{"id":141260,"date":"2026-02-21T21:31:52","date_gmt":"2026-02-21T21:31:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/141260\/"},"modified":"2026-02-21T21:31:52","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T21:31:52","slug":"the-queen-was-blind-on-andrew-now-the-royals-play-catch-up-14","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/141260\/","title":{"rendered":"The Queen was blind on Andrew \u2014 now the royals play catch-up"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u2018Everything looks terrible now because he\u2019s lied through his teeth.\u201d This is the stark assessment of the crisis facing the monarchy from a friend of the royal family after Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested on Thursday on suspicion of misconduct in public office. <\/p>\n

Andrew\u2019s fall from grace as a result of his decade as UK trade envoy and his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, the late convicted paedophile, has yet to reach its nadir<\/a>. <\/p>\n

But the events and images of last week, with him photographed wide-eyed and slumped in the back of a car after his 11-hour interrogation at a police investigation centre in Norfolk, is a royal earthquake so huge that the aftershocks will be felt for years.<\/p>\n

The King, still fighting cancer after more than two years of treatment, faces more dark days. As a friend of the family said of Charles, 77, the longest-serving heir-apparent when he succeeded Elizabeth in 2022: \u201cThis is his moment in the twilight sun and it\u2019s an awful situation.\u201d <\/p>\n

Like the abdication crisis of 1936, the monarchy is again wobbling as a tale of two royal brothers unfolds. <\/p>\n

But while the worst of Edward VIII\u2019s conundrum, over whether to choose the throne or Wallis Simpson, lasted for little over a month, the crisis facing Charles III has no end in sight. <\/p>\n

The King\u2019s statement, issued four hours after Andrew\u2019s 8am arrest<\/a> at Wood Farm, Sandringham, on his 66th birthday, was his coldest yet. No mention of a \u201cbrother\u201d, just \u201cdeepest concern\u201d for \u201cthe news about Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor\u201d. The killer line \u2014 \u201cLet me state clearly: the law must take its course\u201d \u2014 will have left Andrew, despite his denials of all wrongdoing, in no doubt that he has been royally hung out to dry. <\/p>\n

There is relief in some royal circles that \u201cthe Andrew problem\u201d has been effectively taken out of the Palace\u2019s hands by the police. But with an investigation under way that could result in the first criminal trial of a senior royal for a serious offence in modern history, it has lost what it so highly prizes: control. <\/p>\n

It is a dangerous moment for the monarchy<\/a>, because as one who knows the King and his court well says: \u201cThe story will run for months on end, maybe years, and the royals have no idea what will play out with further documents or evidence [requested] from Andrew\u2019s personal protection officers and royal officials.\u201d<\/p>\n

Charles stripped his brother of all his titles last year, evicting him from Royal Lodge, Windsor, to Norfolk, after further revelations about Andrew\u2019s friendship with Epstein cast doubt on his long-held version of events. Those steps, however radical, were reactive, and some, including the Prince of Wales who may yet inherit this crisis, felt they were too slow. Would that action have been taken if Andrew had not been exposed by an early Epstein files leak? <\/p>\n

As one former aide says: \u201cThe real problem for the Palace<\/a> is they can\u2019t get ahead of it.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"Queen<\/p>\n

Queen Elizabeth with Charles and Andrew<\/p>\n

MAX MUMBY\/INDIGO\/GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n

But get ahead of it they must, says a close friend of William. \u201cThe time of grace has passed for the royal family,\u201d the friend says. \u201cThere are a hell of a lot of questions that have been spawned. As distasteful as some of those questions are, they should be being war-gamed so they\u2019re not playing catch up. They need to be proactive about getting the dirty washing out and making sure they\u2019re the ones who get it out, not others. Really bold moves are what is needed now.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the police pore over Andrew\u2019s time as trade envoy<\/a> from 2001 to 2011, and whether he might have shared highly confidential and sensitive information with associates including Epstein, the Palace faces difficult questions about who else knew what and when. <\/p>\n

How was Andrew able to cruise through royal life with so few checks until his disastrous Newsnight interview with Emily Maitlis in 2019, when the Queen finally forced him to step back from public life? <\/p>\n

