The Duke of York will appear alongside senior members of the royal family at the Garter Day service at Windsor Castle this week
–
If the royal family hoped — and most of them did — that the Duke of York would quietly fade away into a discrete existence of horse riding and private lunches with the Queen behind castle walls, their hopes have been dashed.
Prince Andrew — who recently paid a multimillion-pound settlement to Virginia Giuffre to keep her allegations of sexual abuse, which he denies, out of court — is set to make a controversial return to public life on Monday.
As a member of the Order of the Garter, this country’s oldest and most senior order of chivalry, Andrew, 62, will appear alongside senior members of the royal family at the Garter Day service at Windsor Castle.
But today the mood music suddenly changed, with an acknowledgment that the “Andrew problem” needs fixing. In response to questions from The Sunday Times regarding his planned attendance at Garter Day, a senior palace source said: “Clearly at some point soon, thought will have to be given to how to support the duke as, away from the public gaze, he seeks to slowly rebuild his life in a different direction. There is of course a real awareness and sensitivity to public feelings.
“There is also recognition that the task of starting to support him as he begins to rebuild his life will be the first step on a long road and one that should not be played out every day in the glare of the public spotlight.”
Recovered from his recent Covid diagnosis, which conveniently kept him away from the [Platinum Jubilee celebrations](https://archive.ph/oAnQW), he will attend the annual ceremony famous for its pageantry, complete with royal knights and ladies of the garter riding in carriages, wearing plumed hats and velvet robes.
Low-key it is not — which is just how Andrew likes it, as he showed at the Duke of Edinburgh’s memorial service in March. There he unexpectedly took centre-stage, accompanying the Queen to Westminster Abbey and escorting the monarch to her seat.
A few days later, Andrew was back in the headlines with questions over High Court claims that an elderly Turkish millionairess was instructed by her former financial adviser to transfer £750,000 to Andrew’s Coutts bank account in 2019, for reasons that remain unclear.
It led a palace source to confirm the unanimous view of the most senior courtiers: “The duke is delusional if he thinks what happened [at Westminster Abbey] means he has any chance of resuming a public role.”
So the disgraced duke’s reappearance tomorrow at the heart of royal life will send many eyebrows skywards. It is only five months since the Queen stripped her second son of all his patronages, military titles and his HRH prefix amid concern at the damage Andrew’s ongoing public battle with Giuffre was inflicting on the monarchy.
Not so long ago, the Prince of Wales let it be known that as far as he was concerned, “A way back for the duke is demonstrably not possible.”
A source said: “While the prince loves his brother and has the ability to have sympathy for the slings and arrows he endures … the unwelcome reputational damage to the institution was an unsolvable problem … because the spectre of [Giuffre’s accusation] raises its head with hideous regularity.”
It seemed the right call, following Andrew’s withdrawal from official royal duties in November 2019 after his disastrous interview with the BBC’s Newsnight, when he attempted but spectacularly failed to explain his friendships with the billionaire late convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, who Giuffre alleged trafficked her to Andrew when she was 17.
The Buckingham Palace machine has put an ocean between itself and the pariah prince, repeatedly clarifying that it does not speak for Andrew, who is no longer a working member of the royal family, and did not expect to again.
But the spotlight is exactly where he will be in on Monday, with sources close to Andrew confirming he will attend “all parts” of the ceremony at St George’s Chapel in Windsor, the ensuing lunch and the grand procession. “He was very disappointed not to have made the jubilee, but there are discussions going on behind closed doors amongst the family about the future,” said the source.
Here, then, is an acknowledgement that the royal family cannot just ignore the “Andrew problem” indefinitely, because it is not going away.
As a friend of Andrew’s recently said: “The duke can no more be disinvested as a senior member of the royal family than Harry and Meghan can. It is who and what they are. If they don’t engage at all, it is going to become like Harry and Meghan on steroids.”
The friend also observed that three years of confinement, mostly at Royal Lodge, has resulted in Andrew “climbing the walls”.
Just how he “rebuilds his life”, what “direction” that takes and how much the royal family play a part in his rehabilitation when the key future stakeholders are so opposed to raising his profile, remains to be seen. Charles has made his views clear, as has the Duke of Cambridge, who considers his uncle a reputational “risk” and “threat” to the monarchy and supports his father’s stance.
“There is no way in the world he’s ever coming back — the family will never let it happen,” a royal source has said.
With no obvious means of earning an income and no realistic career prospects, the duke will need all the help from his family he can get.
*Roya Nikkhah, Royal Editor*
Saturday June 11 2022, 4.00pm BST, The Sunday Times
—-
Late night
**UPDATE**:
>[PRINCE Andrew has been banned from appearing in public at today’s Order of the Garter ceremony — after Charles and William lobbied the Queen](https://archive.ph/LQrbB)
>
>The disgraced Duke, 62, had hoped his appearance with the Royal Family would be a springboard back to public life.
Arrogant pompous buffoon.
I wonder if “rebuilding his life” involves public money.
