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bitchy | Prince Andrew is in advanced talks with King Charles about leaving Royal Lodge
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bitchy | Prince Andrew is in advanced talks with King Charles about leaving Royal Lodge

by jummy84
written by jummy84

Once Virginia Giuffre’s book was published last Tuesday and the outcry from British politicians had gotten very loud, the writing was on the wall: Prince Andrew will be forced out of Royal Lodge. He deserves to be punished more thoroughly than “being forced to give up his mansion,” but the fact remains that he was still living in Royal Lodge and the optics were pretty terrible. I theorized that we would get confirmation of his eviction by Friday. We did not, but we did get confirmation that Andrew is “in talks” with King Charles about leaving RL. Those talks include: how much money it will take for Andrew to give up his lease, where will Andrew (and presumably Sarah Ferguson) go post-RL and who will actually be financially supporting Andrew from here on out. From the Telegraph:

Prince Andrew is in advanced talks with the King’s representatives about quitting his Royal Lodge home, The Telegraph understands. Buckingham Palace is trying to crank up the pressure on the Prince to voluntarily give up his 30-room residence, from which he cannot legally be evicted under the terms of his “cast iron” lease. Discussions over the Prince’s living arrangements have been happening on a daily basis since reports of him living there rent-free caused a public outcry. However, it is understood that the Prince is resistant, and negotiations are continuing.

While the Prince’s initial response was to dig his heels in and cite the fact that he has 50 years left on his pre-paid lease, there is a growing sense of inevitability that he will now move out. The main sticking points are where he will live instead, and how much money he will receive in compensation for the millions he has spent on the property, which is leased from the Crown Estate.

Royal sources report a mood shift in the Palace in recent days, including a renewed determination to force Andrew out and a recognition that his daughters, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, need to be “looked after” and reassured that their own homes in St James’s Palace and Kensington Palace respectively will not be affected.

There had been hopes that the Prince’s living arrangements could be sorted out quickly to draw a line under the constant stream of negative publicity about his indiscretions – with rumours swirling on Thursday that he was hours away from moving – but finding a solution that works for all parties is proving difficult.

The King had hoped that by forcing his brother to drop his Duke of York title and other honours, the furore over his relationship with the paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein and with suspected Chinese spies would die down. However, it has failed to do so. Buckingham Palace will be keen to avoid a long, drawn-out parliamentary inquiry into any matter that touches on royal finances, which has given added urgency to the matter of resolving Andrew’s accommodation.

On the question of where the Prince will live if he leaves Royal Lodge, the most trouble-free solution would be to house him in one of the King’s privately-owned properties, most likely Sandringham or Balmoral, where he could have the use of one of the many self-contained homes on either estate. That would enable him to live rent-free without any cost to the public purse. But Andrew is not keen to be exiled to Norfolk or Scotland and wants to remain in London or Windsor, close to his daughters. Moving him to a smaller property on the Windsor estate would minimise the public’s outrage at him living a life of taxpayer-subsidised luxury, but he would have to pay rent which he might not be able to afford. Moving him into Windsor Castle or Buckingham Palace would also risk accusations that he was being rewarded rather than punished, and there would be a cost to the public purse of accommodating him in buildings that belong to the nation.

Meanwhile, there is also the question of what would happen to Royal Lodge, as its proximity to Windsor Castle makes it difficult, if not impossible, to rent out privately. Under the terms of the lease, which he signed in 2003, the Prince is entitled to a refund of some of the money he paid up front, which included a £1m payment for the 75-year lease and more than £7.5m in refurbishment costs. If he leaves before next June, he will be in line for a refund of £557,596, which reduces by £185,865 each year until 2028, when he will be owed nothing.

The living arrangements of Andrew’s ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, who has her own rooms in Royal Lodge, are an added complication. It is unclear whether she would move with the Prince or find somewhere to live on her own.

The Prince of Wales is understood to have been keen to stay out of the negotiations, as he remains on good terms with his cousins Beatrice and Eugenie, but has made it clear that he wants the matter resolved. In recent days, Prince William and the King have made it clear through their representatives that Beatrice and Eugenie are blameless in the furore and that their homes in the royal palaces are safe.

[From The Telegraph]

An interesting part of this piece was a discussion of how Andrew is digging in his heels specifically because he’s already put more than £10 million into Royal Lodge, and he’s using that to negotiate a much larger “settlement” from his brother. While I think this whole system is corrupt, whatever money Andrew negotiates for breaking his lease is not going to come from “the taxpayer” in any direct sense. It’s likely that Charles will do the same thing QEII did when she gave Andrew the money to settle with Virginia Giuffre: take the money out of the Duchy of Lancaster funds, which are considerable. Which is the whole ballgame for Andrew, and what he’s been saying since 2023: if you want me to give up RL, then you better be prepared to write me an eight-figure check. If anything, Andrew’s position is probably strengthened right now because Charles really, really needs to get Andrew out of Royal Lodge and cauterize this PR bleed before Parliament starts investigating the whole rotten system.

