King Charles should be wary of his younger brother, Prince Andrew, a royal expert has warned, as the Duke and Duchess of York are engulfed in another public scandal
Since taking the throne, King Charles has taken a different approach to his errant younger brother, Prince Andrew, than that of the late Queen Elizabeth.
The King has removed the disgraced Duke of York’s security, and reportedly withdrawn a sizeable allowance that Andrew once received from their mother.
With Andrew’s ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, engulfed in a public scandal over an email she sent to Jeffrey Epstein in which she called him a “steadfast, generous and supreme friend”, the public is taking an increasingly dim view of the Duke and Duchess of York.
Charles has repeatedly tried to encourage Andrew to move out of his lavish 30-room home, Royal Lodge, and into something more modest, but so far, the Duke shows no signs of budging.
However, a royal expert has warned amid calls for Andrew and Fergie to be banned from royal events that the King should be cautious when it comes to taking a hard line with his younger brother.
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The expert, Richard Kay, noted that unease was generated by Andrew and ex-wife Sarah’s appearance at the Duchess of Kent’s funeral recently, where the Duke of York was spotted trying to engage his nephew Prince William in conversation, only for the future King to totally snub him.
Writing for the Mail, Kay explains there are concerns in royal circles if Andrew could go beyond breaking point and start divulging royal secrets, which could be even more damaging that Prince Harry’s bombshell memoir Spare, or any of the seriously candid interviews he and Meghan have conducted since leaving royal life behind.
“If he is pushed too far, how might Andrew react?” the expert wrote. “Would he follow his nephew’s lead and write a memoir which could, potentially, be even more devastating for the royals than Prince Harry’s book?”
Meanwhile, royal author Andrew Lownie wrote in his recently published explosive book – Entitled – that one of the reasons Fergie has never been totally cast out of the Windsor’s circle, despite the myriad of scandals she has been wrapped up in over the years, is because she “knew where the bodies were buried.”
While the question lingers of whether the Duke and Duchess of York are less of a threat inside the fold than outside in the cold, there are other complications for the King when it comes to Sarah and Andrew.
“I think Charles will be in despair over this,” expert Jennie Bond exclusively told the Mirror about Fergie’s email scandal.
“He has tried to be a decent ex-brother-in-law and include Sarah in family gatherings, after her years of exile. He has undoubtedly felt a kindred sympathy over her cancer problems and, in Sarah’s own words, he has been kind. And now this. I can just imagine him with his head in his hands saying to himself: ‘I’ve done all I can, but this really is too much.'”
Kay also notes there is the “issue of the Duke’s welfare” to contend with, as Charles balances his myriad of duties: the well-being of the country as monarch, his brotherly responsibilities, and his role as Supreme Governor of the Church of England, which teaches forgiveness.
Equally, the idea of banning Andrew from coming to church with the royals, floated by some, would be “uncomfortable” for the King, a royal source told the expert.
“There is something uncomfortable about the head of the Church of England refusing to allow someone to say their prayers, and that’s before you consider that person is the monarch’s own flesh and blood.”
Another royal expert, Omid Scobie, has also written previously about how the monarch finds himself torn when it comes to the Andrew problem, and in particular, his brother’s welfare.
In his book, Endgame, Scobie writes: “Understandably, he cares for his brother, so much so that a close source said that during the most heightened moments of Andrew’s downfall, Charles was tearful over fears for the shamed duke’s mental health.”