour, although any taxpayer money spent on it beyond restoration and necessary structural work should not happen. He did put £7.5 million of his own money (or mummy private fortune money) into it in 2002. It wasn’t Crown Estate funds like Frogmore Cottage, it was ‘personal’ funds. The Fail might be referencing that but making it sound like it was taxpayer money spent. That was considered enough to pay out the lease requirement, so he’s in it for decades without paying more in rent. Eugenie and Beatrice inherit the lease when he dies.
Edward and Sophie got a similar deal with Bagshot Park. Those two deals were questionable, which is why W&K ended up grace-and-favour at Anmer. Harry and Meghan ended up at Frogmore Cottage because them getting Frogmore House on one of these long-term leases would have been attacked.
I know he didn’t but I would hope he let her have it during that phone call. For that church stunt, for letting Andrew go forward with that interview, for not checking Andrew all these years, for Andrew period.
He would never do that; Charles still *desperately* craves Mummy’s approval and love.
What a truly tragic family.
That’s so sad cause my god is she leaving him with a mess. IF the BRF even survives after she passes away.
I think revoking HM’s favorite son’s right to be a working royal does not endear Charles to his mother. I wonder if she actually fought Charles on this, or she just resignedly negotiated the timeline and terms.
I’m glad he did that interview. It showed the world just what an entitled, oblivious thicko he really is.
Yes! I would love to have heard the “lengthy” phone conversation that took place between Charles and Andrew. I’m sure Andrew fought this action tooth and nail. The hatred must now be palpable between Andrew and Charles. Christmas at Sandringham should be fun. Oh but of course that source quote just after the interview did say that the Queen and all other senior royals totally believe Andrew’s version. So I guess it is just the nasty PR fallout that has caused his ejection.
Are you guys serious with these sources?
What?! You don’t think the daily fail is reputable, truthful & reliable? 🤪
That was my exact thought since the Queen has been known to tell the press matters in regards to the family. This is utter BS!
I wonder what Prince Philip thinks. I’m dying to know….
He’s probably just mad Andrew involved himself with someone who was less than discrete. His focus is probably all on the “should’ve been smarter about indulging your proclivities” aspect. Where’s a good Thursday lunch club when you need one?
I think you are totally right.
Prince Phillip “angry” over the fact the victim wasn’t discrete?
This could possibly threaten the entire BRF!
Andrew, was warned by literally everyone up to and including the M6 decades ago.
I think, and we will see, how the Royals handle this. Once the Queen passes, this will be in Charles lap.
Besides being confused about why such a big fuss is being made over ‘those floozies.’ I doubt Philip understands trafficking, or even has the slightest idea of what the experience of prostitution would be like. I imagine him subscribing to the Victorian belief that prostitutes just have voracious appetites.
Ewwww…yuck 😖
No one is above the law but he will only be used a as witness and won’t ever be a criminal suspect?
I suspect the DM’s next headline is that $15 millions (US) renovation. That may just end the monarchy right there. They’re in big, big trouble if the UK’s economy tank after Brexit as it is predicted to do so. They can’t justify the costs anymore. Tourism? France killed their king hundreds of years ago and the Egyptian pharaohs disappeared thousands of years ago. Their tourism industry is doing just fine.
Its been repeatedly proven that they bring in nothing in terms of tourism – people will visit the palaces regardless of wether there is a Monarchy or not. Its the history that draws visitors not the family themselves.
If the public were ever to find out Queenie had the gov cover up for her peado son then it would be the end of them all. They know that and they will chuck Andrew to the wolves to protect the institution – Charles has just proven that he will do what is necessary to the protect the Monarchy. Make no mistake TQ only allowed this to happen because Chuck intervened and made her.
