Prince William has emerged as the victor in a long-running standoff with his father, King Charles III, after pressuring the monarch to distance the royal family from the scandal-plagued Duke and Duchess of York.
The 43-year-old Prince of Wales, who made a private visit to his father in Scotland last week, is said to have reached breaking point over the presence of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson.
Their ties to convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein have cast a shadow over the monarchy for years.
The latest blow came with the resurfacing of a 2011 email in which Ferguson, fresh from apologising for accepting £15,000 (AUD $30,000) from Epstein, described him as her “supreme friend” and insisting she never called him a paedophile in interviews.
The fallout has now seen King Charles agree to William’s demands to cut the Yorks from all public-facing family occasions– including Christmas at Sandringham.
A friend of William’s told The Royalist the prince has also insisted he “never be photographed alongside” his uncle again.
The last time the pair were seen together was at the late Duchess of Kent’s funeral on 16 September, where William appeared to avoid any interaction.
On Sunday, royal commentator Kinsey Schofield told Sky News Australia’s Rita Panahi: “This is a win for Prince William … the head of the Church of England should not be regularly seen next to someone on an Epstein flight log.”
While Charles has long favoured forgiveness, even enlisting Fergie last year to persuade Andrew to skip Christmas following revelations of his links to alleged Chinese spy Yang Tengbo, insiders say his patience has run out.
“You can’t sack someone from being your brother,” a source close to the King told the Sunday Times.
“But this year, if the duke and duchess were both to be as honourable [as last year], it would be very much for the best and the family would not be disappointed, not least to avoid the King having to make any more difficult decisions.”
Yet royal writer Tom Sykes suggested that the 76-year-old monarch had been left no choice but to bend to his heir’s will.
“It’s clear to everyone with a political antenna that this is William’s hard-won victory… events have forced the aged, weak father to comply with his son and heir,” he wrote in his The Royalist substack on Monday.
According to Sykes, William has long argued that Andrew’s presence causes “untold reputational damage” to the monarchy.
“William has despaired at his father’s insistence on keeping Andrew in the picture, and his aides and friends have been briefed constantly, to me and others, on his outright opposition to it,” he said.
“So William has won. Charles has lost. And Andrew has been cast out- again.”
Prince Andrew was stripped of his honorary military titles and royal patronages by the late Queen Elizabeth II in 2022 due to his connections to Epstein.
He also lost his Freedom of the City of York honour, which was gifted to him on his wedding day in 1997.
Now, questions are being raised about whether Sarah Ferguson could face a similar outcome.
Seven charities have already severed ties with the Duchess following her apologetic email to Epstein, and York councillors are preparing to vote in November on whether to revoke her Freedom of York honour.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.skynews.com.au ’
