Buckingham Palace has spent much of the past week screaming, crying and throwing up about Prince Andrew. As I said, it feels quite performative – the palace was somewhat prepared for Andrew’s name to appear all over the newly released Jeffrey Epstein files, and the palace was prepared with talking points for how they would “punish” Andrew. No, they won’t remove his titles nor do they regret inviting him to Sandringham and allowing him to walk with the family to church. Silly goose, of course they would never punish him in any real way. Currently, they’re making a lot of noise about forcing some kind of eviction from Royal Lodge. King Charles also wants credit for casting his brother out, “out” meaning “the palace will trash Andrew for a few weeks and nothing will happen.” One palace source insisted to the Sun that: “Charles found it very difficult. It was the hardest decision, as it’s his brother and he cares for him. But he knew it was the right thing to do. Someone had to take out the trash.” Charles also refused to speak to Andrew over Christmas, which I find hard to believe. Meanwhile, Andrew is also openly briefing the media about how he will absolutely refuse to move out of Royal Lodge:

Prince Andrew will refuse any efforts to get him out of his royal mansion despite new claims over his links with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. The Duke of York has reportedly vowed to fight any attempt made by King Charles to evict him from Royal Lodge, his ten-bedroom Windsor home since 2003, following the release of court documents detailing a slew of sexual assault allegations.

The King is said to want to remove his brother from his Berkshire residence and move him into the smaller Frogmore Cottage, which had belonged to Harry and Meghan before they left for the US. But Andrew has so far refused requests by Charles to move and is not planning on letting up anytime soon, according to The Mirror.

A source close to Andrew told the newspaper: ‘Andrew is going nowhere. The King can’t force him out. He has a cast iron lease that he has absolutely every intention of honouring.’

Well-placed sources have told the Mail that while the court claims were not a surprise, they will have served to ‘crystallise’ King Charles’s determination to solve the ‘Andrew problem’ decisively. Plans were already in train to evict Andrew from Royal Lodge in keeping with his ‘downgraded’ status but it is understood the King will redouble his efforts to move his brother in the coming months.

The release of the court documents are believed to have also strengthened the King’s resolve that his brother will never be allowed to resume Royal duties.

A source told the Mail: ‘When it comes to any public role for his brother, there is no way back. There has always been an agreement that Andrew would be permitted to attend private and family events, as is his right. But not public or official ones. That has not changed.’

[From The Daily Mail]

Yeah, Charles is literally going to have to send in police to get Andrew out of Royal Lodge. Which Charles doesn’t want to do, so nothing will get done and Andrew will stay in Royal Lodge. Interestingly, the Mail also spoke to some other royal sources and these statements are so weird and unsettling:

One source, who has dealt with Andrew extensively, said: ‘The Palace can’t ignore it, this isn’t going away. He paid that vast amount of money to Virginia Roberts. If he thought the money was going to make it go away, it’s had the opposite effect. It’s given it legs. People think ‘no smoke without fire’. This young woman, supposedly powerless, has had the last laugh. She’s got his money and found a way to publicly name and shame him through legal court documents he has no redress against once again.

Another source added: ‘Forty years ago he was a hero naval officer, charming and good looking. What a meteoric downfall. He was never clever about the company he kept. In fact he’s not very clever, full stop. He doesn’t like taking advice and has a severe lack of judgment, as well as historically surrounding himself by people who told him he could walk on water. If you are surrounded by sycophants like that, you believe your own Press. The Palace needs to get a grip on this. It’s difficult for the family. He is still their flesh and blood. But King Charles must act. Of course, if [Andrew] was a thoroughly nice chap, then people would be more willing to consider all sides. But he’s not. It’s a classic example: if you are not very nice to people on your way up, be careful on your way down… It’s rare that you find someone who so few people have something good to say about.’

[From The Daily Mail]

“This young woman, supposedly powerless, has had the last laugh. She’s got his money and found a way to publicly name and shame him through legal court documents he has no redress against once again.” Imagine saying that about a victim of human trafficking, someone who was passed around to Jeffrey Epstein’s powerful friends since she was a young teenager. Andrew would have “redress” if he had stood trial in Virginia’s civil suit – he chose to settle out of court because he didn’t want to have that “redress.” Anyway, Andrew, Charles, William… they all deserve each other. It’s incredible to watch these tone-deaf a–holes throw each other under the bus constantly.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.