\"King<\/p>\n

Andrew and Charles<\/p>\n

PETER NICHOLLS\/PA<\/p>\n

A former courtier says: \u201cAndrew was an idiot with bad judgment. When we travelled overseas and met staff at embassies and high commissions [where he\u2019d been], you\u2019d be left with the impression he was a pain in the arse, pompous and unpleasant wherever he went, a clumsy buffoon. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut the feeling was the late Queen was beyond reproach, so at the Palace no one ever took Andrew to task because of her opinion of him. You just left it alone because she was so fond of him. So the question may end up being: what\u2019s a cover-up and what was just left alone because of the Queen? Questions were never asked. Things were never probed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another former Palace aide says: \u201cThere was unease, especially about some of the company he kept. He had a very effective team<\/a> working for him who protected him and made life very difficult for anyone who asked questions.\u201d <\/p>\n

One person on that team was Amanda Thirsk, Andrew\u2019s private secretary until his private office at Buckingham Palace was disbanded in 2019. <\/p>\n

\"Prince<\/p>\n

After Andrew\u2019s Newsnight interview with Emily Maitlis, Queen Elizabeth finally forced him to step back from public life<\/p>\n

BBC<\/p>\n

\u201cAmanda was a good guard dog, but she was just doing what she was told,\u201d says the former aide, who also closely observed the relationship between the late monarch and her supposedly favourite child. \u201cIt was very hard for a mother to be objective about her son. The Queen\u2019s reputation is going to take a bit of a battering over all this and the only person oblivious to it was lying in the back of a car on the Norfolk roads this week.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another question hanging over the monarchy is Andrew\u2019s out of court settlement with Virginia Giuffre in February 2022, said to be about \u00a312 million and thought to have been paid with funds from the Queen and the late Prince Philip\u2019s estate. <\/p>\n

Those close to the King recently confirmed he did not contribute to the settlement, in which Andrew admitted no liability. Giuffre died by suicide last year. Andrew has always denied her allegations that Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell trafficked her to him, as well as her claims that he sexually abused her three times when she was 17. His arrest does not relate to her allegations. <\/p>\n

The settlement briefly kept a lid on the matter during Elizabeth\u2019s Platinum Jubilee celebrations, but how will history judge the decision by a monarch to protect her son in such a way? <\/p>\n

\"Queen<\/p>\n

People close to the royal family believed that Andrew was the Queen\u2019s favourite son and that she shielded him<\/p>\n

CHRIS JACKSON\/GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n

A source who was close to the Queen says: \u201cAndrew had his own legal advice, which the Palace was made aware of. There was a feeling of \u2018your idiotic Newsnight interview has knocked a domino over that is causing chaos for you and this [the settlement] might be one way to stop it. You cannot be chased by lawyers everywhere you go, you can\u2019t be barricaded in Balmoral hiding behind your mother\u2019s tartan.\u2019 It was presented as the best of some terrible options.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those close to the royal family have described the dutiful Elizabeth\u2019s dereliction of duty in curbing Andrew as leaving an \u201cunexploded bomb\u201d for Charles to defuse. <\/p>\n

No one in royal circles believes the late Queen knew anything even close to the full extent of what is now alleged but equally no one disputes that she turned a blind eye. <\/p>\n

A royal source says: \u201cIt wouldn\u2019t surprise me if the Queen just said she didn\u2019t want to hear disobliging things about Andrew and used her red boxes as a shield. But her popularity will protect the monarchy to some extent and Charles will get a lot of public sympathy, which will bolster the monarchy\u2019s position.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those close to the family also believe that \u201cCharles and William\u2019s genuine horror of the situation\u201d enables the public to \u201cmake a distinction\u201d between Andrew and the rest of the pack.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is ethical insulation from Andrew with his brother and nephew, and that\u2019s a thick layer of insulation,\u201d says a friend of the royals. \u201cBut it heaps huge pressure on the institution to understand that, in the future, a different sort of monarchy is needed and meaningful change under the next reign.\u201d<\/p>\n

