Last week was an important week for the royal family. Important for all the wrong reasons. There was a shift, in real time, as the Queen tried to protect her favorite son, the Duke of York, and then another shift as the palace courtiers tried to protect the Queen and the crown. As if we couldn’t already tell by how Prince Andrew’s BBC interview went down, but the palace is being run by amateurs. Immediately following the catastrophic interview, the Queen tried to insulate Andrew and the palace wanted the story to be “the Queen believes him and the family supports him.” Then, suddenly, the story was “the Queen knows how bad it is and that’s why she decisively fired him.” Except the real story was that Charles threw a fit and basically ordered his mother to cut off Andrew. So “decisive.” So for a week, we’ve had shambolic messaging from the palace – Andrew’s office was shut down, yet the Queen went riding with him on Friday, a public show of support. The Queen keeps kneecapping her courtiers’ attempts to portray her as a decisive monarch who cut off a problematic son for cause.
For days we heard that the Queen had given her advance approval for Andrew’s interview, and that hers was the only approval he sought. Well, now that story is changing too, because the courtiers realize just how f–king awful all of this looks and I guess they’re trying to save the Queen from herself, or perhaps save one sliver of dignity for the future King Charles.
The Queen has scrapped plans to host a party for Prince Andrew to mark his 60th birthday in February. Instead, the monarch is said to be arranging a small family dinner for the Duke, according to The Sunday Times. His birthday is on February 19. The news comes just days after the Queen effectively sacked him from his royal duties at the behest of her eldest son in the wake of the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. It has also emerged that Andrew’s bungled BBC Newsnight interview was not sanctioned in advance by the Queen.
‘The Queen did not give her approval. The fact that notion has somehow been put about has aggrieved people in the [royal] households. Andrew had a son-to-mother conversation, letting her know that he was planning to address the controversy, but without going into any details… What should have happened was the full palace process,’ a royal source told the Sunday Times.
Meanwhile, royal author Penny Junor said to the paper: ‘He’s absolutely finished. If Andrew is no longer representing or supporting the monarch in any capacity, or doing good charitably, what’s the point of him?’
The Queen is said to be ‘privately supportive’ of her second son but also ‘deeply frustrated’ that the scandal is overshadowing the rest of the family’s work.
Guess what? Andrew told his mother about his plans to do the interview and she thought it was a good idea. She gave her approval. She even gave her approval for use of one of the fanciest rooms inside Buckingham Palace to conduct the interview. Emily Maitlis wrote – in her first-person account of how she scored the interview – that she and the BBC had been negotiating with the Palace communications people AND Andrew’s staff for months. And that just before Andrew sat down with her, he told Maitlis that he needed personal approval from the Queen, and he got it in short order. Now that his interview has blown up in everybody’s faces, they’re all trying to cover their own asses because they don’t want to look like the kind of incompetent a–holes who orchestrated one of the worst things to ever happen to the monarchy. All of this shifting blame and revisionist history has become a story unto itself, because it’s revealed how the palace is in disarray, and how they’re all f–king incompetent amateurs.
Oh and poor baby won’t get a big splashy birthday party! Jesus Christ, these people.
Photos courtesy of WENN, BBC and Avalon Red.
Imo, there’s no revision going on. It’s not a changing story by the queen. It’s that two stories are happening at once: the queen supporting Andy and Chuck undoing her story. The “revisions” are Chuck’s damage control, not TQ’s. The riding photos made it clear Andy’s got her backing. Big Brother is just coming in with a mop to clean up the mess.
This.
Andy is probably lying through his teeth to ‘Mama’ and chalking down the outrage as the annoyance of plebs and peasants wanting to take him down for a little bit of ‘rumpy pumpy’ with some silly girls.
The RF have a checkered history when it comes tawdry and illegal sexual behavior which has likely been chalked up to silly behavior in the past. I doubt the Queen actually understands the gravity of the situation and even if she does she likely believes that privilege will save Andy as it always has.
The RF protected Andy for exactly this reason, it sets a horrible precedent and highlights the fact that increasingly their privileged will not be enough to exonerate them in these circumstances.
This is a good point. We’re not seeing changing stories, we’re seeing two competing narratives.