As for where Andrew could live post-Royal Lodge… it’s clear that Charles wants to put him in Frogmore Cottage, but the Telegraph says that Prince William might have a problem with that, plus Andrew would still be pretty visible. There’s Wood Farm, part of the Sandringham estate, and that’s where Prince Philip retired from public life. The Telegraph suggests Craigowan Lodge, on the Balmoral estate, which is apparently close to the golf course. There were also rumors of Charles sending Andrew to Castle of Mey in Scotland, but I really don’t think that will happen. Mostly because… Charles still spends a few weeks a year there, and his foundation basically operates the castle now. My guess is that they’ll end up sending Andrew to Sandringham. Wood Farm sounds like the best bet, he would be out of the way in Norfolk yet his daughters could still easily travel to see him if they wanted to.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images, Backgrid.

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bitchy | King Charles’ courtiers believe QEII has ‘a lot to answer for’ with the Andrew problem
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bitchy | King Charles’ courtiers believe QEII has ‘a lot to answer for’ with the Andrew problem

by jummy84
written by jummy84

It’s incredibly funny to watch King Charles try to thread this needle with his late mother’s memory: Queen Elizabeth II was the greatest monarch ever and everything she said and did is above reproach… AND the late queen was petty, negligent, short-sighted and she’s to blame for pretty much every problem plaguing Charles. You can’t have it both ways – either QEII’s words are the royal gospel or she made tons of horrible decisions which left the monarchy in terrible shape long-term. Which is it? All of this brings me to Roya Nikkhah’s new piece in the Times, where “insiders” and “sources” are basically complaining about how QEII should have taken care of this Prince Andrew situation during her reign, and why oh why did they leave this issue on the shoulders of Charles the Ditherer? Some highlights:

A stain on the Carolean era: Whichever way the saga of Andrew ends — and the end does not yet appear to be in sight — it has indelibly stained the Carolean era, a reign that has already been buffeted by the King’s cancer, for which he is still receiving weekly treatment. A friend of the monarch said: “He won’t be looking at it through the lens of ‘this is my brother’. He’ll be looking at it through the lens of ‘this is getting in the way of the royal family’s duty to serve the country and distracting from the public work’ — and that’s not where he wants the focus to be.”

The inherited problem: Charles and his aides have been firefighting for weeks, attempting to digest each new, tawdry revelation about Andrew that emerges to do with his links to the convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein…But there is a growing feeling that too little is being done too late, and the Palace is playing catch-up because of mis-steps committed during the last reign. After his BBC Newsnight interview, Andrew was forced by Queen Elizabeth, with the support of Charles and Prince William, to step back from public life in the vain hope the scandal would fade. In February 2022, when Andrew agreed a multimillion-pound settlement with Giuffre, part-funded by his mother and Charles and admitting no liability, the late Queen enforced further punishment, removing his HRH styling, military titles and patronages. But she could not bring herself to fully strip him of his titles, or suggest that alternative accommodation might be more appropriate in the circumstances. He remained her weak spot, and Charles is now paying the price.

QEII has a lot to answer for!! A source who knows the royal family said: “It seems to me that Queen Elizabeth has quite a lot to answer for. It’s as if she left an unexploded bomb for Charles. The thing about the Queen was that everyone always said she was so dutiful, and she was — but this was a terrible dereliction of duty. She indulged Andrew all the time and always avoided confrontation.”

QEII the ostrich: Another royal source, who knew the late Queen well, said: “It wasn’t just Andrew — it was all the family troubles. She just didn’t want to engage. She was like an ostrich with her head in the sand. But I don’t think any of the family knew the full extent of what would come out.”

The advanced talks with Andrew: Talks between Andrew and courtiers, thought to be led by the King’s principal private secretary, Sir Clive Alderton, on the issue of where else he might live — and who would fund a move — are said to be continuing. The prince has so far dug in his heels and shows no imminent signs of moving. This is despite mounting pressure prompted by revelations last week in The Times that he pays the Crown Estate a “peppercorn rent” for the sprawling mansion.

Charles must stop dithering and confront Andrew directly: The source said: “Charles has to say to his face, ‘There’s no choice here, you must now leave Royal Lodge. Whatever the lease says. You say you always put your family and country first. Prove it. This is doing real damage to the monarchy. You’ve got to move.’ I think that would do a lot to assuage public anger.” Another royal source said: “The public are angry at Andrew, angry that he’s still in that house and angry at the disdain in that statement. Something else [beyond the dukedom] has to go.”

What is Camilla doing? Queen Camilla has so far kept a low profile on the matter, choosing to support her husband privately as he navigates the Andrew fallout. The Palace will not say whether Camilla — who, like the Duchess of Edinburgh, is a longstanding campaigner on raising awareness of sexual abuse — has read Giuffre’s book or expressed an interest in its contents, published posthumously. A friend of Camilla’s said: “Knowing her, she probably will. Set against the Queen and the Duchess of Edinburgh’s personal agenda, it is a very difficult backdrop to try and promote the issues they care about when they’ve got someone so close to home caught up in it.”

Endless scandal: Another former courtier says of the endless scandal: “If a story lasts more than nine days, you’re toast. It’s been 15 years now.” A friend of the King said: “The King has one of the best antenna for judging public opinion and he is keeping a very close eye on the mood on this matter. There is a genuine sense that he feels he has taken every step available and they have pulled all the decisive levers they can. If it isn’t enough, because the public outrage is still high, they will look again. But it is not an institution that is prone to knee-jerk reactions.”

