Prince Andrew has had his remaining titles and honours removed as well as having agreed to leave the Royal Lodge at Windsor after a reported threat from the King
Andrew reportedly accepted his fate after the King warned him that he could “topple us all” if he didn’t leave the Royal Lodge.
Charles stripped his younger sibling of his Prince and Duke of York titles after the continued public outcry over his connections with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and sexual assault claims – which he has strenuously denied. Andrew has also agreed to move out of his 30-room Windsor mansion, the Royal Lodge, to a new home on the Sandringham estate in Norfolk, although that may not happen until after Christmas.
The move appears now to have been carried out by his brother Charles over concern about the impact of Andrew’s scandal on the Royal Family’s image. Andrew reportedly didn’t want to be responsible for bringing down the family.
READ MORE: Exactly why Prince Andrew’s move to Sandringham from Royal Lodge has been delayedREAD MORE: Secret royal ‘helped King Charles with brutal Prince Andrew statement’
The News Agents’ Emily Maitlis told the podcast: “When I asked last night what brought Andrew around, I was told that the Monarch had simply made him see the ultimate threat, in other words, and this is a phrase that was used to me – I don’t think it’s that the words that the King used, ‘You’ll topple us all’.
“In other words, Andrew did not want that on his shoulders. The idea was that the King had put to him something in the tenor of, ‘Would your mother really want to see you putting at risk the whole establishment?’ Which I think goes back to the chat that we had earlier this week, which is about how public perception and public mood was way ahead of certainly where Parliament was, where MPs were, and even where the Palace, possibly even where the King was, and they suddenly got this sense that things were precarious.
“It wasn’t like the whole thing was going to end overnight, but the questions were being raised in the public’s imagination, and the King thought he had to move decisively and fast, and he had to make Andrew see that this was yes, possibly an existential moment.”
At the same time visitors to Windsor Castle have warned the scandal surrounding the King’s disgraced brother Andrew will damage the reputation of the royal family. Standing outside Windsor Castle, Lara Delaney-Gray, 40, said the scandal has left a stain on her image of the royal family.
She said: “This isn’t just a tourist attraction, this is our culture. I’ve been brought up here and I remember as a child coming here and feeling proud of being here. So, suddenly, when it feels a bit mucky, it’s hard to have that pride.
“I think he thought that he is untouchable, but he’s not, regardless of who he is and who he’s related to. I do empathise with the King, he has to act as a leader to us but also a brother. The head is heavy that wears the crown.”
Retired Carla Delaney, from Marlow, said: “I’ve met Andrew twice through business. He wafted in and there was no interaction at all. We were hanging around for ages and we got nothing, he’s always been rather entitled. There’s been rumours about Andrew for years and years, but this is totally different.”
Roy Davies, 75, from Molesey, Surrey, believes Andrew “deserves everything that is coming to him”. He said: “It’s been a joke. Andrew has lived an entitled life since it all started. If he had come clean, all this could have been settled.
“He should have had more sense when meeting that chap Epstein. As soon as he heard rumours, he should have said, ‘that’s it, I’m out of here’. I feel for his daughters [Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie]. They’ve got nothing to do with it and now they are tarred with the same brush.”
Mr Davies said the King is attempting to rescue the monarchy with his decision, but believes public opinion may have already swung too far. He added: “There’s a lot of people in Britain who don’t really believe in the monarchy any more. I don’t like the money that they spend and the houses they have.
“Wherever they go, the police motorbikes push the rest of us out of the way. I would rather have a republic. We just spend too much money on it, it’s crazy and the country can’t really afford it.”
