Tonight, the BBC will air their Panorama interview with Virginia Roberts. While the Prince Andrew conversation isn’t dominating headlines like it was two weeks ago, it’s still a big story. Which is why it’s very strange that the New York Times did a story quoting from various “royal experts” about how Andrew is a minor story at this point and how it’s all about how Prince Charles is the Shadow King. I mean, granted, Shadow King Charles is a big deal, but… I also think these royal experts seem to have a vested interest in toeing the “company line” that poor Queen Elizabeth got hoodwinked by poor dull Andrew or whatever. You can read the full NYT piece here (it was on the front page for much of Sunday). Some highlights:
The Queen is welcoming Donald Trump to the palace: On Tuesday, there’s a big gathering of NATO leaders in London, and that will be the setting for this: “…With the 93-year-old queen fading into history as her 71-year-old son and heir, Prince Charles, moves aggressively to assert his control, most conspicuously in trying to mop up the recent scandal that engulfed his younger brother, Prince Andrew.
The streamlining of the royal family: In the aftermath of Prince Andrew’s disastrous BBC interview, in which he showed no empathy for the teenage victims of Mr. Epstein and offered dubious defenses of his own conduct, Prince Charles called his mother from New Zealand to press her to strip his brother of his public duties. The Prince of Wales was said to be worried that the scandal had spiraled so rapidly that it was threatening to eclipse this month’s general election in Britain, the Times of London reported. Prince Charles has long pushed for a more streamlined royal family, with fewer members carrying out official duties, drawing from the public purse, or generating damaging publicity. But the Prince Andrew debacle is the most visible sign yet that the shift has begun to happen. Some British papers all but implored the heir to take de facto control.
The “Shadow King”: The Times argued that the monarchy “needs a firmer grip at the center.” “This can only come from Prince Charles,” it said. “Although he has faced his own set of scandals, he has already taken on a greater role and can do more, in effect acting as king-in-waiting.” Valentine Low, who covers the royal family for that newspaper, said that under the aging queen, “there are all these different entities in the family, and they operate in silos. Andrew is a minor silo. But you occasionally get a crisis where you need leadership from the center.”
There’s no political figure to guide the Queen: “Politics, as we see at the moment, are grubby, dishonest and chaotic,” said Penny Junor, a royal biographer. “The monarchy is a rock of stability that has served this country well in times of crisis. But we’re coming to the end of a pretty troubled year, which adds to the woes of the family.”
Why the Queen’s power seems diminished: Royal watchers said her grip on internal matters had weakened for several reasons. Her husband, Prince Philip, who functioned as the family disciplinarian, is 98 and lives in retirement at Sandringham, one of the royal estates. In January, after striking a car in his Land Rover, he claimed he had been blinded by the sun, in what proved a harbinger of a troubled year for the monarchy. The queen had lost another trusted counselor in 2017 when her longtime private secretary, Christopher Geidt, left after an internal power struggle. Mr. Geidt, people with ties to the palace said, had put himself on a collision course with Prince Andrew and Prince Charles by trying to centralize control under the queen. The queen’s current private secretary, Edward Young, is a less forceful presence, these people said. By contrast, the private secretary to Prince Charles, Clive Alderton, is a formidable former ambassador to Morocco who is expected to help the prince navigate his accession to the throne.
Royal reporters are desperate to bring the conversation back to the Sussexes: What Buckingham Palace needs to worry more about, royal watchers said, is Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex. Reports of strain between him and his brother, Prince William, and of Meghan’s struggles to adapt to her new life, are more damaging because these young royals symbolize the House of Windsor’s future, not its messy past. “For them to be breaking away from the family,” Ms. Junor said, “does have implications for the future of the monarchy.”
I disagree with many of the so-called experts quoted here. While Andrew’s power (pre-interview) was already minor, I think everything that’s unfolded with Andrew this year has been a major story because of the Queen’s actions and inactions. These royal experts want to forget that the Queen was doing church-ride photo-ops with Andrew throughout the summer, just as they want to minimize the fact that she was in the loop for his BBC interview. This whole Andrew debacle has been revealing the Queen’s weaknesses. Her weakness of character, her weakness for her favorite son, her political weakness, her communications weakness, and her staffing weakness.
A few more Andrew stories – Robert Lacey says Andrew’s royal existence will be “wiped out.” We’ll see – I bet the Queen still believes that Andrew should be allowed to do a lot of royal events. Oh, and Andrew apparently passed on confidential government memos to his shady friends back when he was the “trade ambassador.”
Photos courtesy of WENN, Avalon Red and Backgrid.
Holy crap, she’s going to be forced to “step down.”
I hope she IS forced to step down. Publicly supporting a possible paedophile/paedo adjacent is just not forgivable or acceptable.
