Andrew faces an uncertain role
Latest blow came Friday when Royal Philharmonic Orchestra cut its ties
LONDON — Prince Andrew is scaling back travel and facing an uncertain future as he steps away from the royal role he has embraced for his entire adult life.
The latest blow came Friday afternoon when the board of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra announced that it was cutting ties to Andrew, who had been its patron.
The 59-year-old prince has suffered numerous setbacks in the six days since the broadcast of a disastrous TV interview from Buckingham Palace, during which he defended his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Epstein died in a New York prison in August, in what the New York City medical examiner ruled was a suicide.
London’s Times newspaper said in an editorial Friday that the debacle demonstrates the need for “urgent reform” of the royal household. The paper urged Andrew’s older brother and heir to the throne, Prince Charles, to take steps to streamline and make the Royal Family “more modest.”
The disgraced younger prince scuttled plans for a trip to Bahrain that had been planned to support his Pitch@Palace project, according to the British news media, even though he is struggling to keep that enterprise going despite cutting ties to dozens of other charities.
He did go horseback riding with his mother, the Queen, near Windsor Castle on Friday afternoon, despite harsh weather. The 93-year-old monarch has not commented publicly on her son’s troubles.
There was a visceral public backlash to the TV interview — particularly because Andrew did not express sympathy for Epstein’s young female victims — that led politicians to debate the future of the monarchy in a televised debate ahead of the Dec. 12 national election. Shortly after the interview, Andrew announced that he was halting his royal duties “for the foreseeable future.”
Until now, Andrew, the Queen’s third child, had been able to skate away from troublesome questions about his private life and his extravagant lifestyle. His association with Epstein had been known for more than eight years, but it only took him down after he went on TV to discuss it.
Andrew is trying to find a way to keep alive at least one of his projects without relying on the prestige — and real estate — of the Royal Family. Buckingham Palace officials said Andrew would try to maintain Pitch@Palace as a non-royal charity, which eventually would not be centred at any of the royal palaces. The prince founded the project in 2014 to link up young entrepreneurs with established businesspeople. In the past, idea and product pitches for the program have taken place at St. James’ Palace.
Andrew was expected to remove himself from the many other charities that he’s been involved with over the years, a diverse group that sheds light on his interests and reflects the varied demands made on a senior royal.
Among them have been the Army Officers’ Golfing Society, which promotes golf in the British army; and the Maimonides Interfaith Foundation, which is devoted to the use of art and dialogue to improve relations between Jews, Muslims and Christians.
The Falklands War veteran also was expected to drop his ceremonial role with many military units. In addition, he has resigned as patron of The Outward Bound Trust, an educational charity that helps young people have adventures in the wild with which he had been involved with for decades.