In fairness, your comment, it has been proven the modern royals don’t bring in any tourism dollars is not accurate. Other than some angry articles, I haven’t seen any solid evidence this is true. Plus almost all arguments discount the private modern tourism souvenir industry and branding. Which as anyone has seen with Tump or the Kardashians, even negative branding creates income. Sales of souvenir items from Sussexes, Cambridges, Queen, Diana and even Charles is an industry in Britain and does quite well. Plus, you forget the royals actually own, not the government, some of the properties and items which receive tourist dollars. If owned by them any dollars go straight to them, which I don’t think is what people want. Not to mention events that they host which garner dollars Ascot, Trooping the Colors, Jubilee, plus ones in Scotland, Ireland, Wales, etc. So if they dissolve, which is a viable option, it’s not quite as simple as people think. Plus if they dissolve like this it does tarnish the whole industry. There are security issues too. While people may not blink an eye if Andrew was hurt they might if Meghan or Harry were. My only reason why I think it would be hard for Harry and Meghan to leave the royal family. Something would have to be arranged at least for a while for security for them too. It’s a bit like Brexit, may seem like a good idea but very hard to execute.
The easiest thing to do is Charles’ idea to limit the monarchy, similar to Sweden. The royal family has too many royals on it’s payroll. Charles has shown an acumen in growing wealth with his 50 year management of the Duchy of Cornwall estate which is privately owned. He seems to get it and his mother now seems to listen a bit more. People can pile on here all they like, but this is a good thing to have Andrew off the government payroll and away from the public no matter how it was achieved with only his mother’s private money protecting him now.
The official tourism agency for the UK did the study and proved they are a wash when it comes to bringing in tourists. More people go to LegoLand Windsor than visit anything related to a living monarch.
Fail may be referencing the original 2002 renovations, which were ‘privately paid’ not paid with Crown Estate funds. Deliberately making people think it was recent reno with taxpayer funds. IDK. I haven’t read anything about him re-renovating after 2002, but he might have.
Yes, I read the article. It said he renovated and the cost – not specifically that it was taxpayers’ money.
That’s what makes me question it. The amount stated being exactly what he spent to do this in 2002, and no stories I remember in recent years about his re-renovating.
Its only a matter of time before he is kicked out of the line of succession – that is coming. Given that Epstein main money making scheme was blackmail and how Andrew behaved toward him tells us that Epstein had the goods on Andrew – there is evidence of Andrew and underage trafficked girls and it will all come out in time. Its also only a matter of time before more girls come forward to say they were trafficked to him – that interview opened way too many flood gates that will tarnish the RF and TQ’s legacy for a long long time.
I have always thought that walk in the park was Andrew seeking assurances from Epstein that he would never release/destroy the blackmail material and Andrew being the stupid tool he is believed him. This is far from over for Prince Porky Fingers.
I don’t think so he’s so far down the line now it’s immaterial. If it gets to him the monarchy will be dissolved before then. This is a never before seen punishment. I mean even King Edward who married Wallis Simpson and abdicated was given an allowance by the government. Andrew is only getting money from his mother not the government. I wonder if this was part of the deals with Charles. Maybe he agreed to quietly give money to Andrew periodically since he doesn’t seem to show a good budgetary sense and the Queen would want to make sure he doesn’t run through his money in his lifetime. Just conjecture here. Still, this is a big deal!!! Plus the interview pretty much said he would speak with the authorities if asked so we might get that too, once the investigation gets more in its second gear now that Epstein is dead. I personally believe the investigation has not gotten that far yet and he hasn’t been asked to be interviewed. Another reason, not PR why his interview was a mistake. Now they will look at him more thoroughly.
Most articles on Andy and his money circle back to him needing funds for Fergie, his ex wife. I’d like to bet that if Charles is going to chuck him any extra cash it will come with strings that say it cannot be used to bail her out.
I hadn’t realised that the £15,000 she received from Epstein came several years after the now infamous 2010 stay where Andrew apparently ended their friendship as honourably as possible…
He can’t get kicked out of succession. I don’t think that is actually a thing that can be done at the moment. Parliament will have to take some type of action to make that sort of removal possible, and there’s a big chance that they won’t do that, because then it could open up some shaky legal grounds when it comes to inheritance of aristocratic titles and such in Britain in general. And there’s really no good reason for parliament to intervene at the moment here, at least not as far as *they’re* concerned, because Andrew has been removed from public service and he’s not getting any tax payer money, and he’s far enough down the line of succession that it’s extremely unlikely that he’ll inherit.