[From The Times]

“The King has one of the best antenna for judging public opinion” – no he doesn’t??? LMAO. Charles married Camilla, for God’s sake. Charles doesn’t have a feel for public opinion, but he believes that he can manipulate public opinion to get his desired result. Andrew Lownie – who wrote the book on the Yorks, published this past summer – pointed out that the public is way ahead of the monarchy and the government on the Andrew situation. There’s HUGE public support for formally stripping Andrew of all of his titles and forcing him out of Royal Lodge and launching a criminal inquiry into him. Charles and the Starmer government look out of touch for attempting to slow-walk these half-measure punishments.

As for all of the stuff about blaming QEII… lol. Charles really is his mother’s biggest opp, and always has been. Charles is disrespecting the dead queen! Punishing Andrew is a slap in the dead queen’s face! Sorry, do we only reserve that kind of hyperbole when it’s about the Sussexes? The thing that makes it even funnier is that Charles is actually right, QEII should have punished Andrew during her reign and yes, this was always going to explode during Charles’s reign. But QEII didn’t force Charles to put Andrew front-and-center on the Christmas walk and Easter walks. QEII didn’t force Charles to dither and slow-walk the Andrew situation for three years.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images, Instar.

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bitchy | Mail: Is Queen Elizabeth to blame for how Prince Andrew turned out?
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bitchy | Mail: Is Queen Elizabeth to blame for how Prince Andrew turned out?

by jummy84
written by jummy84

The big Prince Andrew “news” breaking last night is that Windsor Castle removed Andrew’s banner – a banner with his coat of arms – from the display in St. George’s Chapel. The removal of a royal banner is apparently “typically only removed in cases of high treason or rebellions against the Crown.” This is very similar to Andrew “relinquishing” his honors, like Order of the Garter. Royalists insist that these demotions mean something huge because Andrew loves this kind of flummery. When really, the Windsors decided to remove a banner rather than remove a sexual predator.

Speaking of, after days of mainstream political outcry about Andrew, everything is now being quietly taken care of behind the scenes. The Starmer government has shut down a debate about Andrew, his finances, his Royal Lodge lease and his crimes. Hilariously, these are not the only machinations from Buckingham Palace. The palace has decided to throw Queen Elizabeth II right under the bus. Blame Andrew on QEII, she was the one who indulged him! I mean, they’re not wrong?? From Jan Moir’s Mail column:

Is the late Queen Elizabeth to blame for the horror of Prince Andrew? Did she spoil him so much that he grew up convinced of his own specialness, marinated in arrogance, unable to navigate his cushioned world of privilege with even a shred of humility, decency or common sense? Many mothers have blind spots when it comes to their favourite sons, sparing the rod and spoiling the child to such an extent that they unwittingly raise a monster.

Did that happen here? I’m only asking because there must be some explanation for Prince Andrew’s unique loathsomeness; some way of groping through his thicket of thick, his unremitting, clotted arrogance to understand his character and motivation. Given his elevated position in society, Andrew could have become friends with anyone, but he chose to move in a dark world of seedy billionaires, sex offenders, Chinese spies, wicked paedophiles, she-pimps and God knows who else.

Down in the murk at this unsavoury end of an immoral universe his playmates were powerful, clever and wily people who encouraged this pompous dolt to believe he was powerful and clever, too. The reality is that he was only ever a useful idiot to them; a man who was used and abused – and who went on to use and abuse others for his own pleasure.

I am legally obligated at this point to say that Prince Andrew denies the allegations that Virginia Giuffre made against him in her posthumous autobiography and elsewhere. Yet the grand old Duke of York, as we now don’t know him, has demonstrably lied and lied about so many things that who could possibly believe him now? Perhaps not even his own mother.

Survey after survey reveals that people want Andrew officially stripped of his titles by Parliament and booted out of his grace-and-favour Royal Lodge, along with his ridiculous Freebiana of a wife. Day by day Andrew is slipping away from public view, sunk beneath the weight of his disgrace, now facing a police investigation and possible further humiliation.

Yet how did we get here? Even by the blackest standards of the monarchy’s black history, while trotting out on the black meadows of royal blackness, do black sheep come any blacker than Andrew?

They may have their faults, but neither his two brothers nor his sister come anywhere close to Prince Andrew on the royal ghastly-o-meter. Searching for his good qualities is like panning for gold in a sewer – try as you might, you are only ever going to end up with dung in your sieve. Surely part of the problem must be that no matter what he did, Queen Elizabeth could see no wrong in her beloved Andrew. Most mothers have a favourite son, and he was undoubtedly hers – then, now and forevermore.

[From The Daily Mail]

Moir keeps going and going, but you get the idea. While I don’t think QEII is solely responsible for Andrew’s depravity, I absolutely blame her for indulging him, protecting him and covering up his crimes. QEII and her courtiers used every tool at their disposal to ensure that mummy’s favorite never had to face consequences or even a check on his behavior. This is all because Andrew never actually broke the Windsor omerta, he didn’t break any of the rules which really matter to them. Which should be a larger conversation too: why weren’t Andrew’s crimes a bigger deal within the institution and within his family?

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, Cover Images and Instar.