I now see her in a completely different light than I did before “the interview”. I think she’s incredibly entitled, calculating, extremely power hungry with zero empathy.
I’m 100% ready for Charles.
Bring on King Charles.
Time for mommy to retire with her husband.
Duplicate post
Because Charles is god’s sent gift from another galaxy, not the son of two entitled,calculating, power hungry with zero empathy individuals.
Agree with @iulia, wasn’t Charles close friends with Jimmy Saville and Bishop Ball? I really doubt its going to be better with Charles as king.
I think Charles is a lot more savvy than she is. That would be an improvement at least.
The big problem is not Andrew’s associations with the ring of pedophiles, the biggest problem is the Queen’s personality: many, many books about her always stressed how much she hates confrontation of any kind, no matter with whom. And this peculiarity gets stronger with the age: the person is more tired, more weak, more fragile. And that is not even taking in consideration her strong affection for Andy, and lets leave it out of the equation for now. She never had a strong grip on her governament, she always relied on the prime ministers. And she doesn’t want to get involved when the mess is big, but to do what she wants: that disaster on the coal mine, Diana’s death, H&M press’ harassment… A certain recipe for trouble.
She’s 93. Cognitive skills, such as judgment and decision-making, decline with age. We don’t know her condition in this regard, but some decline would be perfectly normal. My husband and I have had several 90-somethings in our families and none of them, although intelligent and accomplished in mid-life, would have been capable of handling TQ’s job at 93. I feel sorry for her having this amount of responsibility at her age.
I agree x10 with Rusted. The cognition needed for nuanced decisions is likely not there–no disrespect to 93 year olds. My 93 year old aunt, formerly a professor with a Ph.D. (when many women of her time were not allowed to study at that level), has lost a bit in the last two years. It isn’t some big dramatic fall off, but more a gradual lack of ability. She has NO idea anything has changed.
I can’t imagine there are many folks in the Queen’s life who could talk to her about her abilities in a way that should would listen because she likely doesn’t feel any differently and is physically able to do the same things as a few years ago.
I still think she would stick by Andrew if she had the mental capacity, however. So there’s that.
Except she’s made these same poor decisions throughout her life.
There is no reason for Elizabeth to step down. It doesn’t matter if she’s 93 years old, or if she is a racist, or her faculties are diminished, or whatever — she’s still the eldest child of King George VI, which is the ONLY qualification to be Queen. There is no “baseline” requirement as far as judgment, intelligence, cognitive skills, etc., to be the monarch. The ONLY requirement is that she be the oldest child, which she still is. Therefore, she is still “qualified” to be the Queen. That’s the absurdity of having a monarchy, but as long as the British people want a monarchy, that’s the price you pay.
I know you said this on another post, but I don’t think I responded – this is a great point. The Queen doesn’t have to step down. When people talk about being qualified or mentally “with it” or whatever – there was never any requirement for her to be “with it” or any qualifications or whatever. She is still qualified to be queen because the only qualification was that she was the oldest child with no brothers.
There’s precedence for a regency when a monarch has diminished capacity, i.e. George III.
There is no reason for her to step down, but someone needs to clean house at Buckingham and bring in staff willing to speak the truth. I still cannot believe that disastrous interview happened. Andrew should have been long gone by then.
@Mrs.Krabapple ……….. you are so right; incompetence doesn’t matter; suitability who care? the only important thing is being the first born no matter how stupid or unimaginative one can be. I said this the other and someone had a hard time digesting it, thx vm for the US system; yes we have our crap, more than most countries especially with the current idiot in the WH, but I will still take it
This woman has made terrible decisions in regard to PA. Didn’t she give him a medal after the Epstein story started coming out? wasn’t she the one with the huge smile on her face after Epstein’s death? She didn’t do the deed but she KNEW
@Arthistorian with the big difference that kings and queens at the time of George III had intrinsically more power than the Queen has today. Yes, the Glorious Revolution had already taken place at the time, but with the universal suffragium (right to vote) for each UK citizen, the role of Parliament has grown stronger and that of the Queen, weaker. So soundness of mind is not really a concern on this side of the atlantic. On the opposite shores, however…
Louder for the people in the back: The Sussexes are not the problem.
Geez, these royal reporters are blinded by the white.
They really are! The Sussexes are so not the problem.
This ^^^^^^^^!
No, the Sussexes are not the problem, but if they chose to leave the monarchy, it will be a big problem for Charles.
There’s zero evidence the Sussexes are even contemplating leaving the royal family.
