The latest string of revelations about Prince Andrew - brother of King Charles - have caused panic in Buckingham Palace. A steady drip of detail about Andrew’s connections with Jeffrey Epstein have damaged perceptions of the monarchy, and leaked emails published in the Sunday Times this month turned out to be the final straw. They proved that Andrew had lied to the BBC in 2019 when he told them he’d cut off all ties with Epstein after they were photographed together in New York in 2011. And if the Prince had lied about that to the UK’s public broadcaster, what else had he lied about?
Palace officials had hoped that Andrew giving up his royal titles including the Dukedom of York, and clearly withdrawing from all public and private events might draw a line under matters. But even this may not now be enough. The suggestion - in further leaked emails this weekend - that Andrew asked officials of the UK state including his police bodyguards and Palace officials to look for dirt on his accuser Virginia Giuffre - may now lead to a formal inquiry, driven by voices in Parliament who are dissatisfied with the measures the King has taken so far. Unthinkable? Perhaps when Queen Elizabeth was still alive. But the Epstein affair still represents a potentially existential threat to the UK monarchy, with the King all too aware that public consent has to be maintained to underpin the system as it stands.
We know that Prince William when he ascends the throne will be even less forgiving of Andrew than King Charles and Queen Elizabeth have been. Sources have made it clear Andrew won’t even attend William’s coronation. Meanwhile King Charles does not want further distractions from this week’s genuinely historic visit to the Vatican - an issue close to the heart of a spiritual King who famously described himself as a ‘Defender of Faith’. He won’t want any further questions about Prince Andrew this week - we dig into the monarchy’s role in the UK and how recent revelations have affected its standing.
