Kay: King Charles is terribly worried about Prince Andrew’s diminished confidence

Everyone has known for weeks that all of these Jeffrey Epstein records would be released at the start of 2024. Even without the records, everyone knew about Prince Andrew’s associations with Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. Andrew paid an eight-figure out-of-court settlement to Virginia Giuffre in 2022 because everyone knew that Andrew had abused girls and women trafficked to him by Epstein and Maxwell. Even with that knowledge, Queen Elizabeth II and King Charles have done the most to include Andrew, to show their public support for Andrew, to ensure that everyone knows that Andrew is inside the royal tent, unlike Prince Harry. Charles even allowed Andrew and Sarah Ferguson to participate in the church walk in Sandringham on Christmas Day. Well, now questions are being raised about how badly King Charles has f–ked up regarding the “Andrew Problem.” Which is why palace courtiers ran to Richard Kay at the Mail:

Charles the Christian: With the benefit of hindsight would the King have agreed to include Prince Andrew in the Royal Family’s Christmas parade at Sandringham? At the time this fraternal decision seemed a typically Christian one from Charles. Ten days later as toxic new revelations about the Duke of York’s sleazy behaviour emerge from unsealed court documents in New York, the gesture seems not just astounding but possibly unwise. What is all the more baffling is that the royals cannot hide behind the suggestion that they did not know quite how bad the allegations were going to be. The prospect of more sensational claims from the long fall-out from the unsavoury Jeffrey Epstein affair coming to light, had been telegraphed for weeks.

Andrew had been bracing himself for weeks: Andrew himself had been braced for a fresh round of claims for some time and although outwardly bullish in the face of the accusations which include groping a young woman’s breast and taking part in an underage orgy, he has been crushed by the never-ending stories. As one friend of the Duke said: ‘These are not new and are, as they have been in the past, emphatically denied.’ Perhaps the more damaging aspect of the latest disclosures is the growing realisation that Andrew, 64 next month, will never escape the tentacles of this grubby saga. And while his own lingering hopes of rehabilitating his public reputation are surely finally over, the issue for the royals is one of containment.

A risk of backfire: By embracing Andrew as they so overtly did last week, there was always a risk that it could backfire. Friends of the King insist he did not invite his brother to the public element of the Sandringham festivities — the walk to church for the Christmas service — blindly. ‘It would have been easier to have asked him to stay away,’ said one. ‘But if the message of Christmas is anything, it is about family and togetherness. That’s also why he extended the invitation to Fergie as well.’

Charles is concerned about Andrew’s confidence: Another figure says that Charles may have been encouraged to act as he did precisely because he knew what was coming and wanted to throw a protective arm around his brother. ‘He has seen for himself the diminishing effect the allegations have had on the Duke over the years, what they have done to his personality and his confidence,’ the figure said. ‘He is not going to banish his brother; he feels a responsibility for him.’ It was this concern for his mental wellbeing and how tormented he has been that encouraged the King to include Fergie as a thank-you for standing by Andrew.

A promise to QEII: It is also understood that Charles had assured the late Queen that he would look after Andrew. According to one insider it was because of his affection for his brother that the King ventured the idea that he might want to move from Royal Lodge, his vast mansion at Windsor with its costly upkeep, into something smaller and more manageable. ‘He thought it might give him something less to worry about,’ the insider said. Stubbornly Andrew refused. But it has become a touch stone issue — and one, which the Mail reveals today, the King is determined to solve.

Andrew still refuses to give up Royal Lodge: ‘Forcing the Duke to give it up, however well-intentioned, would be seen as the King punishing his brother for something he insists he is innocent of,’ says a friend of Andrew. ‘And anyway he has a lease.’

How could the royals even punish a rapist? It is also hard to see what further sanctions could be taken by the royals against the Prince. He has already lost his private office, his cherished military titles and does not use his HRH style. It is four long years since he last carried out official formal duties and it is highly unlikely that he will ever again climb into the ermine trimmed robes of a Garter Knight or appear on the balcony of Buckingham Palace.

[From The Daily Mail]

“Sleazy behavior” – try criminal behavior, degenerate behavior, predatory behavior. He’s accused of raping teenagers and there are still calls for Andrew to face criminal charges, however much that might undermine his bloody confidence. The fact that Charles and the entire royal establishment believes that they can get away with positioning themselves like this is particularly galling. Oh, Charles is such a Christian, that’s why he wanted to show support for his degenerate rapist brother, you guys! Charles is worried about Andrew’s mental health! It was quite a choice for Charles to include Andrew for the Christmas walk, just as it was a choice to include a Garter-robed Andrew at the coronation, just as it was a choice to walk with Andrew on Easter Sunday. Now Charles has to live with his poor choices and he has to live with the fact that his positioned his reign as one which supports rapists and not survivors, one which supports predators and degenerates but not the girls and women they hurt.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.