The Sussexes are not the problem — but how the royal family dismisses them IS a problem. The royal family is willing to throw the Sussexes under the bus to make themselves look better, and that IS a problem. They will sue over rumors of William’s affairs, but won’t intervene when Meghan is facing racist attacks (except to say that Kate is equally a victim) — and that IS a problem. I think the Sussexes should be brought up in any discussion of the royal family — NOT because the Sussexes are causing the problems, but because it highlights how little the royal family cares about racism generally and Meghan specifically — and people should always be reminded of that when we are forced to read stories like this about how Charles (or William, or the Queen) is so wonderful.
You are on fire today @mrskrabapple. Keeping speaking your truths.
The whole Windsor-Mountbatten royal clan was a disaster waiting to happen. QEII’s father George VI was a nice man, her mother OK but it was the inclusion of the hedonist pedophile Lord Mountbatten that cast a shadow over the entire family. He pushed the Phillip/Elizabeth marriage and was a 2nd cousin to both. His sister was Phillip’s mother. He introduced Jimmy Saville and other scumbags into the RF, so the entire RF was surrounded by elite pedophiles networking under Mountbatten’s wing. Just how the RF were included in this network is unclear. But it’s clear these elite perverts were royally protected.
Queen E is smart but kinda ignorant and naive when young. I can see Mountbatten taking over as the parent figure to both her and Phillip. PA must have noticed what was going on around him, he grew up surrounded by perverts. PE was younger so maybe escaped and PAnne, more intelligent, also escaped.
But no more excuses, the Queen now understands and should have controlled Andrew if not for his sake, than for the sake of the monarchy to whom she owes her services. Her image is tarnished. Her sense of responsibility must persuade her to step down, which she’s doing. So where was Dad Phillip when all this perversion was going on under his nose??
The above doesn’t excuse the self-centered behavior of the Sussex royal. What I hate about them is their obvious contempt for the English people. Why should they be in their positions, and be paid for it, by a struggling country they disrespect.
@MG — “The above doesn’t excuse the self-centered behavior of the Sussex royal. What I hate about them is their obvious contempt for the English people. Why should they be in their positions, and be paid for it, by a struggling country they disrespect.”
Never have I seen so much Bullshit written in 2 sentences………can you prove the contempt H&M have for English people?
I sometimes wonder how people like you can live in a country with a monarchy……..you obviously despise them, but you want them to be miserable so you can feel better about yourself; work be damned!!! why aren’t they sucking or suffering! No royal bride has done more than Meghan in less than 2 years and that includes Diana but Diana was 19 so way too young; hence my comparison isn’t really a fair one. Over time, It would be interesting to compare Diana’s legacy to what Meghan can accomplish but with dishonest people like you, there is no way you would ever be able to judge her fairly……
Mediocrity rules with people like you; you are surely one of the haters writing under SR IG.
What Meghan, just like what Obama, did is to shatter stereotypes, some people can’t deal with that……..so they will champion Mediocrity, their own or others, under the disguise of disrepect!
Yes-dear lord. Why the hell is there an equivalency drawn between what Andrew did and Harry and Meghan???
The Sussexes ARE a problem – for the Royal Reporters. Specifically, the *lawsuits* the Sussexes have filed against them. They clearly want those lawsuits gone, and really want The Queen, Charles or whomever to bring the Sussexes’ to heal and get them to dismiss the lawsuits.
Which is *exactly* why Harry and Meghan used a law firm outside of the Royal Family to file those suites in the first place. The Queen nor Charles can pressure the lawyers directly to drop the lawsuits because they don’t answer to the crown. Harry and Meghan would have to be convinced to do it. However, Harry’s hatred for the Royal Reporters runs deep, and has run for years. He’s said – even before he met Meghan – that he read everything and kept a list of who wrote and said what. He ain’t dropping this, and neither is Meghan.
So yeah the Royal Reports desperately want the attention back on Harry and Meghan.Not only are they easier clickbait, but they want to continue to slander Meghan to try and pressure her and Harry to drop the suites against them. With Virginia’s interview, I don’t think Andrew is leaving the news sphere anytime soon however.
Again, Harry and Meghan are looking like geniuses for skipping the Sandringham Christmas pap stroll this year.
Yes it has. It shows how completely out of touch the entire monarchy is in todays world.
It’s a tawdry mess at the end of her reign, but it’s her own fault.
She’ll be remembered for her decades of inaction when she could have and should have done something, but ran with this so-called protocol that she ‘must’ do nothing. I think she was actually quite ineffective and far too cold and distant.
Agree.
The Queen had power? I don’t think she’s had any real power since the beginning of her reign. She’s been losing power every decade.
Also, Andrew is a lot of things but “dull” is not one of them.
She has the kind of power that being one of the richest women in the world carries. That’s the bigger reason why she is so respected outside Britian. With her wealth and position, yeah she has power.
