Hello, Royal Clubbers, it’s Iona here. First of all, thank you to everyone who listened to Emily’s post on Friday where she gave her reaction to the news that Prince Andrew has given up the use of his conferred royal titles.
Andrew has been an awkward cause célèbre for the royals for many years, and critics will argue that the King should have acted sooner and more decisively in formally excommunicating his brother from the royal fold. Yet Andrew has always vigorously denied the accusations against him, a position he doubled down on in Friday’s statement, in which he robustly maintained his innocence, suggesting this latest development was not an admission of guilt but an attempt not “to distract from the work of His Majesty and the Royal Family”.
While the statement naturally doesn’t refer to anything specific, the volcanic pressure acting upon Prince in recent times was at the point of eruption, partly due to more stories emerging about his links to a Chinese spy, and partly due to a fresh torrent of lurid revelations emanating from Nobody’s Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice, a posthumous memoir set for publication on Tuesday by Andrew’s chief accuser, Virginia Giuffre, who took her own life in April this year.
Royal Clubber Michelle agreed that the pressure building on the Prince meant the loss of his conferred titles had “been on the cards for a while” and that “King Charles and Prince William have been very patient with him.”
While Andrew has never been found guilty in a court of the law, his actions call into question his repeated denials of any wrongdoing.
In his infamous BBC Newsnight interview in 2019, Andrew declared he had severed all ties with the disgraced financier, Jeffrey Epstein. However, emails emerged months later revealing that he had privately remained in contact with Epstein, including one message that read: “Keep in close touch and we’ll play some more soon!”
As Sue noted in the comments: “The fact that they (Andrew and Sarah Ferguson) were both in contact with Jeffrey Epstein after saying they weren’t speaks volumes about both of their characters.”
It wasn’t just his links to Epstein over which Royal Clubbers criticised Andrew’; his alleged links to a Chinese spy were also damned.
Elisabeth pointed out in the comments that this was a “serious error” and that “for a member of the British Royal Family to have any relationship with a spy from China (is) appalling.”
Some Royal Clubbers questioned what the next steps will be for Prince Andrew. Michelle said he must be “beside himself”, and there can be little doubt on that.
There’s also the question of whether the rest of the Royal Family will speak out on this topic in the future. After all, they are a family and this news will undoubtedly be deeply unsettling. As Sue said it’s a “sad situation for sure.”
What are your thoughts on the matter? Do let me know in the comments and take part in the poll below…
BREAKING: Prince Andrew is now firmly out in the cold
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source royalclub.celebrity.land.com ’