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bitchy | Prince Andrew believes his brother wants to give Royal Lodge to Queen Camilla
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bitchy | Prince Andrew believes his brother wants to give Royal Lodge to Queen Camilla

by jummy84
written by jummy84

There was some buzz late in the day on Thursday that there would be some kind of big royal announcement. Alas, it did not happen. But I kind of wonder if we’ll hear something by the end of business today. One week ago, the Prince Andrew “problem” reached a boiling point, leading to Andrew’s evening announcement: he would willingly relinquish his ducal title and honors. Buckingham Palace hoped that would be the end of it and everyone would move on. Instead, the past seven days have been even more chaotic. I said earlier this week that I wouldn’t be surprised if Andrew is shoved out of Royal Lodge by the end of this week. That is the next move, but it looks like Andrew isn’t going down without a fight. This piece was published in the Telegraph on Thursday:

Prince Andrew believes the King is trying to force him out of his Royal Lodge home because he wants to give it to the Queen, The Telegraph understands.

The Prince is refusing to move out of his 30-room residence near Windsor Castle where he lives rent-free, despite coming under pressure from MPs to move to a more modest property. Andrew has what he regards as a cast-iron lease on Royal Lodge, which means his older brother cannot legally evict him. Having been forced to give up his Duke of York title – following fresh scandals over his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted paedophile, and his relationships with suspected Chinese spies – the Prince is facing a possible parliamentary inquiry into his living arrangements.

On Thursday, Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, chairman of the Commons public accounts committee, confirmed he would be writing to the Treasury and the Crown Estate Commissioners “seeking further information on the lease arrangements for Royal Lodge”. The answers to the questions will determine whether the committee takes the matter further.

Family friends have told The Telegraph that [Andrew] believes the King has an ulterior motive in wanting him to leave Royal Lodge. He and Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, his daughters, have told friends that the King wants Royal Lodge to be the Queen’s base in Windsor should she outlive him. It would mirror the living arrangements of Queen Elizabeth II’s mother Queen Elizabeth, who lived in Royal Lodge when she became a widow and moved out of Windsor Castle.

The King’s aides flatly deny the suggestion, but the Prince has nevertheless become fixed on the idea, which surfaced a year ago, that Royal Lodge was being earmarked for the Queen.

In truth, Her Majesty, who became a member of the Royal family by marriage in 2005, is far less grand than Prince Andrew and is unlikely to want to live alone in such a large residence even for only part of the year. She still owns Ray Mill House, the Grade II-listed family house in Wiltshire she bought with the divorce settlement from Andrew Parker Bowles, her first husband, and it is said to be the place where she feels most at home.

Meanwhile, the Prince of Wales, who has no time for his uncle but remains on good terms with his cousins Beatrice and Eugenie, has made it known that he wants the issue of Royal Lodge settled before he becomes King.

[From The Telegraph]

That last part about Prince William “want[ing] the issue of Royal Lodge settled before he becomes King” – completely bizarre, right? William’s allies and courtiers describe his future reign as “ruthless” and “fearless about making changes.” If that’s the case, then surely William would want to wait until he’s king to take care of this Andrew Problem himself? Ruthless William should be using that as a threat to Andrew: make a deal with Charles, because you won’t like the deals on offer during my reign. William wanting Charles to deal with his brother leaves William looking like a coward who refuses to confront his rancid uncle.

As for Andrew’s conspiracy that Charles intends to put Camilla in Royal Lodge… multiple things can be true all at once. One, Andrew needs to be evicted, plain and simple. Two, Royal Lodge is much desired by multiple royals, including William and Kate. Three, while Camilla loves her private oasis (Ray Mill), she will absolutely want a home on a royal estate if she survives her husband, and Royal Lodge would suit her perfectly. Four, if Charles doesn’t settle the Royal Lodge situation during his reign, it’s guaranteed that Ruthless Scooter King would be unlikely to give the Dowager Queen Consort such a palatial mansion as her retirement home, which means Charles does need to take care of this right now if he really does want RL to go to Camilla. Five, Camilla “is far less grand than Prince Andrew and is unlikely to want to live alone in such a large residence even for only part of the year” is a complete lie.

Update: Sources are now saying, as of Friday afternoon/evening, that Andrew is negotiating his withdrawal from Royal Lodge. He’s apparently hellbent on staying in Windsor or London, while King Charles wants to see Andrew shipped off to a cottage/home in Balmoral or Sandringham.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

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bitchy | Will the British police actually investigate Prince Andrew with this new information?
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bitchy | Will the British police actually investigate Prince Andrew with this new information?

by jummy84
written by jummy84

There’s going to be a wall-to-wall royal catastrophe this week as the fallout from Prince Andrew’s degeneracy continues. On Friday, Andrew was allowed to “give up” his ducal title and his royal honors, all part of a private deal he worked out with King Charles. Then over the weekend, the Mail published never-before-seen emails and documents from the Epstein files. Additionally, excerpts from Virginia Giuffre’s book, Nobody’s Girl, continue to come out. Now we know that Andrew got a hold of Virginia’s Social Security number and information, and he gave that information to his police contacts because he wanted to harm and smear Virginia. Now it’s possible that Andrew could face an actual police investigation in the UK?

Prince Andrew faces becoming the first member of the Royal family to be investigated by police for more than 20 years after he was accused of trying to use his protection officer to smear his teenage sex abuse accuser. The Metropolitan Police is “actively looking into” allegations that he asked his taxpayer-funded bodyguard to investigate Virginia Giuffre after obtaining both her date of birth and social security number.

He then told Ed Perkins, Elizabeth II’s then deputy press secretary, that he had asked one of his officers to dig up information about Giuffre, according to a leaked email. A Scotland Yard spokesman said: “We are aware of media reporting and are actively looking into the claims made.”

