{"id":532376,"date":"2025-10-28T02:43:19","date_gmt":"2025-10-28T02:43:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/532376\/"},"modified":"2025-10-28T02:43:19","modified_gmt":"2025-10-28T02:43:19","slug":"controversy-surrounding-andrew-continues-to-grow-as-king-heckled","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/532376\/","title":{"rendered":"Controversy surrounding Andrew continues to grow as King heckled"},"content":{"rendered":"

The controversy surrounding Prince Andrew has continued to grow as the King was heckled during an engagement in the Midlands.<\/p>\n

Charles was a few metres away from a man in the crowd who asked a string of questions including \u201cHow long have you known about Andrew and Epstein?\u201d during the visit to Lichfield Cathedral on Monday.<\/p>\n

The monarchy is coming under increasing pressure to resolve the issue of Andrew, with some MPs eager to debate the topic.<\/p>\n

It came as the BBC reported that Andrew hosted Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell and Harvey Weinstein at Royal Lodge, the private home where he lives rent free, ahead of his daughter Princess Beatrice\u2019s masked ball 18th birthday celebrations at Windsor Castle in 2006.<\/p>\n

The BBC said it has matched the trees and patio wall in a previously published image of Epstein, Maxwell and Weinstein to other pictures of Royal Lodge.<\/p>\n

Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson have agreed to leave the property in exchange for two separate residences, according to reports.<\/p>\n

The King\u2019s brother is said to be in talks with Charles\u2019s representatives about leaving Royal Lodge voluntarily after the furore over the \u201cpeppercorn\u201d rent for the 30-room mansion, where he has lived for more than 20 years.<\/p>\n

\"Charles<\/p>\n

Charles meets the public at Lichfield Cathedral (Temilade Adelaja\/PA)<\/p>\n

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey is calling for a select committee inquiry into how the Crown Estate, effectively Andrew\u2019s landlord, has \u201cmanaged\u201d support for the former duke.<\/p>\n

Charles was visiting Lichfield Cathedral to highlight local community and heritage skills when a man believed to be a member of anti-monarchy group Republic shouted questions.<\/p>\n

In a video, thought to have been filmed by the protester as he spoke, the man says: \u201cHow long have you known about Andrew and Epstein?\u201d and then asks twice: \u201cHave you asked the police to cover up for Andrew?\u201d<\/p>\n

Charles can be seen shaking hands with well-wishers and waving as the man shouts his questions, and at one point a woman turns round and tells him to \u201cshut up\u201d.<\/p>\n

The protester ends by saying: \u201cShould MPs be allowed to debate the royals in the House of Commons?\u201d<\/p>\n

Graham Smith, chief executive of Republic, said: \u201cThe royals need to be challenged, and if the politicians won\u2019t do the job and the police won\u2019t investigate, then more and more members of the public will be asking the tough questions.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to see broadcasters invite Charles into a studio and ask him the same questions.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Sir<\/p>\n

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey wants a parliamentary select committee to question Andrew (Stefan Rousseau\/PA)<\/p>\n

Sir Ed Davey told BBC Radio 4\u2019s Today programme: \u201cI think, by disgracing his office, Prince Andrew has relinquished any rights to special treatment at the expense of the taxpayer, and Parliament are the guardians of the taxpayer.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd what I think would be the best thing to happen is a select committee inquiry into how the Crown Estate has managed that support and that officials from the Crown Estate and Prince Andrew should come to give evidence.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe focus has been around the Royal Lodge which, as I understand it, is where the taxpayer may or may not have been supporting the prince.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut we just need some more transparency about this\u2026 some more accountability. The best way to do that is a select committee inquiry.\u201d<\/p>\n

Liberal Democrat MP Tim Farron said the royal family \u201ccannot be above scrutiny\u201d and called for Andrew to appear before the Public Accounts Committee.<\/p>\n

Saying he did not expect the King to \u201ctake action\u201d, he told BBC Newsnight: \u201cIf we want to support the monarchy then Parliament needs to step in and take action, and that means Prince Andrew losing his titles.\u201d<\/p>\n

An anonymous source told The Sun that Andrew has requested the former home of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Frogmore Cottage, while Sarah may relocate to Adelaide Cottage after it is vacated by the Prince and Princess of Wales next month.<\/p>\n

William, Kate and their children \u2013 Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis \u2013 are due to move to Forest Lodge, an eight-bedroom Grade II-listed residence in Windsor Great Park, in the next few weeks, according to reports.<\/p>\n

The King has long been said to have tried to encourage his younger brother, who lives in Royal Lodge with Sarah, to move out.<\/p>\n

\"Frogmore<\/p>\n

Frogmore Cottage on the Home Park Estate (Steve Parsons\/PA)<\/p>\n

Charles reportedly first offered Frogmore Cottage to Andrew in January 2023 after Harry and Meghan moved out, but the former duke turned it down.<\/p>\n

The Sun reported that workmen had been seen at the property in recent weeks ahead of the prince\u2019s potential arrival.<\/p>\n

Andrew attempted to draw a line under years of controversy after allegations that he sexually abused Virginia Giuffre, by giving up his dukedom and other honours ahead of the publication of her posthumous memoirs earlier this month.<\/p>\n

But the prince, who strenuously denies the allegations, was instead swamped by criticism focused on the property he has lived in effectively rent-free since 2003.<\/p>\n

\"Sarah<\/p>\n

Sarah Ferguson (Jordan Pettitt\/PA)<\/p>\n

Obstacles to a settlement are reportedly where Andrew, eighth in line to the throne, will live and what financial recompense he will receive for the funds he spent renovating the home.<\/p>\n

The Government has so far refused to allocate time in the House of Commons for MPs to discuss Andrew\u2019s situation because the royal family wants Parliament to focus on \u201cimportant issues\u201d.<\/p>\n

But the issue could be raised on one of the days when ministers are not in control of the parliamentary timetable.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The controversy surrounding Prince Andrew has continued to grow as the King was heckled during an engagement in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":532377,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7708],"tags":[7730,12974,11858,2283,23939,2204,172364,2205,5105,7710,519,79290,448,7717],"class_list":{"0":"post-532376","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-royals","8":"tag-charles","9":"tag-crown-estate","10":"tag-ed-davey","11":"tag-ghislaine-maxwell","12":"tag-harvey-weinstein","13":"tag-jeffrey-epstein","14":"tag-lichfield-cathedral","15":"tag-prince-andrew","16":"tag-royal","17":"tag-royal-families","18":"tag-royal-family","19":"tag-royal-lodge","20":"tag-royals","21":"tag-sarah-ferguson"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115449496574608085","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/532376","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=532376"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/532376\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/532377"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=532376"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=532376"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=532376"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}