If the Royal Family had hoped the punishment meted out to ‘the Banned Old Duke of York’ would suffice in the court of public opinion, they would now be disappointed. Since Friday’s revelations that Prince Andrew would ‘no longer use’ his dukedom or other honours following the stream of scandals about his friendship with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, more unedifying details have emerged. It seems that the nuclear royal option – to strip him of his princely title – grows more inevitable by the day.
The nuclear royal option, to strip Andrew of his princely title, grows more inevitable by the day
This final resort would undeniably be popular in many circles. Sky Roberts, the brother of Virginia Giuffre whose posthumous memoir will revive the allegations she slept with Andrew when she was 17, has welcomed the latest developments. But Roberts told the BBC he hopes the King will go further and ‘take out the prince in the Andrew’ on the grounds that ‘anybody that was implicated [in the Epstein case] should have some sort of responsibility and accountability for these survivors’.
In this, it appears he is of one accord with the Prince of Wales whom the Sunday Times reports is not satisfied with Andrew’s latest defenestration. When William becomes king, his uncle’s limited role in public life will disappear entirely – starting with his coronation, which Andrew will reportedly not be invited to. Anyone who saw the video of William ignoring his uncle’s attempts to make conversation at the Duchess of Kent’s funeral last month will be unsurprised at this. Indeed, the Prince of Wales’s surprisingly revealing interview with US actor Eugene Levy earlier this month – and his loaded talk of ‘change’ in the monarchy when he takes the throne – suggests that banishing Andrew to Siberia would not cause him too many sleepless nights.
I have yet to see anyone express any sympathy for the former duke, perhaps because he doesn’t deserve any. Today’s Mail on Sunday also reports Andrew asked his Metropolitan Police bodyguard to dig up dirt on Giuffre in 2011, which the force is now investigating. It is not suggested the bodyguard complied with any such request, while Andrew declined to comment. But in the public arena, this only confirms the sense he is a rotten, thoroughly entitled man who has refused to show any contrition for his actions – all of which, it must be noted, he has consistently and steadfastly denied.
Stripping Andrew of his princely title will not be an easy or fast process, and is likely to damage the very institution of the monarchy. After all, even the Duke of Windsor kept his status until the end of his life – long after his Nazi sympathies were commonly known and grieved about. However, many of Andrew’s relatives, not least the future king, may well consider the embarrassment and headlines worth it in the longer term. Cauterising a wound may cause short-term pain, but the longer effects are enduring.
Giuffre’s memoir, Nobody’s Girl, is published on Tuesday and is likely to heap further calumny upon the put-upon prince. But the game is very much up now. During his ten-minute chat with the King last week, in which Andrew was reportedly told ‘it was beyond comprehension for him to continue to enjoy the privileges of his position’, it was made clear he would no longer be given any lingering benefit of the doubt.
Yet many will now be wondering why the last step of throwing him out the Royal Family altogether cannot be taken. With every passing scandal, that once unthinkable finality grows ever more unpreventable. Few – least of all in the Firm – will shed too many tears at the prospect of the man formerly known as ‘Randy Andy’ being well and truly gelded.
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