Prince Porky Fingers
Omg I’m laughing my balls off !
As if Andrew wrote that statement. I believe he was forced to resign and told what his resignation statement would be.
It doesnt matter now. The damage is done. Everytime andrew is seen with them, people will think about it. And oh boy if he gets called in to talk to the FBI, its going to be a bigger mess. The royal family deserves every bit of this karma. In the day and age of social media and internet it will always be out there.
This isn’t a stand of solidarity for the women who were abused and exploited. No, this is about saving face and the monarchy. This is self preservation. He should be in jail for his crimes and nobody is above the law. I would love to see him on the witness stand, but I doubt he will. What he participated in was illegal. Who he associated with was a pedophile. Those are the facts. He should be in jail, but he won’t be.
How is Andrew the Queen’s favorite? What kind of personality does she actually have?
When The Queen had Andrew and Edward she had a chance to raise them. And I just think she loves Andrew’s company more than her other children.
Unfortunately, Charles and Anne were mainly raised by nannies since The Queen had just started her reign.
But his personality is dismal. He’s always been known as a frattish, hooray Henry type. And he’s clearly smug and dumb. But the Queen likes spending time with him. The Queen is in her 90s and we still don’t know what she’s actually like but if Andrew is what she considers good company, what is she actually like.
@Silas Andrew is probably much different to her than to everyone else. When he returned from the Falkland Islands, he bounded out of his troopship to meet her on the docks. With a rose clenched between his teeth.
Andrew is rumored to be the bandaid baby after alleged affairs in HM’s marriage. And I think that him being neither the heir nor the spare made her a bit more partial to him, as well.
Technically, he was the spare cause he moved Anne down back before the Queen made the rule females don’t fall behind the males, and he kept his place too when she changed it.
Which strikes me as the stupidest most juvenile reason for disliking a child/person. That’s the deal, lady. That’s how you got your job and your dad was the spare too and so on and so forth till someone snatched the throne from someone else.
Betsy- And ironically, the throne was snatched from Bonnie Prince Charlie, the true king. Really, Charles is such an ill-omened name for an English king- the first was beheaded, the second spent the country into bankruptcy, and the third had his crown usurped- like my mother says,”Why on earth would they even name him that?”
Your comment made me wonder about what ambivalence they might have had toward their firstborn- why *did* they choose that name?
The Queen grew up in a close and supportive family (Us four) but didn’t recreate that with her own family. Her whole sense of purpose seems to come from being the monarch and Charles is the only other person who has a real claim to that. And she’s been cold and unsupportive. Charles found out he was made Prince of Wales when he was a kid at school and hear the announcement on the radio. That’s not about being a royal, that’s a choice on her part.
@Silas, the Queen’s family wasn’t actually all that supportive, tbh. As long as both of her parents were alive, yes, but the early death of her father from lung cancer basically meant that he was recreated as a saint in the eyes of the public, the good monarch taken away too soon because of the stresses of a role he never asked for. The Queen Mother was a straight up asshole who was a total d-ck to Princess Margaret. If she had actually be a supportive parent, she would have looked after her younger daughter, but she didn’t, and that set her adrift for the rest of her life.
This family is built on centuries of dysfunction! It goes back to Queen Victoria – and beyond (because the family of George III super-fucked up as well).
At the time that AndrewPedoYork was born he was the spare though. When Anne was born male primogeniture was still a thing.
I still think there is a strong possibility that Andrew is not Prince Phillip’s son, but “Porchey’s.” Thus, the Queen’s favorite.
If he agrees to be a witness and name names for the FBI, it’s only a matter of time before he too is “suicided”.
Also, if the FBI got ahold of blackmail material being held by Epstein, they may have leverage on Andrew already.
^^^Yes.
Regardless of the tabloids’ screeds, Andrew must stay away from the Epstein matter completely. The Palace believes this is a PR problem; it is not so. It is a deadly situation populated by bad actors who play for keeps.