So how can the royal family move through the quagmire<\/a>? In his statement on Thursday, Charles indicated he would not provide a running commentary: \u201cAs this process continues, it would not be right for me to comment further on this matter. Meanwhile, my family and I will continue in our duty and service to you all.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"King<\/p>\n

The King attends the opening show of London Fashion Week 2026 on Friday<\/p>\n

RICHARD POHLE VIA REUTERS<\/p>\n

Within hours of Andrew\u2019s arrest, the King opened London Fashion Week<\/a> to cheers and a single heckler; Queen Camilla listened to an orchestra at Sinfonia Smith Square in London, and the Princess Royal, the ultimate antidote to Andrew, visited HM Prison Leeds in her role as patron of the Butler Trust, a charity that strives to improve the penal system.<\/p>\n

Charles, Camilla and Anne knew they would probably face hecklers at their engagements, and all three did. Courtiers had gauged whether they wanted to go ahead with their commitments. \u201cIt was the shortest conversation I can recall,\u201d says an aide. \u201cTo pull out because he might face a shout from the crowd simply isn\u2019t in the King\u2019s nature, still less in the Princess Royal\u2019s.\u201d A source close to the Queen adds: \u201cShe will be recalibrating the mood of the nation with every cheer and every jeer.\u201d<\/p>\n

The principals will keep the show on the road. The Princess of Wales, supporting England in her role as patron of the Rugby Football Union, laughed and chatted at Twickenham on Saturday and the royals will be out on manoeuvres this week.<\/p>\n

\"Catherine,<\/p>\n

The Princess of Wales at Twickenham<\/p>\n

MIKE HEWITT\/GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n

Beyond the inevitable hecklers, there are other hazards ahead<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The King will undertake as state visit to America in the spring, and William is expected in the US in July to mark the 250th anniversary of independence. Members of US Congress, and several of Epstein\u2019s victims who live in America, continue to repeat their calls for Andrew to testify. <\/p>\n

\"Attorney<\/p>\n

Pam Bondi, the US attorney-general, answers the questions of the House judiciary committee, in front of screens showing Andrew crouching over an unidentified woman<\/p>\n

WIN MCNAMEE\/GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n

Aides acknowledge the trips will require extra \u201cdue diligence\u201d. A royal source says: \u201cThe trip to the US is a real problem<\/a> \u2014 they will have to risk-assess every step of the way to think about what might go wrong. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey can\u2019t cancel it, that would look terrible. But all it takes is for Trump to start riffing about Andrew, or an opportunity-seeking congressman or woman, and it all becomes highly embarrassing and overshadowing of what the mission is.\u201d<\/p>\n

As he tries to have a restful weekend at Highgrove, his Gloucestershire home, after the toughest week of his reign, can the King prevent the Carolean era being permanently cast in the shadow of his disgraced brother? <\/p>\n

That is not how he rolls, says a close friend: \u201cHe never thinks about self-preservation, he doesn\u2019t think about the monarchy through the lens of \u2018me, my reign and my legacy as King Charles\u2019. He\u2019s thinking about what the right thing is to do for the institution and about carrying on with the job, as the nation doesn\u2019t expect you to press pause because your brother has been arrested.\u201d <\/p>\n

Which isn\u2019t to say that Charles is not constantly checking the temperature on the biggest royal scandal in modern times. <\/p>\n

A friend of the King says: \u201cHe has thought deeply and felt powerfully about this issue in his in-tray since reign change, and has tried to take swift action. Hopefully when the waters settle, people will see that in the circumstances, the King demonstrated leadership, did his duty and continued with his service.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u2018Everything looks terrible now because he\u2019s lied through his teeth.\u201d This is the stark assessment of the crisis…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":141178,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[9,24,63,122,124,123],"class_list":{"0":"post-141260","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-queens","8":"tag-new-york","9":"tag-new-york-city","10":"tag-nyc","11":"tag-queens","12":"tag-queens-headlines","13":"tag-queens-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141260","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=141260"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141260\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/141178"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=141260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=141260"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=141260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}