This all day long. TQ is putting her favourite son before the Monarchy and Andrew is leveraging his position to shove it to everyone. I hope Chuck lays it bare to his mother that her and Andrews actions are damaging not just the institution but her legacy. Andrew has always been her blind spot and everyone else has always had to wipe his arse afterwards.
This is not just about Chuck v’s Andrew but Chuck v’s TQ – that ride in the park would not have happened if Chuck had been in the country. It will be interesting to see what happens this week not that he’s back and ready to kick ass as he will be fuming about this on so many levels.
It’s not the first time the queen does mess. When Diana died, she stayed at Balmoral (or wherever she was) while the whole UK was begging her to show some grieving for her death. The situation got so bad the Prime Minister had to put his foot down or the monarchy would sink.
There are no two stories: there’s only one. Andy saw the mess had hit the fan and went to mummy with a good idea: “I know, I’m going to give an interview on TV and show everybody how honorable I am because I’m your son”. The queen approved, the staff at BP worked on it. The show on TV was a disaster. Old Charlie, between delighted with the catastrophe (it was Andy’s problem) and worried if he would manage to get out of this looking good, calls the queen, the staff and the royal seniors to tell them how to twist the story and revert the results. And presto! Nobody can forget that, no matter how bad this whole disaster looks, Andy never lost the support of his mother; she makes it clear every day.
These would be the rats jumping off a sinking ship. Yeah, nobody is going to accept PA anymore. Imagine working for PA, seeing that interview….OMG, we are going down with this guy, we are all gonna be unemployed asap.
Hope they got some savings put away.
How can you even think to put PA on your resume?
I think once Elizabeth dies, the monarchy will die with her – unless Charles hires new courtiers that can read the room and the times.
With the increase in income inequality, political unrest, etc etc the presence of the BRF is more and more outdated and a slap in the face of regular hard working taxpayers ESPECIALLY if they keep up the antics like this.
Are the courtiers even hired though? I thought they were a bunch of hereditary peers who have a privilege of being courtiers and dictating what goes on behind the scenes for free.
See, here’s the spot where things are difficult but also where real change can begin. Charles has been instrumental in making estates profitable over the years and in implementing his vision to streamline the monarchy. However, you’re got to change who the courtiers are and what they do and how they are educated. Clearly these courtiers are mired in the colonial past and so out of touch they are continually proving to be a huge liability. Charles can do everything right but the courtiers will find a way to screw him over because their thinking is insular and essentially don’t know what they’re doing.
Ooh thats a good question! Im not sure?? If that is the case that would explain a lot…
I think you’re right. I know the CROWN series is not always true to history, but I’m thinking of the episode when Elizabeth first became queen and wanted the courier who had worked with her in her role of princess to move into that position in her role as queen. She was told by Tommy Lasalles that that would be against precedence and so a courier she didn’t really want moved into the role instead and stayed there until he retired years down the road. I think this was historically accurate.
agreed HK – maybe it’s time to also include Life Peers or other public servants in the equation all together.
The Courtiers themselves have a conflict of interest where it comes to the Monarchy because their titles are dependent on it’s existence.
Personally I think it’s time to abolish the hereditary and life peerage systems. The very notion of nobility and divine right via accident of birth is ridiculous in this day and age.
Such a good question. Palace courtiers of old used to come from the landed gentry, such as Tommy Lascelles (made famous by The Crown), who was related to the Earl of Harewood who was QEII’s uncle. He was Private Secretary to George VI and later to his daughter. He was also “Keeper of the Royal Archives” which sounds like the kind of lofty shady title a royal courtier would hold.
Sir Robert Fellowes is a well known PS of the Queen’s. He was Diana’s BIL who famously was working for TQ when Diana died, and helped arrange her funeral. He was also from the wealthy upper class/landed gentry.
In modern times however the position of Private Secretary and other working support staff is drawn from the military, and increasingly from the corporate world. Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton, who worked for William & Harry both, came from the British Army. Miguel Head had been press officer at Ministry of Defense; Edward Lane-Fox (Harry’s PS for several years) came from the Household Calvary, etc.
More recently Lord Geidt, who served the Queen, was born middle class. He worked for the UK Foreign Office & Intelligence service before landing at BP.