The Prince could potentially face a criminal investigation in the US for sharing Giuffre’s nine-digit social security number without her consent. Spencer Kuvin, the lawyer who represented nine victims of Jeffrey Epstein – the late paedophile who abused Giuffre – suggested that the Prince could face a hefty jail sentence, noting that it was a crime to knowingly transfer, possess or use, without consent, another person’s social security number.

“Penalties for this crime are very severe and can be up to 15 years in prison,” he said. The US Social Security Act also protects this information. “Given the information disclosed so far it appears that Andrew may have violated both of these acts. The FBI should immediately open an investigation into his actions and request that Andrew subject himself to an interview. Both the US and British authorities should not protect this awful individual. The world should hold Andrew accountable and show everyone that justice matters.”

The Met has looked into allegations relating to the Prince and Epstein’s activities in London three times and opted not to investigate. In October 2021, Scotland Yard announced that it would take “no further action” against Prince Andrew after reviewing legal documents from the civil case brought by Giuffre. But Sigrid McCawley, Giuffre’s former lawyer, said on Sunday that the newly unearthed emails warranted a “thorough investigation” into the force’s actions.

She told The Telegraph: “For too long the Metropolitan Police has been a pawn for the powerful and privileged. Weaponising the criminal justice system to discredit and debase survivors is wrong and cannot be tolerated. These new revelations warrant a thorough investigation and a new examination of actions taken by Prince Andrew and the Metropolitan Police to silence the bravery of Virginia Giuffre.”

Buckingham Palace staff could also face questions over what they knew and what they knew about the sharing of Giuffre’s private information.

[From The Telegraph]

I absolutely hope that the Met Police investigate Andrew thoroughly, but I doubt it will happen. Or rather, they’ll announce a splashy investigation, then they’ll slow-walk it and eventually do nothing about him. Meanwhile, various MPs are now calling on Prime Minister Keir Starmer to change the law so that Andrew can be formally stripped of all or some of his titles. Right now, Andrew’s York ducal title is only “in abeyance,” meaning not used, or the title has been suspended. Andrew Lownie (a royal biographer) pointed out that Starmer would only have to tweak the Peerage Act of 1963 to really strip Andrew of his York title. But Andrew would still be a prince.

I also wanted to show this clip of Emily Maitlis speaking over the weekend. Maitlis interviewed Andrew in 2019, in what was the “beginning of the end” for Andrew, and part of this now six-year cover-up.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Cover Images.

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bitchy | Prince William wants credit for Prince Andrew giving up his titles & honors
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bitchy | Prince William wants credit for Prince Andrew giving up his titles & honors

by jummy84
written by jummy84

Included in this post are some photos of Prince William out in London on Friday. He barely works, full-stop, but he rarely works on Fridays in particular. The event was William visiting the London Ambulance Service, where it looked like he was awkwardly making small-talk with EMTs and then awkwardly sitting at a big kids’ table and making “I’m listening” faces. By most accounts, this was his last bit of work before he and his family took off for the kids’ school break. God knows when we’ll see him again.

I bring up his family holiday, because William and his office want people to believe that William is responsible for what happened with Prince Andrew on Friday. Throughout the day, there was a persistent buzz that Buckingham Palace was going to make a move on Andrew, or that some kind of news would be forthcoming. It was all centered on what King Charles would do, and the potential conversations between the brothers (Charles and Andrew). In the first few hours after Andrew’s big announcement – that he would no longer use his ducal titles or his honors – the story remained centered on Andrew and Charles, and their consultation with each other. It still seems to be that this was all a generous deal struck between brothers, especially given that Andrew will retain Royal Lodge. Well, a short time later, William wanted credit for the Andrew situation.

People Magazine kept it simple, merely stating that William had been “consulted” about Andrew’s decision to “give up” his titles. GB News said the same – a mere consultation about the situation, and that consultation could have been an email or text for all we know. The Sun fleshed out some of the details – Charles was in Scotland in the past week, and he was on the phone with his courtiers and with Andrew, “leading frantic negotiations.” At some point, Charles “held crunch talks” with William about the situation. The Sun also points out that William won’t be happy about Andrew remaining at Royal Lodge, which is only half a mile away from Forest Lodge, the Waleses’ new forever home. Well, all of this vague “consultation” has led the Royalist to one inevitable conclusion: this was a huge victory for the Scooter King! Some macabre highlights from “The Fall of Prince Andrew is The First Great Triumph of King William V.”

William is responsible for all of this: Prince Andrew was publicly humiliated yesterday, forced to renounce his ducal title, and is now a duke only in memory. Buckingham Palace is furiously spinning the stripping of his titles as the personification of a resolute monarch, but let’s be very clear: the practical author of Andrew’s public annihilation is his nephew, the Prince of Wales. The announcement may have come from the office of the king, but it was William who wrote the latest chapter (one dare not say the ending because I’m told William still believes too many privileges remain to Andrew).

King Charles is dying: What the Palace refused to say [last year] —what the British papers continue not to print—is that the diagnosis was grave from the start. Reporters on the at times almost corrupt “royal rota” (a press pool) have spread the fiction of the “doing brilliantly” monarch. But everyone can see the truth: Charles looks exhausted, he has lost alarming weight, and he is still receiving regular radiotherapy and immunotherapy. He spends long stretches at Highgrove and Balmoral in near-total rest.

