William has been consulted at each stage of his uncle’s humiliation – and radical steps are expected when he becomes King
With Britain’s monarchy facing mounting scrutiny over its handling of Prince Andrew, one man is stepping into the frame.
Behind the scenes, Prince William is reported to be unhappy with the action taken by his father so far, and he is determined to go much further when he becomes King.
Late on Friday, Andrew was in “advanced talks” with King Charles’ representatives about quitting his Royal Lodge home, The Telegraph reported, with Buckingham Palace determined to pressure the prince into voluntarily leaving.
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But William has been touted as the person who is putting pressure on his father to do more to finally solve the Andrew problem.
This worries some royal insiders. “What does it say about the King if it has to be his son who will solve the problem?” one said.
His uncle, pumped up with self-importance, fond of grandeur, but lacking in tact and diplomacy, is the antithesis of the sort of monarchy the heir to the throne wants.
The Royal Family faces the risk of contagion on several fronts. Cabinet ministers are said to be critical of the Royal Household’s laboured response to a spate of revelations over Andrew and Fergie’s friendship with the convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
But Andrew’s lease with the Crown Estate, under which he has lived virtually rent-free in his 30-room Royal Lodge mansion for 22 years, has thrown the spotlight on the property deals other members of the family have struck, including the Prince and Princess of Wales.
There are dangers for William if he is found to have a similarly generous lease with the Crown Estate at Forest Lodge, an eight-bedroom Georgian house close to Royal Lodge in the Great Park that is about to become his family’s home.
There are 360 properties on the Occupied Royal Palaces Estate, which has provided previous homes for the Wales family at Adelaide Cottage in Windsor and Kensington Palace.
Instead, they have chosen a location outside the royal estate’s security perimeter that will result in 150 acres of parkland being closed to the public, along with a car park for tourists, a gate for local residents, a road, and an environmental centre visited by schoolchildren to appreciate nature.
A five-year review of royal funding under the Sovereign Grant, which is benchmarked to Crown Estate profits, is due next year, putting the wider finances of the Royal Family under the microscope.
William, 43, has long believed that Andrew was a stain on the monarchy who should have stood down long before he did in 2019.
He has been consulted at each stage of his uncle’s humiliation but, despite reports Andrew will not be invited to a future coronation, sources close to the heir counsel not to believe everything that is said about what William will do when he becomes King.
Yet radical steps are now expected of him after his promise earlier this month in a conversation with the actor Eugene Levy that “change is on my agenda”.
With all signs pointing to a slimmed-down group of only five or six working royals compared to the 11 when he becomes King, some in royal circles are suggesting William plans to take the bull by the horns and end all royal titles for non-working members of the family.
It would mean Andrew and his daughters, Beatrice and Eugenie, would no longer be Prince or Princess and nor would William’s brother Harry or his children, Archie and Lilibet.
Patricia Treble, a respected Canadian royal commentator for the country’s CBC network, thinks it will happen.
“I’ve been thinking about the issue of styles and titles for a while, especially as there are now so many non-working titled royals with private careers and commercial opportunities,” she said.
“I think the only way to resolve it is a wholesale retrenchment of those styles and titles. In the end, working royals and those in the direct line of succession are eligible, while the others aren’t.”
She believes the descendants of Elizabeth II’s children, the Yorks, Sussexes, and Edward and Sophie’s children, Louise and James, will all be covered by Letters Patent confirming that none has the right to call themselves a prince or princess, hold Dukedoms, or style themselves HRH.
Instead, Andrew would take the courtesy title of a younger son of a Duke, becoming Lord Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, his daughters would be the Hon Beatrice and Eugenie, while the Sussexes would become Lord and Lady Harry Mountbatten-Windsor and their children the Hon Archie and the Hon Lililbet.
“Are people going to lose royal titles? Yes. Are there going to be hard feelings? Yes. Is it necessary? Yes,” Treble said.
Ingrid Seward, royal biographer and editor-in-chief of Majesty magazine, also believes it is likely. “I think it’s a good idea and I think William will do too,” she said.
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