The Queen Risks the Royal Brand for Andrew
Why the Favourite Son Needs to be Banished to the Back Seats
Why Her Favourite Son Needs to Stay in the Shadows
In the early morning, before the Service of Thanksgiving for Prince Philip was set to begin, longtime royal correspondent Robert Jobson appeared on television, and almost hesitantly broke what would become the news of the day. “I think Prince Andrew may play a more prominent role than we thought earlier on,” Jobson said, “My understanding is that someone has to support the Queen and he may well be by her side. I know that’s certainly been discussed.”
Jobson clearly had a good source. Not hours later, The Queen appeared being driven to Westminster Abbey, with her second son sitting quite prominently indeed by her side. Her Majesty’s State Limousine providing full view of his status as her chosen companion. Upon arrival at the Abbey with 1,800 mourners gathered, he escorted the Sovereign and Head of State to her seat, as millions watched from home. It was an honour bestowed upon a favourite son for the world to see. A son who admitted consorting with a convicted sex offender, maintaining a close friendship with a now convicted sex trafficker, and who recently settled his own multi-million pound sex lawsuit. A stunned gasp could almost be heard from every sitting room.
It was a Royal mistake.
Andrew is almost universally viewed with disdain by the Queen’s subjects, who have concluded that, even if not guilty of a crime, he has been exceedingly arrogant, abused his position, used poor judgement, and embarrassed The Queen and the country. For starters. Repeated YouGov polls indicate the majority of people feel he must never return to public life, and should be stripped of his Duke of York title. Unlike the Harry and Meghan drama, where most Brits side with the Queen and support the Royal family, people increasingly seem at odds with the royal handling of the Queen’s ever embarrassing second son.
Some quickly argued it was a family matter, that a grieving widow had the right to choose her “support person” in that moment. Andrew’s circle also tried to defend him. The Telegraph’s Camilla Tominey quoted a friend “close to the Duke” who remarked, “As the Queen herself as said, sometimes people need to remember I have four children. We are a family.”
But this is no ordinary family and The Queen is no ordinary widow. And this was no ordinary service held privately behind closed doors. It was a very public event, broadcast to the world, for a very public man, attended by the Prime Minister, dozens of national figures, and other Heads of State. It was also a rare public glimpse of The Queen, who has been seen out less and less in recent years. In short, it was a high profile Royal Event.
Andrew clearly has the right to attend a memorial service for his father. No one believes or is arguing otherwise. But picture the difference if he had walked in, as scheduled, with his daughters and sons-in-law, just one of many small groups of family members arriving and taking their seats. The focus would have been on the Queen alone as she arrived. For someone who claims to be “too honourable” (see Newsnight) how does Andrew not know what a distraction he is, how he’s hurting his mother’s great legacy? The Queen is drawing on her goodwill with the public, putting her own standing on the line, for someone who clearly isn’t returning the favour.
In private, Andrew can offer endless support and company to his grieving mother. The Queen likewise can provide a shoulder for him to cry on through his, admittedly self-made, crises. In public it is quite different. To be seen first in the State Limousine, then walking equal to The Queen as she entered, was an obvious PR disaster. All at once, it had people going, “What on earth are they thinking?”
Fleet Street had a field day. The front pages the next day focused on Andrew’s unexpected front and centre appearance. Officially he was due to enter with his daughters, The Queen was meant to be accompanied to her seat by the Dean of Westminster.
The Mirror’s Royal Editor Russell Myers had his own exclusive, reporting that The Queen “defiantly overruled” her heirs to allow Andrew to have a “special role” at the service. Other reports indicated the Prince of Wales and Prince William were taken aback at Andrew’s full arrival, had expected him in the car, but not his star turn, some even calling it a “stunt”.
Despite her age and recent illness, The Queen is still The Boss, and based on her previous actions, one thing seems certain. This was her decision, intended as a public show of support for her shamed, but adored son. We only need revisit the past decade of the Epstein scandal to come to that conclusion.
First, go back to early 2011 when the Epstein scandal exploded in the British press with the appearance of two, now infamous, photographs. Andrew and Epstein (then a registered sex offender) deep in conversation walking through New York’s Central Park, and another, of Ghislaine Maxwell, Andrew, and then 17 year old Virginia Roberts, the woman who claimed she was trafficked to the Queen’s son for sex, whom Andrew would eventually pay off with a multi-million pound settlement.
As press reporting hit fever pitch in 2011, The Queen acted. Did she encourage Andrew to lay low, insist he issue a public apology for being with a convicted sex offender? No. The Queen invited Andrew for tea at Windsor Castle and invested him with the highest possible honour for service to the monarch, the insignia of a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order.
The reaction was immediate. The Guardian, as expected, commented, “Good Lord woman you can’t be that bored!” Even the usually supportive Daily Mail headlined, “The Tarnished Medal” asking, “is it really the right time for this?” But as Vanity Fair observed that spring, The Queen’s “symbolic intervention on Andrew’s behalf produced its desired effect.” The press feeding frenzy subsided, and official support for Andrew seemed to regain its footing. As one reporter wrote, “Under the protection of the Queen, Andrew was untouchable.”
When the Epstein scandal resurfaced a few years later, in the era of MeToo, with his second arrest and subsequent suicide, The Queen appeared out of touch again, and all because of Andrew. The morning after Epstein’s suicide, and days after the release of new court papers pertaining to Andrew, Her Majesty headed to church with her Cheshire Cat grinning second son sitting right beside her. It was as tone-deaf as it gets.
Now for a third time, it seems she was the one who insisted Andrew take this high profile place next to her. The Queen knows how powerful symbolic moves can be, and royal correspondent Richard Kay told the Mail’s Palace Confidential, he suspects that’s at the heart of this. The Queen clearly believes Andrew, notes that he wasn’t convicted of a crime, so is eager for his public rehabilitation.
“I think she would like to think that Andrew will be forgiven,” Kay told Jo Elvin and Richard Eden, “I think she’s showing to the country at large if you like, that if she, his mother, can forgive him, I’m asking you in your hearts to show a modicum of forgiveness for him too.”
When Andrew was finally stripped of his military patronages and the right to use the style His Royal Highness, the statement was short and curt. Perhaps indicative of a reluctant Queen being forced to make a move. So was this public display with the full Royal Family her opportunity to say how she really felt? Implying, “ I still believe him, I still support him, he is worthy.”
The question now is, what’s next? No one expects Andrew to return to public life, it’s widely understood that Prince Charles will block even that suggestion.
But what about his profile? The country is on the cusp of historic Platinum Jubilee celebrations, and Andrew could well be positioned front and centre with his mother again, especially if her past actions are anything to go by.
If ever there were a time for the Monarch to defer to her Heir, it is now.
Choosing the most disgraced family member to accompany the Queen in public at any event, let alone historic ones, is a monumental mistake, that may do lasting damage to the monarchy. The Queen may not think it fair, but it is hurting the very institution to which she has devoted her life, turning off even fervent royal supporters. It risks showing the monarch and the family as out of touch, or worse, appearing indifferent to the way Andrew has behaved.
The Queen is known for her selfless duty, her life of service. For putting Crown and Country before everything else.
If Buckingham Palace is not careful, History may soon record that with an asterisk. *Everything but Andrew.