William has been gunning for Andrew since Charles’s cancer diagnosis: The announcement of Charles’s illness fired the starting gun on what courtiers call “the change of reign.” From that moment, power began to flow from the king to the heir. And from that moment, William’s patience—for his father’s sentimentality, for his brother’s chaos, and for his uncle’s entitlement—ran out.

William hated being ordered to chauffeur Andrew at Balmoral: William’s determination to do something permanent about Andrew when he becomes king can be traced to a single, humiliating moment: Balmoral, August 2023. William was ordered to drive Andrew to church. At that moment, Charles hadn’t pre-announced his own death. He was the all-powerful monarch who had to be obeyed. So William obeyed. The image—grim-faced heir behind the wheel, the disgraced Duke beside him—circulated around the world. William’s aides briefed furiously afterward that he had been obliged to do it, that it was not his wish. Those who know William say the episode hardened him. “That,” said one, “was the day he decided he would never be made to do something like that again.”

The Waleses refused to go to Christmas lunch in 2023: In retaliation, he refused to attend Christmas lunch with his family at Sandringham that year after learning Andrew and Sarah would be there. Charles imagined that inviting Andrew and Sarah Ferguson to join the family walk to church at Sandringham Christmas 2023 would be taken as a gesture of magnanimity. It was read as proof of delusion by William, who was incandescent.

William’s succession plan: “This is the pre-succession,” one former courtier told me. “It’s what Charles did to the Queen when he fired her private secretary, Christopher Geidt. Only now it’s being done to him.” William, for his part, has no interest in the sentimental family unity that his father prizes. He sees the monarchy as a brand, and Andrew (and Harry) as hugely damaging to it. His view, expressed repeatedly to aides, is that his uncle should never again be in the presence of the monarch. When Andrew attempted to get into a photograph at the Duchess of Kent’s funeral in September, William’s fury was instant.

William is already lobbying for credit: Intriguingly, the media looks ready to credit William for Andrew’s downfall. I’m noting repeated references to his role in reports, and I expect a lot of lobbying from his side on the matter in the next few days and weeks.

The Scooter King’s Letters Patent: But William, I am told, isn’t finished. When he ascends to the throne, I am told he will issue new letters patent (as royal executive orders are known) to strip Andrew (and Harry, Archie, Lilibet, Eugenie, and Beatrice) of their HRH and Princely titles. “When the king announced he had cancer,” said one palace source, “the reins slipped overnight.”

[From The Royalist Substack]

I like how the pro-Scooter royalists are gleeful at the thought of a vengeful, enraged, incandescent, jealous and punitive king. They’re rubbing their hands together at the thought of all of the screeching vengeance from the Scooter King, but they forget that William actually doesn’t give a sh-t about much, and he’s also lazy as hell. Sure, William is lobbying for credit for this Andrew situation, but you can actually tell from the quiet generosity of the “deal” that William had nothing to do with it. The deal is classic Charles – a half-measure, mid-dither, with barely enough red meat to appease the critics. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure William despises his uncle and I’m sure William wants Andrew completely gone. But I just don’t believe William had much to do with what happened to Andrew on Friday. Maybe I’m wrong! Who knows. As for the new letters patent… lmao. It is what it is. William will look absolutely pathetic, but he’s too stupid to understand that.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

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bitchy | Prince Andrew has given up his royal titles & honors, but he’s keeping Royal Lodge
Celebrity News

bitchy | Prince Andrew has given up his royal titles & honors, but he’s keeping Royal Lodge

by jummy84
written by jummy84

I swear, the Windsors really have to stop with these late Friday news dumps. When I left my house this afternoon, there were several increasingly urgent stories about Prince Andrew, the Duke of York. Last weekend, Andrew’s 2011 email to Jeffrey Epstein was published by the Daily Mail – that email proved that Andrew lied about when he broke off contact with Epstein, and the email also suggested that Andrew and Epstein planned to continue seeing each other and abusing women and girls together. Throughout the past week, the fallout has been limited to palace sources openly dithering about what to do next, all while emphasizing that they believed dealing with Prince Harry was a “greater priority” for the Firm. Well, I was wrong – I thought nothing would come out of this latest round of dithering about Andrew. But something happened. Andrew is now giving up all of his titles and honors.

Prince Andrew is discontinuing the use of his royal titles and honors.

In a statement released by Buckingham Palace on Friday, Oct. 17, Prince Andrew said he will no longer use his title or honors as it distracts from the work of King Charles and the royal family.

Andrew, 65, said in the statement, “In discussion with The King, and my immediate and wider family, we have concluded the continued accusations about me distract from the work of His Majesty and the Royal Family. I have decided, as I always have, to put my duty to my family and country first. I stand by my decision five years ago to stand back from public life.”

“With His Majesty’s agreement, we feel I must now go a step further. I will therefore no longer use my title or the honours which have been conferred upon me,” he continued. “As I have said previously, I vigorously deny the accusations against me.”

To officially strip Prince Andrew’s titles, it would require an act of parliament.

Andrew’s ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, will no longer use her Duchess of York title. She has long gone by Sarah Ferguson professionally and will now use that name in all areas of her life, PEOPLE understands. The former couple will also continue to reside at their residence, Royal Lodge, on the Windsor Castle estate, as Andrew has a private tenancy agreement with The Crown Estate, which is unaffected by issues relating to his titles.

PEOPLE also understands that Andrew will not attend any of the royal family’s Christmas celebrations.

The former couple’s daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, will not have their titles affected by this decision.