Andrew should retire from the BRF, keep a low profile even in private life, never speak to any police force. His ex-wife cannot continue working for Saudi Arabia’s MBS or any other unsavory characters.
The sordid character of the activities surrounding Epstein makes exposure of Andrew’s role an existential threat to the survival of the monarchy.
I kind of feel bad for Charles (kind of). His brother and his kids are really blowing up the monarchy right before he’s about to begin his reign.
Right? He’s waited his entire life for his chance and it is finally in sight and his idiot pedophile brother destroys the monarchy through his blatant disregard and sense of priviledge.
How has Harry “blown up the monarchy? Harry just continues to give good value but still deal with the fallout towards he and Meghan of a personality trait shared by both Charles and William; their insane jealousy over ever being outshone. Both Charles and William just can’t understand that “one” cannot force, or order by royal decree, the public to like “one” more than they might like some other public figure.
Neither Andrew NOR Fergie has EVA been able to live within their means…which is one of the reasons why Andrew AND Fergie aligned themselves with Epstein in the first place…that nefarious “dark money” that Epstein was ALWAYS drowning in…money and access that he did not mind sharing with BOTH Andrew and Fergie…I need Fergie dragged more regarding this scandal too…because she is just as complicit and as odious as Andrew regarding this Epstein crap…
Charles cannot STAND Andrew…for good reason…and I know that every. single. day. Andrew prays that his Mama lives for at LEAST…200 years….because cutting Andrew out was gonna happen…REGARDLESS…once Charles became King….I know that it gives Charles great pleasure that Andrew was so stupid that he made it happen while their Mama was STILL walking this earth…
THIS. Sarah Ferguson’s hands are filthy too, and where are the paparazzi shots of her? She must be hiding out somewhere, although still in the lap of luxury.
Their poor daughters, I do truly feel for them.
In the past week or two Fergie has been jetting from Hong Kong, China, Saudi Arabia, and Venice on what she calls her philanthropreneur endeavors. I find it a bit SHADY.
It should be remembered that Fergie visited Epstein’s island around the late 1990s with her kids, and that when Palm Beach police raided Epstein’s mansion in 2005 they found phone message pads with notes saying ‘HRH Duchess of York is expecting your call.’ Other message pads had notes arranging the underage ‘masseusses’.
Fergie is hanging with MbS atm — not even joking. And tweeting about how wonderful a gentleman Andrew is.
And, look where her a$$ was earlier today–Buckingham Palace “having tea”. Puhleeze.
The entire BRF family is nothing but a bunch of conniving, ruthless and gloried grifters. I’m thinking it’s time for the DDoS to quietly cut and run.
https://twitter.com/VinnieoDowd/status/1197544182296064000
P.S. I love the fact that the BBC guy flat-out told the Sun they could NOT use his photo. https://twitter.com/SunPictureDesk/status/1197583516218855425
I read today that Andrew is now traveling to the Middle East on Nov 27 for a pitch@palace event. Wonder how he will allow himself to be compromised over there to get major dollars to keep his pitch going now that so many sponsors are jumping ship. He and Fergie have done too many dirty money deals over the years with this area of the world for his not to be hoping one of them won’t bail his ass out with some huge donation that he can do a press release about. His very large ego has just been kicked in the ass so I think he is vulnerable to getting himself involved in some shady money agreement over there to try to sooth his ego. Yes, after what just happened, I think he and Fergie are that stupid! After all, when Fergie was caught trying to sell access to Andrew on British trade, it was said that he was fine with her actions. I can’t believe the Queen and Charles are so short sighted as to let him go out there for Nov 27 event.
@Tourmaline, that’s very interesting because at that point, Fergie was NOT an HRH.
I read somewhere that household staff always treated the Duchess of Windsor as royal, although she wasn’t, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Fergie demands that behind the scenes too.
I am truly impressed with Charles’ personal PR skills over the last few months. Out of every good and bad event, he comes out looking like top dog. Harry and Meghan’s wedding? So much positive press for stepping in as a kind and welcoming father-figure in the family. (I wonder what happened to all that love and closeness in the last few months? I don’t see him rushing to H&M’s defense now that it is not advantageous to him.) Sudden stories about William’s work-shy ways that kicked up last spring? Again, Charles looking like the hardworking monarch-to-be, quelling any ideas that he should be skipped over for his more glamorous sons.