Women also how have held key roles: Amy Pickerill, Samantha Cohen and Sara Latham have corporate pr backgrounds. Things have definitely changed – the notion of the the “Grey Men” as shadowy aristos whispering in the monarch’s ear is kind of outdated.
Charles will come with his own courtiers and staff – he’s already started streamlining the Queen’s household as there has been many retirements and restructuring of departments over the past few years. He’s slowing easing them out.
Urgh these people have no idea about anything to do with real life.
But Meghan knows what real life is. Probably that’s why they put themselves as distant as the RF allowed from this ghastly *event*. But the tabloids are chasing to drag them inside. It’s funny that Harry’s face, for months, showed very tense muscles, but it was thougt the stories of the tabloids plus the nice daddy and sister-in-law were the cause. They were, for sure, but more likely they knew all what was going behind the curtains about Andrew, and Harry and Meghan were trying to find a back door to bring them as far as possible. And Andrew’s escapedes were thousand times more serious than daddy’s and DM’s indiscretions; it horrifies me how hard the tabloids are trying to bring H&M inside a story they have nothing to do with. And I wouldn’t be surprised if H&M will be set as an “example” that Andrew isn’t the only royal the queen is *decisive*. Certainly, they won’t want to roll and play dead while the courtiers and royal seniors will be… let’s say…. throwing them under the bus.
He got the Knight Grand Cross of the RVO AFTER Epstein was convicted. She enabled his entitlement.
For baring all those horrible headlines in such an ‘honorable’ way of course. Mummy was rather annoyed at all those horrible newspaper men for daring to suggest her son was a rapist.
JFC, they really are incompetent.
I can actually sort of believe that Andrew just went to his mother and was like “Mummy here’s what I’m going to do” rather than go through the proper channels/whatever for the interview, because I cant believe that the palace would let him sit down for that interview without prepping his answers with a lawyer first.
But, it doesn’t matter how much it was or was not sanctioned, or what channels he went through – Andrew knew what he was doing by doing the interview in Buckingham Palace. It made it look like it was done with the complete approval and backing of BP, so now all this backpedaling seems like just that – backpedaling.
“ The Queen cancelled his birthday party” 😂😂😂😂😂 I cant.
The birthday party was going to be a big deal with people from his charities. She is still going to have it, but only for family members.
And no phone privilege for a week!
And his actual birthday is in February! I don’t understand why it would be now?
Anyway, maybe he’ll get sent to bed with no dinner too (not that I agree with that for actual children).
No, the party was scheduled for February I think. This is just the “announcement” that its not happening.
Lucy: if he is sent to bed with no dinner there will be an enormous benefit for his health; I’m sure his diet is too much rich to be healthy. I don’ agree for that for children, but in his case, I’ll make an exception.
“Birthday party for Andy at Pizza Express in Woking this Friday at 7 pm! Be there or be square!”
This genius 😀
See what happens when you spend all your time abusing a pregnant woman? You ignore the pedophile that’s standing RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU.
She knows and they were probably just hoping that will all blow over and die down and people will get distracted with the Sussexes or something something.
They are not just hoping. They are working hard on it. I eat my hat if those comments on Express last Saturday about H&M weren’t product of the BP/KP PR team.
Well said @kerwood. Agreed 100%.
Just keep thinking…”What goes around, comes back around.” Karma.
Ive just binge watched the Crown. Obviously not sure of the accuracy, the show seems quite soft on TQ?
I’d say the third season was much more less forgiviing to her… she appears distant, aloof, someone who struggles to express her feelings and who failed to educate her children into being emotionally healthy
She comes off as weak in all the seasons to me. She’s the queen for god’s sake. Can’t she just tell the courtiers to stuff it and do what she wants? Charles gets my sympathy so far. He had no chance of becoming an emotionally healthy adult growing up in that family. The Duke of Windsor, for all his Nazi bs, comes off as the smart one for leaving it all behind.
The Queen was home schooled and raised by Edwardian royals, she was trained to be aloof and distant in order to appear regal. So it is not really her fault. The Queen overall has been good for the later part of the 20th century, and she certainly had a much closer relationship with her subjects than any previous British monarch.