Prince Andrew has been styled as “His Royal Highness” since birth. Upon his marriage to Sarah Ferguson in 1986, his mother, Queen Elizabeth, gave him the titles of Duke of York, Earl of Inverness and Baron Killyleagh. The Duke of York is the traditional title for the sovereign’s second son, and the elite peerage has a rich royal history. According to British etiquette expert Debrett’s, the dukedom has been traditionally conferred upon the second son of the monarch since Edward IV in 1474. Queen Elizabeth’s father, King George VI, was also known as the Duke of York prior to the shocking abdication of his elder brother, King Edward VIII, in 1936.

[From People]

The Royal Lodge thing is interesting, almost as if that was part of the agreement – Andrew gave up his titles and honors, in exchange for keeping his lease on Royal Lodge. I’ve got to wonder if Charles threw in a few more perks to sweeten the deal, like Andrew will still be allowed to host shooting parties on privately-owned royal property (Windsor, Sandringham, Balmoral). It’s also interesting that Sarah is officially giving up her Duchess of York title too, although people already went back to using her maiden name anyway. Whew… well, it had to be done. And a lot more should be done as well, including Andrew agreeing to be interviewed in the long-running criminal investigations in the UK and America. Also: should we call him Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor now?

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

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Prince Andrew confirms he will relinquish all of his royal titles including Duke of York
Celebrity News

Prince Andrew confirms he will relinquish all of his royal titles including Duke of York

by jummy84
written by jummy84

Prince Andrew has confirmed he will relinquish all of his royal titles including Duke of York.

Prince Andrew has confirmed he will relinquish all of his royal titles including Duke of York

The disgraced 65-year-old, who has been mired in the Jeffrey Epstein scandal for years, made the announcement in a statement released on Friday (17.10.25), hours after reports he had held talks with King Charles about giving them up.

He said: “In discussion with The King, and my immediate and wider family, we have concluded the continued accusations about me distract from the work of His Majesty and the Royal Family.

“I have decided, as I always have, to put my duty to my family and country first. I stand by my decision five years ago to stand back from public life.

“With His Majesty’s agreement, we feel I must now go a step further. I will therefore no longer use my title or the honours which have been conferred upon me. As I have said previously, I vigorously deny the accusations against me.”

Charles is reportedly “glad” with the outcome.

Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, 65, were given their titles Duke and Duchess of York on their wedding day in 1986 – and she will also drop her Duchess title.

Andrew remains Duke of York but the title will not be used and

he will not attend family celebrations for Christmas at Sandringham, according to The Sun.

Despite handing his royal titles back he will remain at Royal Lodge as he has a “cast iron” tenancy until 2078.

It follows a series of damaging revelations about Andrew’s continued contact with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The Sun on Sunday reported the Duke of York was found to have lied about cutting ties with the disgraced financier, after an email surfaced in which he told Epstein: “We are in this together.”

The message, dated 29 February 2011, came just one day after the now-infamous photograph of Andrew with Virginia Giuffre was made public.

According to The Telegraph, the King met with his brother at Buckingham Palace earlier this week, after which Andrew agreed to give up his remaining royal titles.

Sources told the newspaper palace aides had reached “tipping point” and believed the monarchy had “no choice but to act” following the latest disclosures about Epstein.

The decision marks the most severe action yet taken against Andrew, who was stripped of his military titles, royal patronages and HRH style by Queen Elizabeth II in January 2022 after a US judge ruled he must face a civil sexual assault case brought by Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking victim Virginia Giuffre.

Andrew later settled the case for an undisclosed sum without admitting liability and has consistently denied having sex with her.

Virginia, who died by suicide in April aged 41, is making posthumous claims in her forthcoming autobiography Nobody’s Girl, alleging she was trafficked to Andrew by Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell as a teenager.

In the book, due to be released on 21 October, she reportedly writes Andrew viewed their encounters as his “birth right” and said “thank you” to her in a “clipped British accent”.

Virginia also claims Maxwell told her the morning after the alleged encounter: “You did well, the prince had fun.”

Earlier this year, Andrew was also linked to a separate controversy involving alleged contact with a Chinese spy.

Leaked documents from 2019 showed that he had met with Chinese officials, including Yang Tengbo, and sought to use his royal connections to raise £2.4 billion for an international technology initiative.

Security sources later described the relationship as a potential “threat to national security”.




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Prince Andrew Gives Up Royal Titles Amid Jeffrey Epstein Allegations
Celebrity News

Prince Andrew Gives Up Royal Titles Amid Jeffrey Epstein Allegations

by jummy84
written by jummy84

While Epstein died by suicide in 2019 in a New York jail while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges, Giuffre filed a federal lawsuit against the Prince Andrew in 2021.

The royal settled the suit the following year, though he has continued to deny that the two engaged in any sexual relations.

“I have no recollection of ever meeting this lady,” Andrew said during a BBC Newsnight interview at the time, “none whatsoever.”

The is now the second time that Prince Andrew has had changes to made to his titles, as in 2022 Queen Elizabeth, months before her death, stripped him of his military affiliations and royal patronages amid the sexual abuse case.

“With the Queen’s approval and agreement, the Duke of York’s military affiliations and Royal patronages have been returned to the Queen,” Buckingham Palace said in a statement in January of that year, per BBC. “The Duke of York will continue not to undertake any public duties and is defending this case as a private citizen.”