Now with the Andrew mess … even the Queen screwed it up, and here comes Charles, to put his foot down and save the monarchy and the family.
[As an aside, it’s well known Charles does not like anyone to outshine him. It seems obvious William shares the trait. When Kate and Will first married, I don’t think it was an accident that they were sent off to the country, and that she did no work. Yes, Kate is lazy, but she does what and as she is told. She was a popular, glamorous young woman that could be trotted out for major events, but never allowed to become a Diana. I think Meghan refused to toe that line – because she actually wants to accomplish things, and not just be part of the royal family – and she is suffering greatly as a result.]
I’m tired of bringing facts about the workload of the royals to these discussions. I will say when impartial statistical people look at workloads and don’t go by gossip or what they want to see their facts and conclusions are much different than people on here. Second, I agree on Charles’ PR though, but it took him almost 50 years to get it right. So there is hope for all.
Very interesting perspective, I never thought of that but you may well be right. Charles hated Diana’s huge popularity, I remember reading his comments that everything he tried to accomplish was reduced by the press to “what frock Diana was wearing”. Understandable, if you think of it like that.
Part of the problem with bringing this to the second generation is that Charles actually did things, even though they seem kind of silly. The Prince’s Trust has helped a lot of young people with small(ish) grants to help them move forward in life. Famously, a Prince’s Trust grant paid for Idris Elba’s theater training. The Duchy of Cornwall is a bit twee, but it also has paved the way for people to make a living doing traditional country farming, like raising sheep or organic farming. (Of course, with Brexit they are fcuked, because the EU funded a lot of these programs.)
I’m not down with all the William hate, but he just hasn’t done anything similar. Some of it is that the Prince’s Trust is still active. In the 70s and 80s, it filled a needed void. William is trying now, but in both the mental health areas and making Britain more inclusive, Harry is just so much more drawn to these things, as well as being a more natural spokesperson.
Sad.
@Mo, I will say this for William, it did take Charles years to hammer out what he wanted to focus on wrt his role as PoW. We’re seeing the result of decades of work on his part, but at the time, it really did look like he wasn’t doing very much of anything, and he was criticized for it, famously by Prince Philip who was constantly pissed that Charles had such disparate interests. So I’d be interested in seeing how the things William is working on now will be received in the future–if he sticks with something even if it’s mediocre for long enough, it’ll eventually yield some type of positive result/response from the people who are going to look at the overall legacy over the minute details.
Added together W&K don’t have the charisma of a rock. If they were working 500 engagements each per year, they couldn’t outshine Charles if they tried. If they worked more, far more, it would be commonplace and no big deal. It is their insistence on doing so little that makes bothering to show up such a big deal.
I honestly stopped taking the queen seriously when I saw how she let Philip treat her. I kept wanting to shake her and and say beeyash… YOU ARE A QUEEN.
Being accused of involvement in a human trafficking ring and raping underage girls was fine. But as soon as they started following the money….!
I agree kerwood and have been saying since yesterday that once the DM article about how Andrew funds his lifestyle he was a goner. The rest of the RF certainly don’t want anyone looking too closely at the “gifts” they receive from “friends”.
Yes to this. It is said that Charles’ hands are pretty dirty here as well. He takes gifts and sells privileges of being seen with him. Once the media started looking at money, Andrew had to go.
Its not a good look for HM if this is true – that it was only due Charles’s intervention that she did this. But, I think we all know that it is probably true. the queen wasn’t going to make Andrew step down from duties unless someone told her she had to.
I would not be surprised at all if this were true. I am just surprised it took him this long to intervene.
Charles may have intervened before, but HM refused to listen until the public fallout in the last few days. She reacts, doesn’t act. When it comes to Charles vs. Andrew, she was always going to think whatever Charles said was related to sibling rivalry.
