Stripped of title, status and dignity, he is the new Prince Andrew. A life he was born to replace with a life he will hate Stephen Bates
TThe saga of Andrew Windsor, the former Duke, who will henceforth be known as the Lonely Old Prince, may have finally come to an end. At least the rest of the royal family will hope so. But even this is likely to depend on what further releases of Epstein’s files, letters, records and emails emerge in the US. His image, as it is now, may be even more distorted.
Losing the titles would definitely hurt him the most. Andrew has not officially lost them – removing his dukedom would require an act of Parliament, which neither the government nor Buckingham Palace would want, continuing for an embarrassingly long period of time – nor can he shed his princely title because he is undoubtedly the son of a king.
But he would not be able to use it openly or secretly, and that would be a devastating blow to his sense of entitlement and status. As one of his former comrades told Andrew Looney in his latest book dueHe always introduced himself to her friends as the Duke of York, saying, “I was amazed by how much he liked who he was, or how much he liked wanting other people to be. Every joke always ended with: ‘Because I’m the Duke of York.’ He tells the most pathetic jokes. He finds poo cushions funny.”
Friday night statement It represents the last shred of dignity that he was allowed to pretend that he was voluntarily giving up the use of his titles and the Knight of the Garter, out of an overdue sense of duty. It wasn’t. After at least 10 years of private debate among the family and personal anguish on the part of the king over what to do about Andrew’s problem, and with his mother no longer there to protect him and pay his debts, there was no alternative but to release him. Prince William was clearly prepared to be tougher than his father. At the end was an elegant Windsor version of the revolver kept in the locked chamber along with a bottle of whisky.
He still has it Royal LodgeWhere he lives with his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson(Why does he need such a big place? It’s not like he has a lot of friends) and he seems to spend his days watching golf on TV and taking solo rounds in Windsor Great Park.
While the family business cannot prevent him from going to church, as he did when he attended Westminster Cathedral a few weeks ago For the Duchess of Kent’s funeralwhen William ostentatiously ignored him – he would not accompany the rest of the family to church at Sandringham on Christmas morning. Instead, they will have lunch alone at home with Lady Sarah Ferguson, their daughters (who retain their princess titles) and their families. The paper hats will be the closest the eighth point in the line will get to the crown now. And he’ll have to watch the next coronation on TV too, if he lives that long.
What will he do for the money? He is no longer a serving royal, and has not been eligible for public funds for the past six years. There are savings remaining from the sale of various properties, he still has a pension from the Navy and there are supposed to be special subsidies from the king. He and his ex-wife, known for their extravagance, lacked the means to keep up with the Arab and American billionaires with whom they liked to mingle. This must have been one reason he was attracted to Epstein, although sex – which he still denies – may have been another. What he pathetically offered them in return was status and access to mansions and mansions.
And now, he doesn’t have that, locked away, like Mr. Rochester’s first wife in the attic, in his state in the 30-room Royal Lodge: nowhere to go, no one willing to see him. Poor Virginia Giuffre, who will release her own memoirs next week after being published in The Guardian, has been deprived of the satisfaction of finally bringing down the prince alive.
He was a fool, and worse: a powerful man who brought pain to others: a black stain that tarnished the family crest and shook the institution itself.