Andrew isn’t the only royal who has made headlines this year. For more news from royals around the world, keep reading…

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bitchy | Prince Andrew to Jeffrey Epstein in 2011: ‘We’ll play some more soon!’
Celebrity News

bitchy | Prince Andrew to Jeffrey Epstein in 2011: ‘We’ll play some more soon!’

by jummy84
written by jummy84

Last month, we learned that Sarah Ferguson sent an email apology to Jeffrey Epstein in 2011. The apology, which was full of warmth and flattery, was sent after Epstein threatened to sue Fergie after she publicly “cut ties” with him, which happened after she was exposed for taking money from Epstein. The email was new-to-us, but people who have followed the story of the Yorks’ attachments to Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell know that Fergie and Prince Andrew were still in contact for years after Epstein’s initial plea deal for sexually abusing minors. Well, something else happened in 2011 – Andrew sent Epstein an email after the publication of the photo of Andrew, Virginia Guiffre and Ghislaine (seen above).

Prince Andrew secretly told paedophile Jeffrey Epstein ‘we are in this together’ a day after The Mail on Sunday first published the infamous picture of the Duke with his alleged teenage sex victim, a bombshell email reveals. In the astonishing message, Andrew said he was ‘concerned’ about the impact this newspaper’s revelations would have on his friend, but reassured the vile billionaire that the pair would ‘rise above’ press scrutiny. It was sent to Epstein 12 weeks after Andrew had supposedly ceased all contact with the convicted sex offender.

The leaked email provides definitive proof that the Duke lied in his interview with BBC’s Newsnight when he claimed he ‘never had any contact’ with Epstein after the pair were famously pictured walking together in New York’s Central Park in December 2010.

The revelation comes just weeks after the MoS exposed how the Duchess of York wrote Epstein a gushing message calling him her ‘supreme friend’ – despite telling journalists she would never have anything to do with him again. The hugely embarrassing email will heap further pressure on the Royal Family to sever all ties with the disgraced Yorks and raise fresh questions about their future at Royal Lodge, a 30-room mansion in Windsor Great Park.

Writing to Epstein on February 28, 2011 – the day after the MoS published the now infamous picture of him with a teenage Virginia Giuffre that led to his downfall – Andrew said: ‘I’m just as concerned for you! Don’t worry about me! It would seem we are in this together and will have to rise above it. Otherwise keep in close touch and we’ll play some more soon!!!!’

Andrew signed off with: ‘A, HRH The Duke of York, KG’. KG refers to Duke’s ‘Knight of the Garter’ – a prestigious position he has held since 2006 and which he still retains.

The MoS has verified the email address used by Andrew, while Epstein’s email address has repeatedly appeared in court documents. Prince Andrew last night declined to comment.

[From The Daily Mail]

“It would seem we are in this together” – I mean, he is correct, they were in it together, they were abusing girls and women together, they were absolutely birds of a feather. “Otherwise keep in close touch and we’ll play some more soon.” In 2011?? Yeah, Andrew and Epstein were still in touch long after Andrew allegedly “cut ties.” Which means he was lying his ass off in that Emily Maitlis interview in 2019. The Mail’s A.N. Wilson – who recently did that “What’s Eating Prince William” piece – spelled out how screwed the Windsors are about this, arguing that even though everyone knows that the Yorks need to be completely cut off, the biggest fear is what happens if Andrew decides to write a book.

So now, the questions that the Palace, and the King, have long tried to avoid are growing louder with each leaked email. When will they actually send Andrew packing? When will the King, who is his brother’s landlord, say that he and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson simply cannot go on living in Royal Lodge, a 30-room mansion in Windsor Great Park? That they cannot attend royal funerals? That they are not to be lined up with the Royals for church services, Garter ceremonies or anything else? That they are out, completely out?

But royal exile for the Duke could invite even greater problems for the King. The fear is that, untethered from royal protocol, Andrew will become the loosest of loose cannons and his broadsides will splinter the entire Monarchy. For a start, he would need to find an income to fund his lavish lifestyle. Fergie, who has enlisted the help of many a poorly-paid ghostwriter to pen her ludicrously bad children’s books, will no doubt advise Andrew to sign a book deal.

Any publisher would lick their lips at the vault of Windsor secrets he could open, and pay handsomely for it. But they would backpedal fast if Andrew continued to deny any involvement with the Epstein crowd. The only book deal that would be credible is one in which he reveals as much about himself as he does his family, think: Confessions Of A Sex Addict Prince. The Palace must hope that he would not agree to such a memoir as it would be tantamount to admitting criminal offences. However many millions he was offered to write it, he and Fergie would get through the money in next to no time.

So the pair would have to beg for handouts from monied friends, be they paedophile financiers, oligarchs from the ex-Soviet ‘stans or Chinese spies. So this is a real problem, and not only for the immediate family. It is a major crisis for the Monarchy, perhaps the gravest since the abdication of Edward VIII in 1936.

The King and the Prince of Wales cannot be seen to support or underwrite Andrew any more. His very existence as an official Royal is a scandal. So they must cast him out, for if they show him mercy, they are themselves implicated, and we are only a hair’s breadth away from a republic.

[From The Daily Mail]

So the argument is… even though Andrew has the power to completely blow up the Windsors and expose a lot of secrets, the Windsors should still completely cast him aside? Interesting. I still don’t think Charles will do that, but it will happen when William is Scooter King.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Cover Images.

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