There is nothing greater than a monarchy. He’s not even the king’s younger brother.
In the end, that reality ended Prince Andrew’s life as the prince of the kingdom.
As more details emerged about Andrew’s relationship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, parliament raised questions about his rent-free accommodation at a vast country house near Windsor Castle. King Charles III moved on Thursday This is to protect the monarchy from further exposure.
In a statement released by Buckingham Palace, the king said he had taken steps to strip his brother of all titles and honors he had held since birth, including that of prince. From now on, British royal family plagued by scandal He became known simply as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.
“The monarchy needed to draw as wide a line as possible between Andrew and the rest of the royal family, and he did exactly that,” said Craig Prescott, an expert on constitutional law and the monarchy at Royal Holloway, University of London.
clear statement
The king’s decision was made afterwards. In last week’s announcement, Andrew Although he agreed to stop using the title, he was unable to stem the flood of vulgar articles that threatened to weaken support for the monarchy. Far from subsiding the media frenzy, the latest move prompted calls from some MPs to formally strip Andrew of his title. kicked out of royal lodgea 30-room mansion that has been his home since 2004.
This would increase the likelihood of a parliamentary debate over Andrew’s actions, exposing the royal family to even more unwanted publicity.
Andrew’s Disgrace looks like this Charles, He is 76 years old, undergoing treatment for undisclosed cancer, and is working to resolve stubborn issues in front of his eldest son and strengthen the foundations of the monarchy. prince williaminherit.
“I think this is a very clear statement of what we need to do to get the house in order (now) and for the future,” said George Gross, a royal expert at King’s College London. “It made Prince William’s life easier… I think that’s part of it. But it felt like it was inevitable.”
Andrew’s problem is not solved
The king’s decision may help protect the monarchy from the aftermath of the scandal, but it does not end Andrew’s problems.
The latest article about Andrew was prompted by the publication of a memoir he wrote. Virginia GiuffreGiuffre, an American living in Australia, took her own life earlier this year.
Her brother Sky Roberts on Thursday praised his sister’s long fight to expose Epstein and Andrew, but continued to call for the King’s brother to be prosecuted.
Andrew has repeatedly denied Have sex with Giuffre or commit a crime.
Historian Andrew Rowney, author of a recent biography of Andrew and ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, said he believed there were grounds to investigate allegations ranging from sex trafficking to misconduct in public office.
“I don’t think this is the end. I think there are many more revelations to come,” the author of “Title: The Rise and Fall of the House of York” told the British Press Association. “But at least they are taking decisive action.”
Mr. Andrew, 65, is the second son of the late Queen Elizabeth II. He spent more than 20 years as a Royal Naval Officer before leaving the Navy to join the Royal Family in 2001.
He has been in the tabloid headlines since at least 2007, when he sold a house near Windsor Castle for 20 per cent of the asking price of £15 million. The buyer was reported to be Timur Kulibayev, the son-in-law of then-Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, raising concerns that the deal was an attempt to buy influence in Britain.
These allegations, coupled with reports of an affair with the son of former Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi, led to Andrew being stripped of his post as Britain’s special envoy for international trade and investment.
Queen Elizabeth II had a crush on Andrew.
However, royal experts believe that Andrew has often been shielded from the weight of scandal due to his status as the Queen’s favorite child.
That idea became untenable after Andrew gave a damning interview with the BBC in November 2019 to counter media reports about his friendship with Epstein. He was widely criticized for showing no sympathy for Epstein’s victims and for giving unbelievable accounts of his friendship with the disgraced financier.
Immediately after the interview aired, Andrew was forced to: abandon all official duties and the role of philanthropy.
Now, Charles is trying to sever any remaining ties with his brother and the institution of the monarchy. Royal Lodge has been particularly hard hit, with Mr Andrew having previously refused the Crown’s pleas to waive his 75-year lease on the land. He will now live on the royal estate in Sandringham, eastern England.
monarchy in transition
Constitutional law expert Prescott said Andrew’s ouster should be seen as part of the monarchy’s transition, which began after Elizabeth’s death in 2022.
As long as the Queen was alive, people were reluctant to criticize the monarchy. It was seen as a personal criticism of the Queen, who had become a respected figure during her 70-year reign.
Prescott said Prince Charles has never been in a similar position before and recognizes that the monarch must be accountable to the people and to their representatives in parliament.
“This is part of a transition where the monarchy becomes more of a typical public institution and is subject to some form of parliamentary scrutiny,” he said.
Mr Prescott added: “There was a demand from the people and a demand from Parliament for the King to do something. And he did it.”