She has enough power to protect her son from being investigated by the FBI, which would have happened years ago for any other person tied to Epstein the same way Andrew has been.
@Nic919 I would give you that point if they investigated and went after anyone else. For that matter if they did more than just slap Epstein on the wrist the first time in 2010. Did they speak to Trump, Clinton, Gates, Dershowitz who is suing I don’t know who now all were with Epstein or went on his plane, and Guiffre is accusing Dershowitz of the same thing she is Prince Andrew. According to Dershowitz who is the only one talking no the FBI haven’t spoken to him? They certainly haven’t gone after any of them. Those are just the names we know about too. I don’t think that was the Queen’s “power” which did that. That’s the FBI. Not sure who squashed this or why and when cause it started in 2010, ask Acosta maybe he knows since he cut the sweetheart deal for Epstein the first time, 2010.
Look how much effort the FBI put into the college admission scandal. Granted I’m glad they got them, but in terms of priority I’m thinking child sex trafficking ring including people who participated should be first before a bunch of parents on a college admission scandal. Bit upset with the college admission scandal they didn’t go after the colleges a bit more. I find it hard to believe only a few at the colleges knew about some of these things. Just getting the lame parents isn’t going to change much.
The FBI badly bungled this for many years, but I doubt we will ever see Andrew questioned by the FBI even now and a lot of that will have to do with the power of the monarchy. That’s not to say other powerful people can’t also avoid being questioned. There is a clear issue of the FBI cowing to elites from many countries.
This story and the photo first came out many years ago and the Queen was able to get the UK media to be quiet about it. William has done the same for his rose story so it’s not like the British monarchy has no power. They just don’t have any political power.
The FBI cannot investigate non-US citizens like Andrew. They have no jurisdiction in Britain.
End this archaic institution. This whole Andrew thing highlights how silly it is to continue with the monarchy. It is not minor. It is huge that he was so corrupt for all these years and his family sat by and did nothing. That implicates all of them. Courtiers and all And this spin to focus on Charles is a desperate attempt to save the monarchy. Royals are no different than you and me, so why do we look up to these people born of a privileged bloodline? I feel it’s like people kept captive so long become beholden to their masters.
Yes, the spin that this Andrew thing is just sort of minor bc Andrew was just a minor royal is ludicrous. Andrew is the freakin Duke of York. He’s not a minor royal. And to paint Charles as the savior, riding in on a white horse to tell Mummy how to handle this because HE is strong enough, even if she isn’t…… I mean we all know that’s what happened (that Charles laid down the law), but this spin is ludicrous. Its clearly setting up Charles as regent, even if not in name. “Don’t worry about the queen’s mistakes, Charles is in charge now.”
New boy in the neighborhood…lives downstairs and it’s understood…he’s there just to take good care of meeee…like he’s one of the fam-i-ly…
CHARLES IN CHARGE OF MY DAYS AND MY NIGHTS….
If Scott Baio hadn’t turned out to be such an extremist, hate-filled, Drumpf supporter, this would have been funnier.
@nota, you’re right, my bad. I wasn’t thinking so much about that douchebag Scott Baio as I was thinking of the annoying theme song.
No, no, it was still funny, just not as funny because Baio turned out to be so awful.
Agreed! This whole thing to me is crazy. The BRF has such intense goodwill after Meghan and Harry’s wedding; they could have rode that popularity wave into a new era of relevance and influence. And had they handled Andrew properly as the sex offender that he is. Instead, they let Andrew’s dumb butt, petty grievances and the foolishness of the courtiers/the Queen/the Cambridge’s destroy all that awesome, feel-good press. And now people are questioning the existence of the monarchy itself.
Absolute chucklemuck amateurs. They deserve everything crappy they get from this point forward.
^^^Preach^^^
“Agreed! This whole thing to me is crazy. The BRF has such intense goodwill after Meghan and Harry’s wedding; they could have rode that popularity wave into a new era of relevance and influence. ”
This could not be more true. The family TOTALLY fucked up a golden opportunity. All they had to do was learn about how casual racism works and show a little support for Meghan and Harry. That’s it! They could have widened their appeal and been a true “force for good” in terms of dragging old-school Britons into the 21st century.
Instead, they opted to lean in to their casual racism, and look what happened. More and more people are calling for their heads. Viva la Revolucion!
@snowqueenM, Very well said.
When I think about how much I believed that the monarchy was really interested in change, actually WANTED to change when Meghan and Harry got married, I can’t believe how naive I was. I should have paid more attention to how Keen Katie, Beatrice and Eugenie were sneering at the African-American pastor. THAT was the real face of the ‘today’s monarchy’.
