I’m not sure how seriously we can take royal biographer Andrew Lownie at this point, but Lownie is definitely one of the few royal-media people to really talk about Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson’s connections to Jeffrey Epstein before everything blew up last year, with the release of the Epstein Files. Lownie had made the media rounds this week, and he gave several interviews after Prince Andrew was arrested on Thursday. Lownie told NewsNation that everyone should be keeping their eye on several big stories to come: that there will be some news on who paid for Andrew’s settlement to Virginia Giuffre in 2022, and there will be more information coming out about what King Charles knew and when:

It’s the question the palace has been dreading — and the one that may ultimately determine the future of the British monarchy: What did King Charles know about Prince Andrew’s activities, his dangerous associations, and his legal exposure? And when did he know it? According to royal biographer Andrew Lownie, the answer is almost certainly: more than anyone has admitted. And for much longer than the public has been told.

Lownie is unequivocal on this point. Intelligence services, he says, routinely reported to the Queen and her private secretary — and would have done the same for King Charles. Foreign Office officials complained about Andrew for years. And when it came time to negotiate the settlement with Virginia Giuffre, the palace’s own lawyers would have laid out the full charge sheet.

“When they went to do the settlement, they would have said: What’s the charge sheet here? How do we deal with this? Can we fight this off? Are we going to have to pay hush money to keep it quiet?” Lownie said “I have no doubt that lots and lots of people in the palace knew about this — and that’s what’s so uncomfortable now.”

The settlement itself, Lownie suggests, traces directly back to Charles. “The information I have — and the information I know one of the papers looking at this has but won’t go public on — is that it was Charles’s money.” Though that has been officially denied, Lownie is firm: “The fact is, he was involved in decision-making to pay this money. He must have known what was at stake.”

To understand how the palace could have known, you need to understand what the palace actually is — which, Lownie argues, is considerably more than a ceremonial institution. “It’s like the Vatican,” he explained. “They have a very good intelligence service, lots of former intelligence officers working in the palace. They even have as equeries MI6 officers.”

During his research into the Duke of Windsor, Lownie saw firsthand how thoroughly the palace monitors its own: police protection officers filing reports, MI5 surveillance, royal archives containing documents that had “vanished everywhere else.” In other words, the idea that Andrew’s activities — his Epstein ties, his foreign associations, his potential security vulnerabilities — could have escaped palace notice strains credulity.

[From NewsNation]

I believe that Charles has had a great deal of knowledge about Andrew’s activities for some time, and I believe Charles absolutely signed off on Andrew’s settlement to Virginia. But I don’t believe Charles supplied the settlement money. I still believe the money came from QEII and the Duchy of Lancaster funds. I also believe QEII likely funneled a great deal of money to Andrew over the years, as well as doing the most to shield her favorite son from any repercussions for his depravity. QEII knew a lot about what Andrew was doing too. Meanwhile… Buckingham Palace has let it be known (aka they briefed the Telegraph/Rota) that the taxpayers will not be on the hook for Andrew’s legal defense:

Buckingham Palace will ensure the taxpayer does not foot Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s legal bill, The Telegraph understands. If the former Duke of York is unable to pay for his own legal representation, the financial burden “will not fall on the public purse,” a well-placed source said.

It is unclear from which pot the Royal household will find the money, although sources suggested that the King would not pay his younger brother’s bills himself.

On the question of who might help Mr Mountbatten-Windsor – and defend him in court – there is one man who remains in his circle: lawyer Gary Bloxsome. “He’s the only man still by his side,” one source admitted on Thursday. The criminal defence solicitor was taken on by the former Duke of York in 2020 when the FBI was circling with questions about his friendship with paedophile financier Epstein. As it turned out, it was an inspired hire. While other friends and associates slowly peeled themselves away from the tawdry crisis that engulfed the beleaguered royal, Mr Bloxsome stood firm.

[From The Telegraph]

“Will not fall on the public purse…” Technically, that’s what the palace has said about Andrew’s living situation in Sandringham as well, that taxpayers are absolutely not picking up the bill for Andrew living in Wood Farm or any other home in Norfolk. They say that King Charles is paying for Andrew’s living situation “privately.” A linguistic distinction which I’m sure will be recycled here – Charles will find some way to “privately” finance Andrew’s legal defense.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.