Sometimes I just Google a royal name to see what the buzz is at any given moment. When you Google “Prince Andrew” these days, there are a surprising number of columns about “where did Andrew find the money to pay a settlement to Virginia Giuffre” and “maybe this should be the end of the monarchy.” Republican sentiment feels to be at an all-time high across the pond, and not just that… it’s almost as if some people have significant questions about royal money, where it comes from and how much there actually is. That’s the part which makes me wonder if the announcement about the Queen’s Covid diagnosis was perhaps partially meant to engender sympathy for Poor Ol’ Liz. Apparently, Liz worries that all of this has shaken the monarchy. The monarchy is shook!

Prior to today’s revelation of her COVI-19 diagnosis, the U.K. Sunday Times reports that the events of the last few days— Andrew’s $14 million settlement with Giuffre, the police investigation into Charles, and Prince Harry’s fight with the Home Office over his family’s security—has “shaken the monarchy” and, according to an insider proved to be “a distressing experience and double blow” for the queen in the year of the platinum jubilee.

“She could do without it,” the source said. “The Andrew scandal will leave a permanent stain on him and she knows it reflects on the whole family.”

The Times also revealed an alternative nursery rhyme made up within palace walls. “The grand old Duke of York, he had 12 million quid. He gave it to someone he’d never met, for something he never did.”

A courtier said that “the Andrew issue is never going to be completely behind us, the settlement boxes up a number of issues and we’ve just got to move on. As painful as it has been, it is a lot less painful than a court case.”

A source close to Andrew says of his appearance on March 29 at the memorial service for Prince Philip: “He is entitled to support his mother as her son but he won’t have any formal role at the jubilee.” Andrew’s life now “revolves mostly around the companionship of his loyal former wife, the Duchess of York, and visits from their daughters Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie,” the Sunday Times said. “It is too early to say what his life will look like in the future,” a source close to Andrew said. “He is remorseful, particularly about the impact it has had on his mother and his family. There is genuine regret he was ever involved with (Jeffrey) Epstein.”

“It’s not particularly buoyant at the moment, morale is low, it has been such a grim year,” a source told the Sunday Times of the mood at the palace.

“It is really important the jubilee goes brilliantly,” they added, “to remind us of the love and esteem the public have for the Queen, the widespread support in this country for the institution, and the ability of the monarchy and the occupant of the throne to bring people together… it feels a little like we want to have a good party, but no one is quite in the mood. But after all of this negative stuff, people are determined to make it a good year for the big boss.”

[From The Daily Beast]

By the time the Jubbly comes, we will all be completely over it. I know they can’t help but schedule the Jubbly for this year, but yeah… it does come across as tone-deaf when Britain is struggling, Brexit is a mess, and Liz is paying off her favorite son’s rape victims. All while Charles is being investigated for raking in cash from shady billionaires in exchange for passing out CBEs like Tic Tacs. And William and Kate are a pair of 40-year-old large adult children, being bribed into busy work to keep people from speculating about the sorry state of their marriage. All in all, an utter sh-tshow. You would think that they would ALL be desperate to ensure Harry and Meghan’s return, at least to take some of the heat off of the utter royal shambles, but I don’t think any of these people have the good sense God gave a goose.

Photos courtesy of Instar.