In the face of the unbelievable abuse of the Duchess of Sussex, the Queen chose to align herself with the ‘Little Britain’ crowd. I don’t think it has anything to do with whether or not she likes Meghan or not. I think she probably does like Meghan, who strikes me as a likeable person. But the monarchy chose to cast it’s lot with the small-minded bigots. Not just the Queen but, more importantly, the people who surround her, like the courtiers who are trying to hang on until the Queen passes and they get rewarded with a nice pension, a ‘grace and favour’ cottage and the chance to work as consultants for American tv. THEY think that the Brexit crowd is the future, even while it’s so clearly stuck in the past.
More importantly, Normal Bill and Keen Katie have chosen to cater to the small-minded. Neither appear to be very bright and seem to think that the immediate reward of positive stories in the tabloids is going to serve them well in the future. They have no idea. Many of the people who support them now will most likely be dead and buried by the time Normal Bill becomes King, unless something happens to Charles. The Britain that William will reign over will be the people who are young now and have watched while he threw his very popular brother and biracial sister-in-law under the bus, over and over and over again.
I will never ever ever understand why they didn’t capitalize on such a golden opportunity. I will never understand how NO ONE said “Hey I know we all really don’t care about the biracial duchess but think how good the optics would be if we showed our support.”
S808 – It’s because of the “optics” that Harry’s and Meghan’s marriage was even allowed by the RF in the first place. They saw it as a “progressive” step, calculated to ingratiate themselves to the wider (and increasingly diverse) British public.
A few things:
1. QEII did a photo op with Andy after he was fired, kicked out of Mummy’s palace, forced to rename his charity, and forced to remove his personal flag from his personal residence. She clearly wants to rehab her precious boy.
2. They waited 90+ hrs to force him to step down… but it happened only a few hrs after financial investigations by the media began. They don’t want anyone following the money. But now they are… again. With even worse allegations of Andy passing on confidential information. The BRF cannot keep taking this sort of scrutiny. These are the most damaging hits. Andy cannot be allowed back into the fold for this reason: he’s too toxic.
3. Christmas will tell us if the BRF is truly divested from Andy. If he shows up and does the pap walk, then they’re never getting rid of him…
Yeah if he’s seen in public with them then at church then its game over for them all.
The Fail has pics of him arriving today at Windsor. I am thinking he’s gonna be with the family at Sandringham and do the walk.
I haven’t been over there, but wasn’t something out yesterday regarding Charles wanting to get Pedo over there for a hard sit-down and to read him the riot act? That could why Pedo’s there. He may BE WITH the family for Xmas, but told he may not do the public walk (ie: enter the church through the side door equivalent).
He lives at Windsor.
I bet the “compromise” will be that he does the early service walk with his daughters, but doesn’t do the later service walk.
@shazbot- yeah, apparently the royal lodge is Windsor. For some reason, I thought it was Buckingham.
The Andrew scandal is getting worse and worse – it so damaging to t he monarchy, especially with him passing confidential government papers to third parties. Here we have a member of the RF exploiting his privileged status in a way that might have worked against the very country he’s supposed to represent. This hits at the CORE of the function of the monarchy. If they a so corrupt that can’t even work to benefit the country they represent then they are more damaging than they are beneficial.
The fact that the RRs are trying to spin that the Suxesses are a bigger problem than Andrew is infuriating! Nothing is a bigger problem for the BRF than Andrew. His actions are actively undermining the very foundation of the institution. The BRF has survived squabbling siblings and maladjusted spouses in the past but it will be very difficult to survive a sexual predator who is also selling out the very government that he’s representing!!!!!!!
Very well said Arthistorian. When you read the recent articles on what Andrew has been up to with charities money, access selling, and state papers it is disgusting. I think Charles’ must be worried about more coming to light about the way he manipulates his Duchy funds as well.
If it’s true about the government papers, he’s a traitor. This is more shocking than the sex crimes.
I think the Sussexes are a problem for William and the future monarchy as it stands BUT NOT for a more modernized royal house. When William ascends the throne that means QEII and Charles will be dead and gone. Willnot and Kannot don’t have the skill or the will to pull the train alone. If the current powers that be want the monarchy to still be standing and thriving during William’s and George’s reign, then the BRF need to “reign” William in and start appeasing the Sussexes and providing them with some real acknowledgement and cover. That’s William’s birth right to protect and not necessarily Harry’s. Harry can bounce, so to speak. Hey, primogeniture and all. He is just the lowly sixth in line after all. 🤷🏽♀️ So, yeah, H/M are a problem in that they outshine, outwork and outsmart His Petulance and his Queen Consort.
Just for the money, I see it all collapsing or taking a huge hit that it may not recover from under William and/or George.
