Just when you thought Prince Andrew’s reputation could fall no further, another raft of allegations emerge that take it even further into the gutter.
He has already been forced to give up his dukedom and Knight of the Garter title but now it is becoming increasingly clear that his days at the Royal Lodge at Windsor, a splendid 30-room mansion a corgi-walk from the King’s home at Windsor Castle, could well be numbered.
There is talk of him being despatched to the Castle of Mey, a 16th century pile almost 700 miles from Windsor on the very northern tip of Scotland.
But I think it is very unlikely that he would agree to give up the comforts of the Royal Lodge for the most northerly inhabited castle in the country. I also find it hard to believe that Charles would offer it: he has just planted a maze there and considers it his personal property.
For a more suitable option we should take inspiration from royal history. When Edward VIII abdicated in 1936 rather than give up his relationship with the divorced Wallis Simpson, he was banished into exile.
At first, he lived in France, but fled to Portugal when the Germans invaded in May 1940, before sailing to the Bahamas shortly afterwards, where Churchill installed him as governor.
There is talk of Andrew being despatched to the Castle of Mey on the very northern tip of Scotland
Any hopes Edward had of returning to his homeland after the war were scotched by the Labour prime minister Clement Attlee who was shrewd enough to realise that a kingdom with two kings was a non-starter.
And the Duke of Windsor, as he had by then become known, was despatched back to France where he remained for the rest of his days.
The truth is there’s a long and dishonourable tradition of sending disgraced royals into exile and, as Prince Andrew’s troubles mount, it’s time to banish him abroad.
Perhaps the most obvious destination would be the US. But there, he and Fergie would have to share the atmosphere with Harry and Meghan and could find themselves the subject of invidious comparisons.
Harry may have disgraced himself via the indiscretions in his autobiography, Spare, but compared to Andrew, whose charge sheet is not only much longer but also a great deal more sordid, he is a leading member of polite society.
Meanwhile, Meghan has stolen Fergie’s clothes as the lovable wayward princess. She’s younger, slimmer and makes for nicer pictures – plus Fergie might find her sources of income strictly limited since the death of her paymaster, the billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, and the end of lucrative deals with the likes of Weight Watchers.
Perhaps when considering their options for moving on they should look to Andrew’s ancestors for tips. Queen Caroline, who was effectively exiled for six years after a breakdown in her marriage to King George IV, took to riding donkeys in the Middle East.
That might appeal to Andrew, who conveniently has a royal palace on permanent standby in Abu Dhabi, courtesy the ruling house of Nahyan.
But Fergie might find the Arab attitude towards women stifling and, while the temperature there is permanently above 80 degrees, the shopping’s not so hot.
A more likely choice would be Switzerland, Fergie’s spiritual home, where the couple once had a charming chalet in Verbier.
They sold it in 2022 but only after years of legal squabbles over money. Indeed, the Mountbatten-Windsors, as we must learn to call them following the humiliating loss of Andrew’s titles, always seem to be short of cash. So they might find it difficult to stump up the many millions it takes to buy, staff and run a Swiss chalet.
The answer might be to sell the lease on their current home, the Royal Lodge, back to King Charles. He would no doubt would be delighted to give them a fair price just to see the back of them.
Certainly, exile abroad is the best option for Andrew and Fergie right now. The Epstein scandal is far from over – and another disaster looms ahead.
Sooner or later the floodgates will burst on Andrew’s ten-year stint as a roving trade ambassador, apparently representing Britain abroad but answerable to nobody – and doing who-knows-what in terms of personal enrichment and private misbehaviour.
So far, the lid has been clamped firmly down on that particular can of worms but it’s only a matter of time before the details spill out, just as they have in the Epstein case.
Far safer if you’re holed up in a foreign country when the grit hits the fan.
- Christopher Wilson is the author of four bestsellers about the Royal Family
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.celebrity.land.co.uk ’
