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Losing one’s grip?
A fascinating and well-sourced piece in The Sun this week suggests there could be at least one more casualty of the Prince Andrew scandal: the Queen.
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It was Prince Charles who ordered the decision to sack Andrew, fueling speculation that Her Majesty accepts that although she will remain monarch in name until the day she dies, at the age of 94 she will soon have to effectively hand over day-to-day control of the monarchy to Charles, 71.
His key role in Andrew’s removal as Buckingham Palace dithered has burnished a reputation for decisiveness. A royal source told The Sun: “Planning for Charles to become king has been going on for some time. A transition is plainly already underway. Her Majesty is in her nineties and can understandably only do so much.
“The scandal surrounding Andrew and Epstein gave Charles an opportunity to step in to show that he can run The Firm. No one is bigger than the institution of the Royal Family. Not even Andrew, the Queen’s favorite son.
“Charles recognized that and acted decisively—like the king he may well soon be. This was the moment when Charles stepped up as Prince Regent, the Shadow King.”
The source added: “Charles has had discussions with William. They both know what he wants to do with the kingship. There’s no doubt Charles will also be pulling Prince Harry and Meghan into line once they return from their private break.”
The Sun says Charles did not see the interview himself, relying on his private secretary, Clive Alderton, to relay an impression. When Andrew refused to acquiesce to Charles’ demand that he go, Alderton flew home from New Zealand, where Charles was on tour, to work with Edward Young, the Queen’s private secretary, and William’s private secretary Simon Case to get him out.
To add to his humiliation, The Times of London revealed the Grenadier Guards regiment didn’t want Andrew to become their colonel in 2017.
Prince Andrew hit by new (financial) scandal
The only bright spot for Prince Andrew is that the latest scandal to befall him doesn’t involve allegedly underage sex.
The Mail on Sunday reports today that “the Duke of York repeatedly exploited his taxpayer-funded role as Britain’s trade envoy to work behind the scenes for his close friend, the controversial multimillionaire financier David Rowland.
“Bombshell emails reveal that while on official trade missions meant to promote U.K. business, Andrew was quietly plugging a private Luxembourg-based bank for the super-rich, owned by Rowland and his family.”
Andrew reportedly “allowed the Rowlands to shoehorn meetings into his official trade tours so they could expand their bank and woo powerful and wealthy clients. He also passed them private government documents they had no right to see.”
The MoS report also details a company Andrew owned with the Rowlands in the tax haven of the British Virgin Islands, which was used to target Andrew’s rich friends as potential investors in an offshore investment fund. The Mail on Sunday also reports that on an official government business trip to Saudi Arabia in 2009, Andrew promoted the Rowlands’ commercial interests.
An email sent by Andrew to Rowland’s son David—who suggested their business arrangement continue after Andrew was fired as a British trade envoy—reportedly read: “I like your thinking.”
Her story
The BBC will compound Prince Andrew’s agony Monday by showing an interview with his accuser, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, which is not just full length but has actually been extended. “He knows what happened, I know what happened, and there’s only one of us telling the truth,” says Giuffre, who claimed in court papers in Florida that she was forced to have sex with Andrew when she was 17.
Andrew has denied her allegations, saying he has no recollection of ever meeting Giuffre and couldn’t have had sex with her because he was at a pizza party with his daughters earlier on the day she alleges their encounter took place.
The one good piece of news this week for Andrew was that British police said they stand by their decision not to investigate Giuffre’s claims and said that although officers had spoken to other law enforcement agencies they had “not received a formal request asking for assistance.”
Giuffre claims she was recruited as a sex slave by Andrew’s friend Jeffrey Epstein, who killed himself in August in a New York prison while being held on sex trafficking charges.
Prince William: Queen won out in man’s world
Kate and William’s embrace of the media continues with an appearance over the Christmas period on a Mary Berry Christmas TV special. (Mary was an original, and very popular host of The Great British Baking Show, as it’s known in America.)
In A Berry Royal Christmas, according to the Daily Mail, William says: “My grandmother becoming Queen at a very young age, in the days when it was a man’s world, it was very difficult for her to make a difference—and she’s done it in her own very unique, distinct way. And, you know, my grandmother and my grandfather together are the epitome of public service.
“And I personally get a lot out of helping people. I find that you hear and you understand and you learn so much more by giving a bit of your time, a bit of your day, to just be around.”
William also paid tribute to the charitable endeavors of his father, Prince Charles, and mother, Princess Diana.
In the show, Berry accompanies William and Kate on a number of royal engagements, and there must be some baking too, because Kate has been pictured ready to pipe some icing. Another picture shows some royal-made roulades!
Under the radar
Two beneficiaries of the Prince Andrew scandal are Meghan and Harry. They are enjoying week two of their six-week vacation, and doing an admirable job at keeping out of the public eye and the limelight.
They marked Thanksgiving with a brief post on their Instagram page. But where they are is a mystery. Windsor, L.A., or Botswana are the hot favorites.
This week in royal history
Jane Lapotaire has been a standout star of Season Three of The Crown, playing Princess Alice of Battenberg, mother of Prince Philip, at Buckingham Palace (and playing that part brilliantly). In real life, Princess Alice died on Dec. 5, 1969.
Royal fashion watch
A retro moment this week, as Harry and Meghan reminded their 9.9 million Instagram followers that it was two years ago that they got engaged. And surprise: They released a new picture of their wedding day, when they both looked pretty fabulous.
Unanswered questions
How will Prince Andrew respond to the latest scandal? And who will win in the media wars between the young royals?