However, for the 21st century Charles and William should not model themselves on her, expect on the question of political neutrality. The recent Duchy documentary hinted strongly that Charles was not in favour of Brexit.
I’m just on the episode about the BBC documentary. Funny how reading this article (and poor pedo’s cancelled birthday party) reminds me of Phillip bitching on TV because they had to sell their yacht … like father like son I suppose. These people are all selfish, greedy and useless.
Maybe the first two seasons, but in the third she comes off as cold, out-of-touch, and emotionally vacant, especially towards Charles.
It worries me when people say stuff like this.
It’s a dramatic retelling. I’m sure there’s a nice chunk of things that did happen – but it could be SO loosely based. I think there’s a lot of people who do watch it and assume they have insider knowledge of the Royals, but it’s just a television show. They have to fabricate so much for the show to be interesting and to keep the plot manageable.
There’s lists out there that are dedicated to fact checking the crown and explaining the differences. I’d link some, but I don’t want to accidentally spoil anything for someone who is watching.
Yeah, the Crown is like any other historical fiction. Do I think its more accurate than Philippa Gregory? Sure, probably. And certainly the highlights are true, and the easily verified things (like where Charles went to school, etc). But there is going to be some artistic freedom in some of the choices made and its not going to be a 100% accurate representation of what happened, even if it is better than some other historical fiction.
That said – I do think it probably nails Elizabeth’s coldness and ineptitude in times of crisis.
The Go Fug Yourself women had an amazing critique/recap/review of the first two seasons that made the point we’re seeing the queen through the male gaze. Partially because she’s never written a memoir, so every piece of information about her private time is filtered through multiple people with varying agendas. But they don’t even try to bridge gaps, or show any depth to relationships that had to exist. So instead they flesh out the men in her life, who have written the memoirs or talked to the press.
I felt that the third season was much more embellished than the previous ones. There were parts of it that definitely felt much more made up and written for entertainment (the whole bit with Princess Margaret “asking” if she can take Elizabeth’s place in the succession?) Season 2 did this with Philip’s youth, and I wasn’t a fan then either, but the first 2 seasons made an effort to at least keep the made up interactions within the realm of possibility. I can definitely imagine that someone from the Queen’s office reached out to John Grigg and spoke to him privately about his concerns and input, for instance.
But the whole show is meant as propaganda. I dunno if that’s an extreme take on it, but it’s whole function is to make the Queen look good. It kind of happens by default because when you’re telling a story, the protagonist has to be someone to root for after all. If the Queen is that protagonist, how on earth are you going to be honest about her?
I hope they keep digging that hole for themselves.
I can’t with these arrogant and entitled people who at the end of the day just won the vagina lottery.
And *still* it’s all about how the [royal] houses are aggrieved that TQ is being rightfully shown AGAIN as complicit in all the shenanigans. And *still* no expression of horror at Epstein’s vile criminality and rapes of children and women for decades, or sympathy/empathy for the victims of his ring of monsters. But, yeah, let’s applaud the “punishments” being meted out to Andrew, losing his grifting job(s) and having a private family dinner to mark his birthday instead of the big, splashy, glitzy affair at BP. These people make me sick.
Well, he also won’t have anywhere to wear his fancy uniforms with all his medals. Oh nooooo.
and these are the people H&M are supposed to listen to…they don’t seem to know which way is up. If Charles even gets to reign, he should clean house, get some new blood and start making people sign NDAs (if possible).
I still think the Sussexes got wind of this interview and — knowing the arrogance and stupidity of Andrew — the backlash that was coming. A very smart move on their part to absent themselves for the rest of the year. Wonder if they will find a way to avoid “birthday dinner”? When Beatrice first announced her engagement/upcoming wedding there was an article quoting a source that Beatrice did not want Meghan at her wedding and the York’s were trying to find a way to not have to invite her. Lucky Meghan, if that’s true.
Ugh. Andrew is awful and he is dragging the queen down with him. And this all just makes Harry and Meghan look even smarter for trying to run their own operation separate from the palace.
I’m surprised he didn’t demand to have the interview in the gold piano room.