I’ve said before on this site (another thread) that i believe that Charles will be the last British Monarch. William isn’t popular enough and just isn’t up to the job…. all of Katie’s waiting will have been for nothing…
@ArtHistorian…AMEN, AMEN, AMEN. So happy that many Celebitches are seeing through the smoke and mirrors.
The Sussexes are only a problem for the Royal Reports who want the lawsuits that have been filed by the Sussexes’s against them dropped.
Andrew is a problem in that his actions and this whole thing with him really looks like the beginning of the end of the monarchy. No matter how badly the Royal Reports were trying to spin it, no one was loudly questioning the relevance of having the Royal Family until Andrew’s interview.
Put me down for someone who think Charles will be the last King, but even then I see the Commonwealth splitting away during that time – especially if Harry and Meghan really DO leave the family. There’s a reason THEY were made Youth Ambassadors IMO. Because they have a younger appeal than Will and Kate. Without Harry and MEghan, CHarles holding onto the Commonwealth will be hard IMO. However, William? It’ll be near impossible IMO. If there really is still a throne for George to inherit, it’ll be surprising. And if there IS still one, it’ll be one that is MUCH smaller that the one The Queen occupies now – with him only being head of state of the UK and that might be it. (And THAT is assuming Brexit doesn’t have Scotland having *another* referendum to try and leave and actually voting to do so this time).
What I have never understood with Will and Kate and their “throw H&M under the bus” and William’s nasty machinations is the fact that at any time they could just do more work. They don’t need to talk about work or torch family members’ reputations to look better they could just do more work. The citizens who pay for this lot work…often several days a week. Past Kings and Queens trimmed rose bushes and assortments of other foliage… but they worked with reasonable regularity. Andrew is vile and a different kind of horror show. But instead of all of this plotting and feuding why not just ….work. A few more ribbon cutting at 45 minutes a pop could not be worse than ripping your family apart surely?
I mean there’s a reason people retire eventually. She is, pardon me, old as f*ck. Let’s not pretend The Firm is easier to manage than any company. Really goes to show how much of a force Phil must have been behind the scenes.
And for God’s sake, the Sussexes are really NOT a problem. At all.
While it’s not necessarily her fault he’s a POS, she had years to cast him to the shadows and chose to parade him around instead. And she still only took action because he screwed up so badly she had no other choice. And she STILL chose to be seen publicly with him after the fact. People are right to question her authority and call for her to step down.
“What Buckingham Palace needs to worry more about, royal watchers said, is Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.“
Imagine thinking you need to worry more about these two than the pedo prince who passed on confidential government memos to his shady friends back when he was the trade ambassador. These “journalists” are a joke
Well said @S808
Well it is her fault, she had a hand in raising him – shaping him into the man he became so yeah she needs to take a share of the responsibility for the way he turned out. He has ALWAYS been like this, even as a boy. She has always protected, spoiled and promoted him – its what parents do to their favourites.
It is infuriating to read that the RR are trying to cast the Sussexes as the bigger problem – the biggest problem for the BRF is Andrew! His corruption hits at the very core of the monarchy.
Him being a sexual predator is horrific but I think the monarchy could survive that – however, with all of the new information about his corruption and him sharing confidential government papers to third parties, this is getting really explosive. The BRF managed to survive the Duke of Windsor’s abdication and possible treasonous actions because they were able to suppress the information (with the help of two governments) and by completely cutting off Edward and Wallis. Edward never represented Crown and Country after WWII, he lived in exile for the rest of his life. However, with the Queen keeping Andrew close and with a changed media landscape (+ Andrew mucking things up for himself with that interview), the situation is much harder for them to manage. Andrew may have pulled out of his patronages but the Queen is keeping him close and thus tacitly signalling her approval of him. It would an immense mistake for him to go on the Christmas pap-walk but with the way that he Palace and the Queen are handling things, I kinda expect that his ugly mug will make an appearance – because these people are stupid, entitled and utterly tone-deaf.
I think PA will be at pap-walk too, he’s completely tone deaf, Charles will have to really put his foot down and his mummy’s nose out of joint for this embarrassment to be avoided. I bet W&K really wish they had announced they were not going to Sandringham for Xmas before H&M’s annoucement LOL!!
And its only going to get even more worse for him given that Virginia’s BBC interview airs tonight which will only encourage the paps to go public with their years of information on Andrew – the Fail already has a head start on that.
TQ has to know that public show’s of support with him are only going to further the damage to her and the Crown. She has no choice put to exile him – just like her father had no option but to exile his own brother. If she doesn’t heed Chuck then she deserves all the kick back she will get if she continues to allow herself to be manipulated by Andrew.
