Pariah prince should really earn a return to royal life
I ALWAYS liked Prince Andrew. That’s not fashionable now but memories are short.
I remember the Queen’s second son on the stern deck of HMS Brazen when thetype 22 frigate was commissioned on the Clyde in 1982. He’d just been promoted helicopter pilot of the shiny new ship and was in high spirits.
Half Jacktar, half Jack-the-lad, Andrew was in his element, laughing as he showed me the cheeky message written in felt tip by glamorous blonde television presenter Selina Scott on the door of his Lynx helicopter.
The Prince was recently back from the Falklands where he’d flown decoy missions from HMS Invincible.
That was the peak of his popularity. The photo of the 22-year-old Prince on the quayside at Portsmouth, a red rose stem clamped between his ample teeth, captured the joy of victory and the exuberance of youth.
That’s why I am sad to see a man who served his country in the Royal Navy for 22 years reduced to pleading
with his mother for a return to the royal life he had – and threw away.
Andrew was never as sharp as his naval sword but even he must see any royal role is out of the question.
How long should Andrew be banished?ten years at least. Only then, if he’s done some useful work behind the scenes, should he be allowed a limited place in public life.
The British public is commendably compassionate.they can tell the difference between stupidity and evil. And Prince Andrew is not evil.
Andrew might just be able to persuade the Queen that his royal rehabilitation is overdue. But there is one immovable barrier on his road to redemption: Prince Charles.
The heir to the throne does not want his younger brother back within the Royal Family, as was shown at Windsor Castle this week by the lastminute exclusion of Andrew from the ceremonial Garter procession.
Even before he succeeds his mother as monarch, it’s now the word of Prince Charles that counts.