One of the interesting things I noticed from “royal commentators” is that, in the wake of Prince Andrew’s settlement with Virginia Giuffre, one of the immediate thoughts was “will Andrew be able to come back?” Not to give the commentators too much credit, but I don’t think they’re the ones advocating for Andrew’s grand return to public life. If anything, the commentators are trying to get ahead of what they see as an inevitable effort FROM THE PALACE to somehow rehabilitate Andrew’s image and “bring him back into the fold.” It was definitely curious to see how many commentators immediately went from “well, this is good news for the Jubbly” to “Andrew is never going to come back, EVER.” The media is telling the palace: don’t even try it, it won’t wash. From the Daily Mail:

Prince Charles has been done for a while: One royal source told MailOnline: ‘I’m sure that Charles has had enough of the situation. Charles would have said to Andrew that he needed to get this sorted out as soon as possible and before the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations begin. Charles did not want this hanging over the Royal Family this year.’

Ordered by mummy: A former Royal protection officer told the Sun his dramatic U-turn was likely ordered by his mother. ‘This wasn’t his decision, this was the Queen’s,’ said Paul Page. He added that Andrew’s story was ‘full of holes’ and the Duke ‘would have been slaughtered’ in his deposition.

Penny Junor chimes in: Royal author Penny Junor said the settlement is likely to come as a ‘huge relief’ to the rest of the Royal Family because a trial ‘could have been very, very nasty’ and ‘humiliating’. She added: ‘It could have really taken the shine off the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee year.’ Ms Junor also said there had been a ‘complete change of tone’ on Andrew’s words on his links to Epstein, adding: ‘At last, he’s expressing some regret and some empathy for those girls.’ Ms Junor said the Duke’s notorious BBC Newsnight interview in 2019 had been ‘all about him’ and ‘He’s got it right now, it took him a long time to get there but I think he’s got it right.’ Asked if there is a way back to public royal life for Andrew, Ms Junor said: ‘I think it’s very, very unlikely.’

Richard Fitzwilliams chimes in: He questioned why such a payment was agreed if he was so sure of his innocence. He told the Sun: ‘Essentially has he admitted that he has done any wrong at all? No. Regretting his association with Epstein doesn’t count. He claimed innocence, but he has settled and many would regard this as an admission of guilt. If he was innocent then why did he pay?’

More from Fitzwilliams: ‘The relief at the Palace will be almost tangible now the threat of further public humiliation of Andrew in this civil case has been lifted after this settlement was announced. He has simultaneously, over two and a quarter years, managed to become a serious embarrassment, a national joke and a symbol of entitlement of the worst sort. If it had ever got to court, his humiliation would have been an international cause celebre. The questioning he was shortly facing as part of the legal process by Virginia Roberts Giuffre’s legal team, would have been devastating too. Although it would not have overshadowed the actual Platinum Jubilee celebrations in June, this scandal would have cast a cloud over this unique royal year. That will now not occur and he has continued to deny the charges against him, but the public will not forget the Newsnight interview, the unexplained photograph and his disastrous friendships with Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. There is therefore no future royal role, other than possibly helping to manage the royal estates, at any time in the future for him.’

Robert Jobson: ‘The fact that there’s been a settlement doesn’t necessarily mean that [Andrew’s] reputation is rebuilt.

Ingrid Seward: ‘The best thing he can do is disappear for a year. He must keep a very low profile, which I am sure Prince Charles will insist upon.’

[From The Daily Mail]

I can guarantee you that all of these people are responding to what they’re hearing from their “palace sources” and “royal sources,” which is that Andrew somehow believes that he can play some part in this fakakta Jubbly and make everyone forget how much he lied, victim-blamed and smeared a victim of human trafficking only to take millions of pounds from mummy to pay off his victim. Andrew believes he can come back. The Queen believes he can come back. Charles wants to send Andrew to Siberia. The press wants to ignore Andrew and focus on the Sussexes. This newscycle will be done in a few days.

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