I get the sense that if she’s “deeply frustrated” by anything, it’s that everyone is ganging up on her favorite son. I think she feels that Charles, William, the courtiers, and the public should all just let it go and leave Andrew in peace to have his fancy birthday party. Andrew, for whatever reason, is what she cares about above all, and she’s too old and stubborn to change or even want to change.
It’ll be interesting to see what the Queen says in her Xmas message.
I’m thinking she’ll bring in an extra gold piano for distraction’s sake. And Andy’s pic will be on it.
LOL yes, only one picture frame on the gold piano, and he is in it
I read in the New Yor Post that Princess Beatrice is distressed, as she is the one that encouraged her father to do The Interview
New York Post is a tabloid. I read elsewhere that she advised him not to do it, and only his personal secretary thought it was a good idea. Fact is, them who knows don’t say, and them who say don’t knows.
Altho I’m sure Beatrice is upset. Duh, who wouldn’t be? So, they did get that right.
I’m thinking they know much worse is coming so they parcelled it up to give him a quick exit before the real shit hits the fan. Get him well out of the way before the multiple women come forward.
Would anyone agree to that kind of interview unless they were desperate? Even a fool would know it would be a disaster.
Andy is a fool, you know? Not really bright or educated. Add to the cake a free dose of arrogance well mixed with a deep sense of entiltlement; when it gets hard, you put it to the care of a huge staff and cover with the protection of the most powerful person of the place. That’s the most effective formula for disaster.
That’s what I mean – even a fool, and I think he is one, would know it would be a disaster. So I think he’s agreed to early retirement before the full story breaks, and I’m guessing the full story is multiple girls coming forward about him.
Well, the fact that someone competent didn’t prep him for the interview does make the Palace staff look bad. I mean, cameras aren’t going to come inside Buckingham Palace on a whim… so what about some interview prep, particularly since there’s the possibility of civil suits for damages, no? He should have done multiple practice questions with lawyers and media people trying to catch him out. Instead, it seems like they just thought they could let him go in there and be himself….
Anyway, not disputing that he is probably as awful as he came across, but the sheer incompetence of it all is a bit surprising.
he didn’t need prep, can’t you see he’s innocent? No innocent man needs prep…oh, and he’s a Prince…and the queen’s most favoured son, why would he need prepping? I bet most didn’t know it was happening till it was
My guess: he was prepped and refused to listen to it or improvised because it was too difficult to remember the prep. You can see him at times struggling to recall scripted answers, but then he clearly gives up and just starts babbling.
I think Sheer Incompetence is Andrew’s brand and cologne name…..he did have that outside PR advisor guy in the picture who parted ways with him after he recommended against doing this.
When you are moronic, plus you live in an echo chamber of people treating you like the Greatest, and when your main advisors are a clearly batty ex-wife, your adoring daughters, and your devoted private secretary whom its said brags of her office at the Palace being steps from Andrew’s bedroom, then it is a recipe for the Newsnight disaster.
You know, let me share a secret: I don’t find any difficulties on imagining Andrew pushing out all the courtiers and staff, rubbing the hands gladly with the opportunity to show them how clever he is; I believe nobody had a clue of what was comming, except that he was planning to give the interview; he kept to himself (and maybe some select brains who agreed with his scheeme) all the script.
Of course Meghan was horrified, as any human being with a moral compass and ears was. As for Andy – he’s dumb. We all knew this but hearing that mansplaining of rape culture -which he was too dumb to even realize he was doing – proved it. He is a prime example that white men of wealth and privilege TRULY do think they are smarter than everyone else. Simply BECAUSE they are white, rich and privileged.
I remember it said somewhere by an ‘unnamed royal courtier’ that Meghan’s intelligence quotient exceeded that of every other royal in the room combined….I think that is part of the reason why she gets vilified by some Powers that Be at the Palace. On top of everything else she is, she is smart in a way no one else in the current royal family is. She sees their incompetence and foolishness and maybe even calls them on it, imagine that.
I don’t even think she calls them on it. I think the mere presence of a reasonably intelligent, intellectually curious individual like Meghan, who brings new insights and above all, has confidence in herself, is enough to bring the neuroses out in these people at the palace. I’ve seen that happen a lot. People project their own insecurities and disdain onto you, because they don’t care enough to be better, and they know it.
honestly its time for TQ to step down. She is clearly, unbelievably out of touch and physically too frail to even wear the actual crown. Its like the scandal with Diana’s death all over again- “but the protocol” Don’t they ever learn?
