Queen Elizabeth cracks down on Prince Andrew
Queen Elizabeth has sacked her favourite son after his disastrous interview about his links to a paedophile, leaving the monarchy facing its biggest threat in decades
THE year was 1992. The occasion: a speech by Queen Elizabeth to mark the 40th anniversary of her ascension to the throne. The tone: anything but celebratory. It had been one of the worst years of her life, she told the nation – her annus horribilis, she called it. And it wasn’t hard to see why. The marriages of three of her four children had broken down – Prince Charles’ to Princess Diana, Prince Andrew’s to Sarah, Duchess of York (Fergie), and Princess Anne’s to Captain Mark Phillips. A devastating fire had ripped through her beloved Windsor Castle. A tell-all book by Andrew Morton, Diana: Her True Story, revealed bombshell details of Charles’ affair with Camilla Parker Bowles – and then pictures emerged of Fergie sunbathing topless and having her toes sucked by millionaire John Bryan. “[It] is not a year on which I shall look back with undiluted pleasure,” the queen said with characteristic restraint.
But it’s safe to say 2019 is a strong contender to knock that horrible year into second place.
It started with a literal bang when her husband, Prince Philip, crashed into a car carrying two women and a baby in January – and it snowballed from there.
A widening rift between grandsons William and Harry; controversy after controversy dogging Harry and his wife, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex; Britain pushed to the brink of a constitutional meltdown; scandals involving more members of her family – the list goes on and on.
Yet all these headaches pale into insignificance compared with the monumental migraine her favourite son has caused her.
And it must’ve been with a heavy heart that the queen summoned her precious Andrew (59) to Buckingham Palace to tell him he was sacked from royal duty.
She had little choice: Andrew’s car crash of a TV interview, which was supposed to draw a line under his involvement with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, had cast the royal family into such disrepute he had to go.
The interview with hard-hitting BBC journalist Emily Maitlis, littered with laughable excuses and paper-thin denials, has shaken The Firm to its foundations.
“Quite frankly, it’s difficult to recall anything more scandalous in the history of the royal family in a generation,” royal commentator AN Wilson wrote in the Daily Mail.
The only thing that comes close, says social historian Professor Judith Rowbotham, is the scandal that rocked the monarchy in 1936 when King Edward VIII abdicated in order to marry Wallis Simpson, a divorced American socialite.
Now, just like his great-uncle, Andrew will discover what it’s like to be out in the cold.
The prince said in a statement he’d be withdrawing from royal duty for the foreseeable future – but insiders say there
can be no going back. “It’s unlikely he’ll ever perform royal duties again,” a palace source says. “He’s disgraced.”
FROM HERO TO ZERO
In the ’80s Andrew arrived home to a hero’s welcome, having courageously piloted a helicopter to help his country win the Falklands War against Argentina. But since his retirement from the Royal Navy in 2001 he’s lurched from one PR crisis to the next.
As a UK special trade envoy he forged unusually close ties with dodgy oligarchs from Kazakhstan and with Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, son of Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.
A few years ago he faced questions after it came to light he’d earned millions of pounds in commissions by allegedly acting as “a fixer”, using his contacts to help wealthy businessmen seal lucrative deals.
But his friendship with Epstein really raised eyebrows. Andrew has denied sleeping with any of the women the American businessman had in his sextrafficking ring and wanted to tell Maitlis this. Instead he became a figure of global ridicule and an embarrassment to his family.
What really angered people was his failure to express any sympathy for Epstein’s victims.
Afterwards Andrew is said to have told his mother the interview went rather well – and then an almighty storm broke over his head.
PARIAH PRINCE Within days many of the 230 charities of which he was a patron ended their partnership with him. A string of big businesses that had sponsored his charitable endeavours, including KPMG and Standard
Chartered, announced they were cutting ties, and students at Huddersfield University where he was chancellor lobbied to have him removed. He soon resigned his post.
Meanwhile, a can of worms had been opened and it was an attack-Andrew free-for-all.
Rohan Silva, a former Downing Street aide, revealed shocking comments Andrew had made in meetings. On one occasion he reportedly told Silva, who’s of Sri Lankan descent, that he’d “never get anywhere by playing the white man”. Another time he used the offensive expression “n****r in the woodpile”.
Jacqui Smith, a former Labour cabinet member, backed Silva up, recalling how Andrew made racist jokes about Arabs during a state banquet for the Saudi royal family in 2007.