Its only a matter of time before the press start running with stories about how Andrew is conning an old lady – if she gives him a fat pension there will be a public outcry. Same for his daughters, Bea now can never have that big public royal wedding – they 2 will be expected to just disappear from public life. The whole house of York is tarnished and after Andrew the next Monarch would do well to retire that title.
Yeah, I think he’ll be there. After all, this is the man that though that interview was a success. A Mummy doesn’t seem to realize just how bad this whole affair is + she’s always been blind when it comes to Andrew.
I think he will either a) not do the church stroll at all (do you think Charles is going to want to be photographed anywhere near him right now?) and either skip church altogether or go through a side entrance
Or
b) he will ride with the Queen in her car (sophie usually does this I think.)
Option B is so obviously the wrong choice and will so obviously result in bad PR that of course that is what will happen.
If he does “walk,” I think he will be placed in the midst of a group of people so will be hard to see. Press will be there and I hope someone there has some grain of sense to not let him parade down the road with a smirk.
Nobody made the Queen ride with Andrew in August, and no one made them both grin like hyenas just after Epstein’s death. If she’s coming under fire it’s absolutely for the right reasons. If I were British that one car ride would have had me in the streets. No tax dollars for pedophile princes.
this X 1,000
Yeah, I don’t like how some of these things are worded. “the scandal that engulfed prince Andrew.” It seems passive, like the scandal is just something that happened to him, rather than Andrew being involved with Epstein, shady money dealings, raping trafficked girls, and then for the cherry on top, that interview. Nothing that has happened re: Andrew isn’t because of his own actions and choices.
and I agree, I think what the past month has shown us is how weak the queen actually is. Maybe because of age, maybe because of staffing changes, maybe bc Phillip isn’t there, maybe she has always been this weak and it was just covered up in a variety of ways.
It’s always interesting to see America’s view on the Royals, it’s always hysterically over the top.
And very often inaccurate as to how it works. I’m not sure why they get so lathered up about it.
And then they have Trump, an elected president with power. I know which I would rather have. 😆
As an American I fully admit I have no idea how it works. Which is why I just enjoy the drama (that I believe is 99% made up) and the clothes. It’s fun to me the idea of princesses and royal drama it’s like a tv show. It is also nice to have a distraction from the mess our country has become with Trump just so horrifying and embarrassing.
Actually, it interests me how many Brits are just simply wrong about the BRF because they are going off decades of misinformation. I noticed this, when I lived there.
Here you have a family costing hundreds of millions of pounds, involved in trafficking and covering it up, whose financials are never going to be investigated because they’re protected by loopholes in the Freedom of Information Act, loopholes that THEY campaigned for. In addition to a boorish Prime Minister. At least in the United States, we just have the one laughingstock to pay for – rather than two.
Furthermore, the insistence on adhering to the idea that the Queen has no power is ludicrous, and a piece of PR put forward so that she can continue essentially doing nothing but grouse shooting and holding onto show patronages where she can perform the “harmless old lady” routine. As everything with Andrew shows, she’s anything but.
You have Boris Johnson AND an inbred family gritting off the taxpayers!
Really? The difference is that Americans and its elected officials can get rid of a President when he abuses his power, at the very least admonish him for irregularities and the citizens can finally vote him out of office. When the Crown makes mistakes like this one with a Prince who more than likely a sexual predator passing government secrets to cronies what do a segment of the population do? I hope its not talking about how Meg and Harry is hurting The Monarchy. You have the audacity to downplay all of this as nothing, while your citizens pay for an institution that is breaking moral laws left and right because it can? My mother is British and at least she is horrified at what’s going on. You know what my Mum told me? The segment of the population that don’t think that this is a big deal is the the reason we have the Brexit. Well said, Mum!
THIS from people in a country that doesn’t even have a written constitution, though you are a “Constitutional Monarchy”? At least we in the US have a checks and balance system -in our *written* constitution – to check executive power and provide for the removal of a President that abuses it (hence why we’re having Impeachment inquiry right now – to gather all the evidence of such abuses). And even then, if he’s not removed from office, he can either be voted out in 4 years or term-limited out after 8 years. The US isn’t perfect, it never has been, but that part is even in our continuation – to try and make the Union better when there are problems.
Whereas, the Royal Family? You are stuck with these people as your head of state – and the whole family representing that – until they die. They can abuse any and all the power they want and there is zero check on that by the people who pay for parts of their upkeep. And it’ll keep being like that for generations as it has for generations before.
Empires go through the same types of patterns when they fall, and that is what’s fascinating to me about all of this. From Brexit to now Andrew, it’s watching the final act of the end of the British Empire. History playing out in real time.
@Cami – by your comment I assume you are referring to what the NYT, a type of media that sensationalizes everything in order to attract readers, wrote. “America’s view on the Royals,” in general, does not necessarily correspond with the opinion of this newspaper.