If the FBI knows more about the Epstein enterprise, then you can be sure Scotland Yard does, too. Let’s not forget that Ghislaine is British and her British millionaire father was… sketchy, possibly involved with multiple spy services/ mafia/ whathaveyou. I’m sure they kept an eye on her, too, especially as she’s flying planes for Dukes and Presidents. Based on this season of the Crown, I can see Scotland Yard keeping certain details private out of respect for TQ, but perhaps someone called up Charles and gave him the rundown and let him break the bad news to his mother.
The key here that I think people also need to look at is that Andrew’s patronages were jumping ship on him, fast. I feel like that’s what clued everyone in as to what a disaster this whole interview actually was. These people are used to charities and patronages wanting to work with them, so the fact that Andrew was suddenly this pariah must have really sent everyone else into a panic. You can ignore the public opinion if you choose not to read the papers and surround yourself with sycophants. But this was starting to affect the closest thing they have to work. If people don’t want to partner with the royal family for charitable endeavours, then the next logical leap is to ask what purpose they serve, truly, especially if they protect and circle wagons around pedophiles and those who support sex-traffickers? Why should the British subsidize a family that no one wants to be associated with?
I think Charles for sure has a hand in this, but I don’t think this was all him. He’s in New Zealand, and I feel like if he couldn’t get through to mummy in the last fifteen years or so, he wouldn’t have been able to do this on a phone call from across the world. I have a feeling that at least some of this came from Andrew himself. Not the statement, god knows he didn’t write that (does he have a new crisis manager? because I doubt any one of his staff, or the Queen’s staff, is capable of writing such a statement either). But I think he was starting to panic once it became clear that charities can and will cut him loose, fast, and not seek his association because of this. Andrew always gave me Boris Johnson vibes, where he’s desperate for adulation. He must always be constantly praised and have his ass patted for existing and not falling over every 20 seconds. So the fact that people suddenly don’t want to be seen with him? That must have clued this man in real quick.
I disagree. When he flew to Australia recently for a major pitch@palace event only ONE person (other than those working the event, his entourage, and the press) showed up to attend. There was even a photo with the report showing him posing with the lone attendee This was reported and then quickly surpressed as he and his PR contacts started selling it as having been a very successful event. I think he is tone deaf and would have hung on dragging everyone down with him. There is no way he was fine with being forced to retire. George Orwell’s 1984 have truly come true in this media age.
How recently was this? If it was before Andrew’s interview, then I’m not surprised that he had the clout to shut down such reports. His reputation was not in such tatters then, and he had the ability to hide such things. After being so public about his disgusting behaviour, I would not be surprised if large numbers of his patronages flat out cancelled on him in the last two days though.
he is her son, after all. and all the meanings that entails.
I hope this isn’t thread jacking, if so apologies. But Lisa Bloom has some absolute nerve being front and center on attacking Andrew (even if it is richly deserved), after her part in helping Weinstein attack women. Ronan Farrow’s book does not put her in a good light. Her clients should have someone else helping them against an institution as powerful as the Royal family. All of these powerful people are so … intermingled it is gross.
Unfortunately, this is the classic treatment for disgraced white males: fired, significant monetary rewards and no jail time. Look at Matt Lauer and TONS of others. I’m frankly shocked he even stepped down.
I like to think that in the phone, HM was all, “But surely, Andy wouldn’t–” and Charles just went full Dolemite ” BITCH, ARE YOU FORREAL?!”
ROTFL
This here is why oligarchy and monarchy will never stop ruling the world. Give me a stipend and a slap on the wrist and send me home any day like they are doing Andrew. This pig should be brought to justice and he should face the women he defiled, that vile bastard.
If I were going to randomly speculate (since that’s all the DM and others seem to do, anyway), I would say that The Queen & Charles have been in lengthy conversations with their teams of advisors on how to deal with Andrew. I don’t believe, for one second, that the Queen does anything on a whim, nor would Charles.
My guess is (and I’m not saying that it was the right decision) they encouraged Andrew to step down from his duties on his own, in order to “save face” in some way. It also allows the Royal Family to maintain the appearance of a united front.
Thank you CB for keeping that photo alive. Lol love it