Queen Elizabeth II “fired” her favorite son, Prince Andrew, on November 20th, the Wednesday following about 90 hours of the most catastrophic headlines for the royal family since Princess Diana’s death. The Queen had little choice in the matter – her (terrible) instinct was to protect Andrew at all costs, even as the stories kept getting worse. But several things forced her hand. One, Charles basically ordered the Queen to fire Andrew. Two, the courtiers had no idea how to manage the crisis and it was spinning out of control. Three – and this is significant – the few charities on Andrew’s plate were jumping ship, and all of the companies allied with Pitch@Palace (Andrew’s pet project) were withdrawing their support. He was already persona non grata with charities and businesses by the time the Queen fired him.

Here’s something I didn’t know though: the Queen let Andrew keep his honorary military positions in the British Armed Forces, including his position of Colonel in the Grenadier Guards. I would imagine that despite all of his criminal behavior and sh-tty PR, Andrew would relish those military honors and attend to them diligently. Not so much. From the Daily Mail’s Eden Confidential column:

Amid the turmoil engulfing Prince Andrew, courtiers have made it plain that he will retain his honorary positions in the Armed Forces. That’s a very significant consolation for Andrew, who served with bravery and distinction in the Falklands War as a young naval helicopter pilot. But the most precious and intimate of these links now appears to be imperilled. For I can reveal that the Duke of York, who succeeded his father as Colonel of the Grenadier Guards in 2017, failed to attend the regiment’s most glittering dinner of the year — despite being expected as guest of honour.

‘He said he would be coming,’ a military insider tells me, explaining that last week’s dinner was for the First Guards Club, whose membership is restricted to serving and retired Grenadier officers. There was a chair for him, but he never arrived.’

The sight of an empty chair, intended for the Colonel of the Regiment, was unprecedented. It made a stark contrast with the record of Prince Philip, who attended this highlight of the Grenadiers’ calendar even when well into his nineties. ‘He was wonderful: seemed to remember every single name and detail, wanted to know exactly what was going on in the regiment and in the Army and to hear what the serving officers were doing, particularly when they were on operations in Afghanistan.’

It would seem certain that Andrew intended to do his utmost to emulate Philip. ‘He was obviously thrilled to succeed his father,’ recalls the military insider, who explains that the appointment is in the gift of the Queen — the Grenadiers’ Colonel in Chief — who joins him on Horse Guards Parade for Trooping the Colour. ‘The Trooping’s a testing occasion for someone who’s not a natural or experienced horseman but Andrew has done well, made a real effort.’

The Grenadier Guards decline to comment on the Duke’s extraordinary last-minute absence. But regimental voices have expressed disquiet about his continuing association with the Grenadiers — voices which he appears now to have heeded.

A Buckingham Palace spokesman tells me: ‘The Duke of York has stepped back from public duties. We do not expect him to undertake any activity in support of his patronages or military associations during this period.’

[From The Daily Mail]

Oh. OH. So even though he gets to keep his honorary military positions, he won’t DO anything with them or attend any military events. Because he’s “stepped back from public duties.” The whole thing makes it sound like it’s just a temporary situation and that a year from now, Andrew will be back at these kinds of dinners. Anyway, I can’t decide what’s worse: the fact that he retained his colonel position and then didn’t attend the dinner, or the idea that he could have kept the position and attended the dinner, where he probably would have been greeted warmly. Which is worse?

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, WENN, BBC.