After much speculation, Prince Andrew has relinquished his royal titles, most notably the Dukedom of York and the Order of the Garter. This represents an existential humiliation for the beleaguered ‘Randy Andy’.
This represents an existential humiliation for the beleaguered ‘Randy Andy’
Yet it could have been seen coming a royal mile off. The latest Jeffrey Epstein revelations, that Andrew had continued to email the billionaire paedophile long after he’d claimed they’d ceased contact, were not only hugely damaging but potentially the tip of a very incriminating iceberg. That he has also had dealings with an alleged Chinese spymaster (not to mention a Beijing businessman now barred from entering the UK) is merely the rancid icing on this particular stale cake.
The statement put out by Buckingham Palace was straightforward. In it, Andrew said:
In discussion with The King, and my immediate and wider family, we have concluded the continued accusations about me distract from the work of His Majesty and the Royal Family. I have decided, as I always have, to put my duty to my family and country first. I stand by my decision five years ago to stand back from public life. With His Majesty’s agreement, we feel I must now go a step further. I will therefore no longer use my title or the honours which have been conferred upon me. As I have said previously, I vigorously deny the accusations against me.’
Reading between the lines, it is quite clear that ‘in discussion with the King’ means: ‘I have been told, sharpish, to abandon every royal bauble that I’ve so zealously clung onto over the last few years, to disappear from public life and to stop embarrassing all and sundry.’ Charles is widely reported to have been exasperated with his errant younger brother for some time. But he had held off administering the reputational coup de grace that it is believed that the Prince of Wales would have taken no hesitation in delivering when he inherits the throne.
But the most recent stories, not least the imminent Virginia Giuffre memoir that threatens to bring the sordid Epstein saga to vivid life once again, have been the final straw. It is now inevitable that Andrew – never again to be referred to as the Duke of York – will be pressured to disappear completely from public life.
He will still be Prince Andrew, because nobody can take away the fact that he was born the son of the late sovereign. However, it is collateral of his actions that his ex-wife, who ruthlessly monetised her own title as Duchess of York, will now return to being referred as plain old Sarah Ferguson.
Of course there are questions as to whether Royal Lodge will still remain in their keeping. Although Andrew is reported to have paid for the lease privately – from distinctly opaque funds – the idea of such a disgraced figure skulking around Windsor would be seen as anathema by the rest of the Royal Family.
The Firm acts with a ruthlessness, when it has to, that puts politicians to shame. Andrew is still denying the accusations against him, and it should be noted that the allegations remain just that, without the smoking gun of an email confession – which even he is probably not so intellectually limited to have provided.
Yet the damage has now been done. It is clear that the royals want Andrew out of sight and out of mind. Whatever the remaining stories – and one wonders if something spectacular might emerge for pre-emptive action of this kind to be taken – the downfall of the former Duke of York is now complete. Few will be pitying him.
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