Eden: King Charles should stop bullying Prince Andrew & start bullying the Sussexes

Buckingham Palace has been trying to deflect from a variety of bad news, from the Sussexes going on yet another successful tour, to whatever the hell is going on with Prince William and Kate, to King Charles’s tone-deaf approach to the Southport stabbings and the subsequent white nationalist riots in England. All of that is why the palace pushed yet another story, last weekend, about how Charles is “cutting off” Prince Andrew’s private security. The palace hoped that this would be a popular move with the media. Instead, the mood is more like “why is Charles so damn petty, why does he treat his family members this way?” The Daily Mail even published a piece from Richard Eden about how Charles should stop bullying Andrew and take all of that mean, petty energy and put it on Prince Harry and Meghan (naturally).

Trouble in Balmoral: Now, King Charles and Queen Camilla are at Balmoral for their summer holiday, with Prince Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah, Duchess of York among their first guests. But there is, I hear, trouble in ‘paradise’. The latest move by the monarch, which was disclosed by a newspaper last weekend, is to lay off Royal Lodge’s ten-strong security team. King Charles is said to have told the detail they will no longer be needed from the autumn. The King has been paying for private guards at the 31-room mansion, which was the Queen Mother’s home until her death, since Andrew’s £3million-a-year armed protection officers were removed in 2022.

Andrew & Fergie’s reaction: This week, friends of the Duke and Duchess of York declined to discuss the row, no doubt fearful of increasing tensions while they are spending time with the King and Queen. I understand, however, that they have been left bemused by the attempts to evict them from what they always assumed would be their ‘forever home’ – one they could pass on to their daughters Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, if they so wished.

Charles’s money: They don’t believe the King can be motivated by saving money. After all, not only did he receive £86.3million via the Sovereign Grant to fund the working royals last year, but he was also handed more than £27million from the Monarch’s Duchy of Lancaster estate, to spend as he sees fit. And that’s before he dips into his private fortune.

Why does Charles want the Yorks out of Royal Lodge? Intriguingly, more than one friend of the Yorks has suggested the same theory to me as to why this eviction ‘campaign’ has begun: could it be that the King sees Royal Lodge as a potential future home for Queen Camilla, were she to outlive him?

Charles should spend more time on the Sussexes: Whatever the motivation, it seems bizarre to me that the King is stepping up pressure on his brother when he should be concentrating his attention on another former working royal: his younger son, Prince Harry. For all his failings, Andrew can never be accused of disloyalty. Despite the myriad indignities he has suffered, neither the Duke nor the Duchess of York has ever whispered so much as a word of criticism against the Royal Family. That stands in stark contrast to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who have made a career out of disloyalty. Surely, the King doesn’t want to risk his brother and Fergie following the example of Harry and Meghan and seeking to make a fortune out of criticising the monarchy?

Andrew’s “worst sin”: Andrew’s worst sin has arguably been his poor judgment when it comes to friends and associates, such as Epstein. He has denied being a co-conspirator with Epstein and denied his accuser Virginia Roberts Giuffre’s claims he sexually abused her when she was 17 – although he did reach a settlement with her thought to be worth £12million.

Eden’s advice: My advice to His Majesty is: stump up the security bill for Royal Lodge without complaint and let Andrew stay. Rather than get bogged down in this particular dispute, the King ought to turn his sights on Harry and Meghan before they set off on yet another trouble-making faux-royal tour. That doesn’t mean Andrew should go unpunished. Along with Harry, he should be stripped of his role as a Counsellor of State. He and Harry should also both be removed from the line of succession. The prospect of either of them anywhere near the throne is enough to turn this ardent monarchist into a republican.

[From The Daily Mail]

The crux of so many royal problems: “the King ought to turn his sights on Harry and Meghan before they set off on yet another trouble-making faux-royal tour.” First of all, the palace is already issuing talking points to the media and trying to impose themselves on the Sussexes. But what, exactly, does Eden think Charles is supposed to do about two adults (one of them an American) traveling to various countries and highlighting charities and issues? Is Charles supposed to “order” them to stop? LMAO. As for the stuff about Andrew and why Charles is so focused on getting Andrew out of Royal Lodge… is it because of Camilla? No. I doubt it. If Camilla becomes a widowed queen consort, she’s going to be drinking gin straight from the bottle in her own country home, Ray Mill.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.