He’s bad news. Always was and always will be. He will be ostracised when his mother passes.
Speaking of nonces and the Royal family, [here are 13 pictures of Prince Charles with Jimmy Saville](https://m.imgur.com/a/k2y9udd)
>Here, then, is an acknowledgement that the royal family cannot just ignore the “Andrew problem” indefinitely, because it is not going away.
I think you’ll find that it can. Andrew has no more entitlement to participate in public life than any of we plebs. Obviously he’ll need to find something to do with his life, but a hobby would be far more appropriate than trying to wriggle his way back into the public eye.
The Covid wasn’t too bad then 🤔
Would love to know what the royal family are doing to rebuild the lives of Epstein and Andrews victims. Bad choice for an increasingly unpopular institution.
Fucking hell. You’d think they would be pushing him off to some mansion in Surrey or something. It’s like they want to be abolished.
He’ll be a massive boost to any republican movement once the Queen has passed.
That guy is toxic! And a living shame to those royals. Abolish this monarchy!
Recirculating pedophiles didn’t do the RCC any favours.
Palace = Elizabeth and all the others no-one voted for
Wow. What a catastrophic error of judgement. I think they might actually want the whole thing to come crashing down once Charles is in charge. Mayeb they’re all tired of the whole thing.
He’ll wedge his way into public royal events, but who’s going to invite him to open their library or become a patron of their charity or whatever?
If that was me i’d be in jail or in a grave and yet he walks away like he’s the victim.
… Poison ponce…. FTFY
Fuck we have to pay for that too… Fucking freeloading nonce!!
Brenda determined to burn it all down on her way out.
Ah, so the Covid-19 self isolation has conveniently ended and now he is ‘rebuilding his life’. Poor him, he has been through so much….
Arrogance personified.
What’s the point of having a monarchy if they can’t behead their erring family members?
They are delusional if they think the public will accept “His Nonceness” into anything other than disgraced ignominy.
It won’t last long. The public have not forgotten what he has been accused of and people will happily remind him when they can, you cane expect there to be small groups of people protesting everywhere he goes or businesses to not want anything to do with him. He did not fake COVID for the Platinum Jubilee for nothing after all.
This is truly disgusting he should be gone,finished,and forgotten.
Must be tough when you’re _too honourable_ like that sweaty nonce.
They really couldn’t be anymore out of touch could they?
Price Andrew is a sweaty nonce, and that’s all I have to say about that.
What? It’s been like, five minutes and they already are trying this shit?
27 comments
The Duke of York will appear alongside senior members of the royal family at the Garter Day service at Windsor Castle this week
–
If the royal family hoped — and most of them did — that the Duke of York would quietly fade away into a discrete existence of horse riding and private lunches with the Queen behind castle walls, their hopes have been dashed.
Prince Andrew — who recently paid a multimillion-pound settlement to Virginia Giuffre to keep her allegations of sexual abuse, which he denies, out of court — is set to make a controversial return to public life on Monday.
As a member of the Order of the Garter, this country’s oldest and most senior order of chivalry, Andrew, 62, will appear alongside senior members of the royal family at the Garter Day service at Windsor Castle.
But today the mood music suddenly changed, with an acknowledgment that the “Andrew problem” needs fixing. In response to questions from The Sunday Times regarding his planned attendance at Garter Day, a senior palace source said: “Clearly at some point soon, thought will have to be given to how to support the duke as, away from the public gaze, he seeks to slowly rebuild his life in a different direction. There is of course a real awareness and sensitivity to public feelings.
“There is also recognition that the task of starting to support him as he begins to rebuild his life will be the first step on a long road and one that should not be played out every day in the glare of the public spotlight.”
Recovered from his recent Covid diagnosis, which conveniently kept him away from the [Platinum Jubilee celebrations](https://archive.ph/oAnQW), he will attend the annual ceremony famous for its pageantry, complete with royal knights and ladies of the garter riding in carriages, wearing plumed hats and velvet robes.
Low-key it is not — which is just how Andrew likes it, as he showed at the Duke of Edinburgh’s memorial service in March. There he unexpectedly took centre-stage, accompanying the Queen to Westminster Abbey and escorting the monarch to her seat.
A few days later, Andrew was back in the headlines with questions over High Court claims that an elderly Turkish millionairess was instructed by her former financial adviser to transfer £750,000 to Andrew’s Coutts bank account in 2019, for reasons that remain unclear.
It led a palace source to confirm the unanimous view of the most senior courtiers: “The duke is delusional if he thinks what happened [at Westminster Abbey] means he has any chance of resuming a public role.”
So the disgraced duke’s reappearance tomorrow at the heart of royal life will send many eyebrows skywards. It is only five months since the Queen stripped her second son of all his patronages, military titles and his HRH prefix amid concern at the damage Andrew’s ongoing public battle with Giuffre was inflicting on the monarchy.
Not so long ago, the Prince of Wales let it be known that as far as he was concerned, “A way back for the duke is demonstrably not possible.”