One joke was about camels and although she refused to repeat exactly what he said, the punchline was “as worse as you can imagine”.
After several encounters with Andrew she came to the conclusion he “wasn’t very bright”, Smith said.
“I don’t think he really understands the way in which you behave and in some ways that’s not surprising because you’re pretty insulated in the royal family,” she told the Daily Mail. “But he’s at the worst end of the royal family, I think.”
Dan Wootton, executive editor of The Sun, agrees. “There’s a reason Andrew has been the public’s least favourite senior royal,” he writes. “He’s a stuck-up charlatan who’s done far more harm to the monarchy than good.”
ROYAL HULLABALOO Although Andrew told the BBC crew the queen had given the green light for the interview to go ahead it turns out that might’ve been an exaggeration.
Palace sources say she was aware of the interview but had no idea it would focus entirely on the Epstein scandal and thought it would also showcase her son’s
charitable endeavours.
“She saw the fallout and was very unhappy,” one aide says. “She’s spent her whole life protecting the monarchy and in just one week her son’s actions threatened to tear it apart.”
Charles (71), on royal duty with his wife, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, in New Zealand, was furious.
In the days after the interview he and the queen were in regular communication and William (37) – who’s second in line to the throne after his father – was also consulted about what should be done about his uncle.
“Don’t forget William has a long-term stake in this too,” a family friend says.
Charles has always been in favour of a more streamlined monarchy and apparently he was the one who decided Andrew had to go.
WHAT NEXT FOR ANDREW? The prince’s life will transform overnight.
“There’ll be no activity for any charities. No public activities whatsoever,” a palace official says.
This means Andrew will no longer receive his £249 000 (R4,7 million) annual salary, although he’ll still get an allowance from the queen.
But there can be no doubt he and his family will have to live a more frugal lifestyle. Princess Beatrice (31) is said to be worried about the impact her dad’s fall from grace will have on her upcoming wedding to Italian property tycoon Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi (36).
Although it’s believed she wants a far more modest affair than the overthe-top nuptials of Princess Eugenie (29) and Jack Brooksbank (33) at Windsor Castle last year, there’s now no choice in the matter.
As her father is now off the working-royal payroll, taxpayers won’t have to fork out anything for the wedding – unlike the £2m (then R37m) it cost them for security at Eugenie’s wedding.
Andrew may still be a member of the royal family but he’ll fade into the background considerably. And the drama will eventually end his long fight to have his “blood princess” daughters given a more important place in the pecking order.
“Andrew will still appear during Trooping the Colour and on the balcony at major events,” a palace source confirms. But that’s about it.
For the foreseeable future the Epstein saga is likely to dominate his attention. Although Andrew claims never to have witnessed anything untoward, the FBI is keen to speak to him and the prince has indicated he’s prepared to cooperate with any official investigation if required.
Whatever happens, he can count on the support of his ex-wife. The day after his resignation, Fergie (60) was seen arriving at Buckingham Palace to join him in a meeting with the queen.
On Twitter she praised Andrew as a “true and real gentleman”, posting pics of him in uniform to reinforce her message.
“I’m deeply supportive and proud of this giant of a principled man who dares to put his shoulder to the wind and stands firm with his sense of honour and truth,” she wrote. “For so many years he’s gone about his duties for Great Britain and the monarch.”
STRAIN ON THE QUEEN As the drama continues to unfold many have voiced concern about the impact it’s having on the queen.
“She’s under strain,” an insider says. “She’s telling everyone she’s fine because that’s what she does but she’s 93 and it’s obvious this is going to take a real toll. Everyone is incredibly concerned.”
Ironically her showdown with her son took place on the day she should’ve been celebrating her 72nd wedding anniversary. But with Philip (98) having suffered a number of health setbacks in recent months, doctors have advised him to rest at the royal estate in Sandringham while his wife continues her royal duties in London.
Since 2017, when Philip officially bowed out of royal duties, there’s been more of a weight on her shoulders. “Prince Philip was the guiding hand, the disciplinarian, and now he’s out of the picture,” respected royal biographer Christopher Wilson says.
“It’s become a bit of a free-for-all. Just look at Harry and Meghan freelancing out their PR and doing their own thing – there’s no central command at Buckingham Palace anymore. You can see the disintegration.”