{"id":540506,"date":"2025-10-31T19:54:18","date_gmt":"2025-10-31T19:54:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/540506\/"},"modified":"2025-10-31T19:54:18","modified_gmt":"2025-10-31T19:54:18","slug":"patrick-hill-they-all-came-to-see-the-same-thing-britains-disgraced-former-prince","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/540506\/","title":{"rendered":"PATRICK HILL: ‘They all came to see the same thing – Britain’s disgraced former prince’"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Mirror’s Patrick Hill spent the day outside Andrew’s soon to be former home, but despite witnessing a joke from an arriving driver, he found there is little for the royal family to smile about\"Car\"A car believed to belong to private security for Andrew Mountbatten Windsor drives towards the gates to Windsor Great Park(Image: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

From curious passers-by to the world\u2019s media, they had one thing in common – the hope of catching a glimpse of Britain\u2019s disgraced former prince.<\/p>\n

The closest they got was the sight of two of Andrew\u2019s bodyguards driving out of the gates of the royal\u2019s soon to be former home. But the dark grey Land Rover discovery which left Royal Lodge just after 4pm was not carrying the man now humbly known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor.<\/p>\n

TV crews from as far away as Australia had gathered outside the gates since dawn in a bid to witness the first sighting of Andrew since he was stripped of his royal title and kicked out of his rent-free mansion.<\/p>\n

\"MembersMembers of the media gathered outside the gates to Royal Lodge(Image: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Every vehicle passing through the gates was studied intently for clues amid speculation about when removal trucks will begin to arrive to move Andrew\u2019s belongings to his new home at Sandringham.<\/p>\n

They included a lorry, which turned out to be from a drinks firm. The driver leaned out of his window and shattered the sombre mood by wisecracking: \u201cI\u2019m delivering his leaving drinks\u201d.<\/p>\n

It was a moment of levity in the cold and rain. But it was a gag likely to have been lost on Andrew, who until this week was drinking in the last chance saloon.<\/p>\n

\"JournalistsJournalists from as far away as Australia remained outside Andrew’s home in miserable weather(Image: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

And if the mood among locals and tourists visiting nearby Windsor Castle is a reflection of the feeling in the wider country, the King will be far from amused. Summing up the thoughts of many, Roy Davies, 75, from Molesey, Surrey, said: \u201cIt\u2019s been a joke.<\/p>\n

\u201cAndrew has lived an entitled life since it all started. If he had come clean, all this could have been settled.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe should have had more sense when meeting that chap Epstein. As soon as he heard rumours, he should have said, \u2018that\u2019s it, I\u2019m out of here\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Davies believes the King is attempting to rescue the monarchy with his decision, but thinks public opinion may have already swung too far against the family.<\/p>\n

\"DogDog walkers at the entrance near Royal Lodge(Image: AP)<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of people in Britain who don\u2019t really believe in the monarchy any more. I don\u2019t like the money that they spend and the houses they have.<\/p>\n

\u201cWherever they go, the police motorbikes push the rest of us out of the way. I would rather have a republic. We just spend too much money on it, it\u2019s crazy and the country can\u2019t really afford it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lara Delaney-Gray, 40, says the Andrew scandal has stained the image of the royal family. She said: \u201cI think he thought that he is untouchable, but he\u2019s not, regardless of who he is and who he\u2019s related to.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"StudentsStudents Marcus Larking, 19, and Callum O’Neil, 19, in Windsor(Image: PA)<\/p>\n

Student Callum O’Neil, 19, said: “There’s so much controversy surrounding the royal family that’s happened within the last 20 years, which I’ve grown up with, and Andrew is such a big part of that. It’s definitely going to be a struggle for them to rebuild their reputation.”<\/p>\n

His pal Marcus Larking, 19, added: “I feel like our generation is really unforgiving and do not forget. Once everything goes online, it gets embedded in everyone’s brain and it goes viral.”<\/p>\n

Although future King and Queen William and Kate give her hope, Polly Gledstone, 24, from Hampshire, also believes damage has been done. She said: \u201cCharles has taken charge with Prince Andrew, but it\u2019s too late. Twenty years too late.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Mirror’s Patrick Hill spent the day outside Andrew’s soon to be former home, but despite witnessing a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":540507,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5018,3,4],"tags":[173775,748,393,4884,1440,1144,174163,519,712,16,15,12146,1764],"class_list":{"0":"post-540506","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-britain","8":"category-uk","9":"category-united-kingdom","10":"tag-andrew-mountbatten-windsor","11":"tag-britain","12":"tag-england","13":"tag-great-britain","14":"tag-land-rover","15":"tag-northern-ireland","16":"tag-roy-davis-jnr","17":"tag-royal-family","18":"tag-scotland","19":"tag-uk","20":"tag-united-kingdom","21":"tag-vehicles","22":"tag-wales"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115470537060611136","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/540506","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=540506"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/540506\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/540507"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=540506"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=540506"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=540506"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}