bitchy | Royalist: “King in all but name’ Prince William ‘masterminded Andrew’s disgrace’

Who is responsible for the “Andrew Mountbatten Windsor” situation? By that I mean, who negotiated the deal, who said enough is enough, who finally acted, weeks and months late, to banish Andrew? The terseness of the message from King Charles yesterday suggested, to me, that Charles had actually been locked in negotiation alongside various courtiers. The timing also suggests that Charles was ultimately the one making decisions – the past month of dithering, half-measures and ostriching was classic Charles. The palace line is that Charles made the decision in consultation with his family, and he sought their support on the move as well:

So what was the final nail in the coffin for King Charles? PEOPLE understands that the King reached his decision with the support of members of the royal family, including Prince William. While Andrew continues to deny the accusations against him, it is clear that there have been serious lapses of judgment from the King’s perspective.

As for why the King didn’t act sooner, PEOPLE understands that Charles acted swiftly following recent developments that made it possible for his brother to relinquish his titles and honors in the most immediate and efficient way possible. While a longer-term resolution to the complex legal and constitutional issues surrounding Andrew’s status took time to finalize, sources say the necessity of further action was never in doubt. The King’s decision follows behind-the-scenes discussions, legal consultation and support from the wider royal family to bring about a resolution without imposing on Parliamentary time.

[From People]

Yeah… this is not it. “We knew the whole time that we would need to punish Andrew even further!!” No you didn’t. Charles thought taking away the York titles would be it, and he seemed surprised that the public demanded even more. He misread the public mood for weeks, and he’s still misreading it now. But still, I feel just a little bit sorry for Charles at the moment. His unhinged heir is rushing to claim credit for Charles’s wheeling and dealing on Andrew. Keep in mind, William has been in the wind, on vacation somewhere for the past two weeks. But sure, this was ALL William. From Tom Sykes’s Royalist Substack, “William is King in All But Name After Masterminding Andrew’s Disgrace.”

Friends of Prince William have told The Royalist that the heir to the throne masterminded the operation to evict Andrew Mountbatten Windsor from Royal Lodge in the teeth of what he saw as his father’s weakness and vacillation on the matter. The palace statement and a supporting briefing document issued to the media yesterday sought to position Charles as the author of the decision to strip Andrew of all his titles and remove him from the palatial property. However, sources who know William scoffed at the suggestion.

One said, “Charles has been trying and failing to get Andrew out of Royal Lodge for the past three years. William did it in two weeks. William is King in all but name now.”

A friend of the Prince of Wales said that William stepped in after being left “dismayed” by the deal announced two weeks ago, which saw Andrew lose the use of his Duke of York title, but, crucially, keep Royal Lodge and continue as a Prince. The King’s team has now attempted to retroactively present that as an interim step, with yesterday’s briefing document stating that “the necessity of further action was never in doubt.”

However, it is quite clear that the King hoped at the time that the measures announced on October 17 would be enough. Briefing documents issued then made it crystal clear that Andrew’s tenancy agreement with the Crown Estate was “unaffected” and that he would stay a Prince, not very subtly seeming to blame Queen Elizabeth for this latter reality, saying his princely title was his by virtue of Letters Patent issued in 1917 by George V which were “updated” by Queen Elizabeth II in 2012. This apportioning of blame was later made explicit in a disgraceful smear in the Sunday Times. This followed extensive briefing to the media by the King’s team that there was no way to remove Andrew’s titles.

The friend of William’s told The Royalist: “This is Andrew, so the solution was always going to be a pay-off. This is his father’s mess, and William wanted it cleaned up on his father’s watch.”

The notion that it is his “father’s mess” refers to deep unhappiness within William’s circle about the way Charles tried not only to rehabilitate Andrew, but to co-opt William and Kate into the effort by forcing them to drive Andrew to church in Balmoral in the summer of 2023, having invited Andrew to join the family’s Christmas Day photocall at Sandringham in 2022.

[From The Royalist Substack]

Multiple things can be true at once: one, William was right that the only solution was money; two, William is right that the York title removal was always a half-assed punishment with no meaning… and yet William still rushed to take credit for that as well! Which makes me think that this is less about William “being king in all but name” right now and more about him screaming and throwing hissy fits behind the scenes, and that’s his version of “doing it in two weeks.” William has always believed that he can just make pronouncements and things will be done – “I’m bored with racism,” etc – so William is claiming ownership of this situation simply because he rage-shrieked (from his vacation) to his father: “Andrew must go, strip all of his titles!”

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.