My guess is that the Queen will announce in her coming Christmas speech that she will step down in 2020 and appoint Charles as regent. She knows a perfect storm is coming for the monarchy and she is too old and too weak to control it.
First: chances are that Boris Johnson who threw her under the Brexit bus will win the general elections in december. If so he will manipulate the monarch again but from a stronger position as prime minister with a majority in the house of commons. If Corbyn wins he will change the monarchy.
Second: civil unrest may be huge as the country is hopelessly divided because of Brexit. If nationalistic parties in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland make significant gains, the UK may fall apart and the monarchy as binding factor will become weaker. The country’s economy is almost in a recession and Brexit will make it worse.
Third: she was probably informed by her secret service that the Americans have solid evidence against Andrew and his scandal might bring the monarchy down. She decided to sacrifice him to save the monarchy and give Charles the best position to start his new role as regent with a clean slate.
Charles and William’s recent documentary and Charles and Camilla’s PR tour are hints that this transition is coming soon.
I agree that I think an announcement is coming that she is going to step aside for Charles and its Andrew that will have forced this. There is more on Andrew to come, she has to know this. He’s in it up to his eyebrows and sinking.
The damage that interview did is going to be far reaching and its becoming clear she doesn’t have it in her to continue to rule – if she wants the Monarchy to survive she has to hand the crown over to Charles so that he can make the decision on Andrew that she won’t.
History will remember Andrew as not only a sex predator and financial crook but as the one who’s actions forced his mother off the throne.
These are interesting theories about the end of her reign and I guess we will find out soon enough if that’s what happens. I know everyone says she would never ever abdicate but I keep feeling like something “big” is coming down the pipeline – and I don’t just mean the disaster that is Andrew.
They don’t learn simply because they don’t care to learn. That’s the long and the short of it. These people are not a group who are fundamentally interested in revolutionizing the monarchy in any way. Charles, perhaps, has a greater awareness of the necessity of modernizing. But the Queen doesn’t. She wants to keep trucking the same way she’s always been trucking from day one.
I don’t want to knock anyone’s intelligence here, but fundamentally, this comes down to the fact that the Queen and the rest of the royals are just incurious people as a whole. They’re not intellectuals, they don’t care to be intellectuals. I don’t doubt for a moment that when QEII says that the monarch must not have opinions, it’s not because that’s the actual rule. Monarchs can have opinions on a great variety of subjects, and they should because otherwise they run the risk of being yanked around by people who have a vested interest in making them go a particular way. It’s because she, personally, finds all of that tedious. She’s plenty informed, and I imagine she’s still sharp in her 90s, but she simply doesn’t want to do the work of coming down one way or the other on anything.
A sentient potato would have better PR instincts than this family does.
I don’t think the palace is changing the story tbh. I think this is factual. Andrew misrepresented what the interview was going to be to his mummy. Mummy thought that it would be a run of the mill type deal, that he would simply set the record straight because of course he’s telling the truth, and that would be the end of it all, and everyone could get back to business. It’s only after the interview happened and it was a sh-t show that the Queen realized she’d been hoodwinked. But I don’t doubt that they’re also embellishing the story to make it seem like she’s more outraged and that she “never approved” but was somewhat coerced into it, which I don’t think is the full truth either. So there’s a lot of smoke and obfuscation here about what’s happening, and I think it’s entirely because no one at BP can keep the story straight in their heads.
Anyway, I find it most interesting that the Queen would approve Andrew giving an interview in ANY capacity, but was famously against Meghan and Harry doing it. What was the difference between the two? (A rhetorical question by the way, we all know why she makes allowances for Andrew but doesn’t do the same for Meghan or anyone else in the family, lmao).
@LimerickKing posted this on twitter.
“The Duke met a man who was scum
& made him an intimate chum.
This led to a mess
For the palace’s press
So his birthday was cancelled by mum.”
Lol 😂
It seems to me that the only time I see the Queen smile is when she’s in Andrew’s presence. That right there is really disgusting considering what we now know and what she’s had to face – finally.
More like invented comments by news outlets are being updated.