A source said: “While the prince loves his brother and has the ability to have sympathy for the slings and arrows he endures … the unwelcome reputational damage to the institution was an unsolvable problem … because the spectre of [Giuffre’s accusation] raises its head with hideous regularity.”
It seemed the right call, following Andrew’s withdrawal from official royal duties in November 2019 after his disastrous interview with the BBC’s Newsnight, when he attempted but spectacularly failed to explain his friendships with the billionaire late convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, who Giuffre alleged trafficked her to Andrew when she was 17.
The Buckingham Palace machine has put an ocean between itself and the pariah prince, repeatedly clarifying that it does not speak for Andrew, who is no longer a working member of the royal family, and did not expect to again.
But the spotlight is exactly where he will be in on Monday, with sources close to Andrew confirming he will attend “all parts” of the ceremony at St George’s Chapel in Windsor, the ensuing lunch and the grand procession. “He was very disappointed not to have made the jubilee, but there are discussions going on behind closed doors amongst the family about the future,” said the source.
Here, then, is an acknowledgement that the royal family cannot just ignore the “Andrew problem” indefinitely, because it is not going away.
As a friend of Andrew’s recently said: “The duke can no more be disinvested as a senior member of the royal family than Harry and Meghan can. It is who and what they are. If they don’t engage at all, it is going to become like Harry and Meghan on steroids.”
The friend also observed that three years of confinement, mostly at Royal Lodge, has resulted in Andrew “climbing the walls”.
Just how he “rebuilds his life”, what “direction” that takes and how much the royal family play a part in his rehabilitation when the key future stakeholders are so opposed to raising his profile, remains to be seen. Charles has made his views clear, as has the Duke of Cambridge, who considers his uncle a reputational “risk” and “threat” to the monarchy and supports his father’s stance.
“There is no way in the world he’s ever coming back — the family will never let it happen,” a royal source has said.
With no obvious means of earning an income and no realistic career prospects, the duke will need all the help from his family he can get.
*Roya Nikkhah, Royal Editor*
Saturday June 11 2022, 4.00pm BST, The Sunday Times
—-
Late night
**UPDATE**:
>[PRINCE Andrew has been banned from appearing in public at today’s Order of the Garter ceremony — after Charles and William lobbied the Queen](https://archive.ph/LQrbB)
>
>The disgraced Duke, 62, had hoped his appearance with the Royal Family would be a springboard back to public life.
Arrogant pompous buffoon.
I wonder if “rebuilding his life” involves public money.
He’s bad news. Always was and always will be. He will be ostracised when his mother passes.
Speaking of nonces and the Royal family, [here are 13 pictures of Prince Charles with Jimmy Saville](https://m.imgur.com/a/k2y9udd)
>Here, then, is an acknowledgement that the royal family cannot just ignore the “Andrew problem” indefinitely, because it is not going away.
I think you’ll find that it can. Andrew has no more entitlement to participate in public life than any of we plebs. Obviously he’ll need to find something to do with his life, but a hobby would be far more appropriate than trying to wriggle his way back into the public eye.
The Covid wasn’t too bad then 🤔
Would love to know what the royal family are doing to rebuild the lives of Epstein and Andrews victims. Bad choice for an increasingly unpopular institution.
Fucking hell. You’d think they would be pushing him off to some mansion in Surrey or something. It’s like they want to be abolished.
He’ll be a massive boost to any republican movement once the Queen has passed.
That guy is toxic! And a living shame to those royals. Abolish this monarchy!
Recirculating pedophiles didn’t do the RCC any favours.
Palace = Elizabeth and all the others no-one voted for
Wow. What a catastrophic error of judgement. I think they might actually want the whole thing to come crashing down once Charles is in charge. Mayeb they’re all tired of the whole thing.
He’ll wedge his way into public royal events, but who’s going to invite him to open their library or become a patron of their charity or whatever?
If that was me i’d be in jail or in a grave and yet he walks away like he’s the victim.
… Poison ponce…. FTFY
Fuck we have to pay for that too… Fucking freeloading nonce!!
Brenda determined to burn it all down on her way out.
Ah, so the Covid-19 self isolation has conveniently ended and now he is ‘rebuilding his life’. Poor him, he has been through so much….
Arrogance personified.
What’s the point of having a monarchy if they can’t behead their erring family members?
They are delusional if they think the public will accept “His Nonceness” into anything other than disgraced ignominy.
It won’t last long. The public have not forgotten what he has been accused of and people will happily remind him when they can, you cane expect there to be small groups of people protesting everywhere he goes or businesses to not want anything to do with him. He did not fake COVID for the Platinum Jubilee for nothing after all.
This is truly disgusting he should be gone,finished,and forgotten.
Must be tough when you’re _too honourable_ like that sweaty nonce.
They really couldn’t be anymore out of touch could they?
Price Andrew is a sweaty nonce, and that’s all I have to say about that.
What? It’s been like, five minutes and they already are trying this shit?