You think the New York Times is a sensationalist paper? What do you think of the Epoch Times?
@stepup – the NYT is seen as a trashy paper. It wasn’t always that way but over the years has morphed into rag using the same sensational hyperbolic tactics used by trash magazines you’d find at the checkout counter in grocery stores.
No, the NYT is not seen as a trashy paper. The lifestyle parts of it – maybe. There’s a running joke about how the NYT always picks the worst people to make a sympathetic point. And, I think the NYT weirdly bends over backwards to be “fair” to trump – like Maggie Haberman in particular, she is determined to keep her access to the White House over all else.
But there are still some really solid reporters there and they do still break some big stories. Def not as trashy as a tabloid.
The NYT is not a “trashy” paper. They might not always get it right, but their investigative journalism has outed significant corruption in the Trump administration.
I think people might be confusing the New York Post with the New York Times.
@Tiffany…I think you probably nailed it. They MUST be thinking New York Post. That argument I can understand…but labeling the New York Times as trashy is just ignorant.
Yeah, it’s the New York POST that is seen as a trash and a joke. The Post is a tabloid, though it has more respect than, say TMZ or the National Enquirer. The NY Time, in contrast, is one of the most respected and award-winning Newspapers in the US (hell, maybe even the world). Yes, it DOES have problems, especially recently with trying to be WAY to fair to Trump, (especially, yes Maggie Haberman . . . and don’t get me started on Maureen Dowd), but it is NOT a rag.
And the New York Post is a Rupert Murdoch/NewsCorp. publication, so….
@Hoot………you are comparing the New York Times to a tabloid???? my goodness, where are we going?
Please tell me you were talking about the New York Post not the New York TIMES?
@VS (and others) – Arghh, my apologies to all. Yes, my mind automatically went to the NY Post when Cami stated “hysterically over the top,” and I am sorry for the confusion. It was also unfair of me to throw all newspapers under the bus by implying they ALL sensationalize stories in order to generate readership (but many do). Mea culpa.
@cami and @Loubie………… I will take the US system; yes I am American. Despite all of our ills, I 100% prefer our constitution, our checks and balances over the UK Monarchy or any European Monarchy by the way; there is a reason we kicked those people to the curb! The randomness of birth should never determine ability to rule a country. I know they don’t really rule and wealth in the US does give a lot of advantages but not the right to be POTUS, never!
You do know the difference between the UK Monarchy and the Donald right?
Hmm guess karma is finally starting to show its head.
This^^^ @ Guest
I know she can’t step down right? But I do think she should start doing what Charles wants and get those costs down.
I get why the media wants to get back to the made up W&K and H&M drama, it sells better and let’s be real who cares if William and Harry are fighting that drama is silly and entertaining but raping women trapped as sex slaves is horrific. That being said they should ignore the younger royals and focus on Andrew as it matters
I think we need to stop referring to them as “trafficked WOMEN”. They were GIRLS! MINOR-AGED GIRLS that were trafficked, some as young as 13. And let’s not forget as well, that even IF they were over the age of majority, BEING TRAFFICKED TAKES AWAY CONSENT!
(Sorry to shout. I just hate reading anything anywhere that calls them “women”. They may be NOW, but definitely not then.).
Sorry you are correct they where children. I by no means meant to dismiss or reduce the horribleness of the crime
I was really hoping Andrew’s abuse of power as the trade ambassador was going to be a bigger deal. It was front page of TDM for a few days but I don’t see much else now. It was more than leaking a wire…he used his time meeting with govt officials/ business leaders to introduce those people to his business partners, thereby enriching himself. He even spent public money to bring his business partners on trips. That is a HUGE conflict of interest and abuse of public funds.
I think the Queen problem isn’t just with Andrew – but also with Brexit. Especially when she couldn’t/or didn’t/advise against closing Parliament.
Anna, you really don’t, with respect, understand how it works. She would have been in deep doodah if she had given any comment or advice about closing Parliament or Brexit. She has to be soon as a neutral figurehead. The SOPs are that the monarch does not get involved in political discussions. or decisions.
If she’s a neutral figurehead the rest should not be working royals. I have a figurehead President which is still an annoying cost but we only maintain her and her spouse. The other royals should be retired.
I used to be fond of her but she’s no sweet old lady. While I do believe she believes she’s anointed by God, I also believe she is on a massive power trip.
Nope, sorry, one of the official reserve powers she has is to refuse to give assent to closing Parliament. There is precedent in her at least considering refusal, such as back in 1974. And she can make her own political decisions in regards to Prime Ministers, such as appointing Alec Douglas-Home as MP.
She doesn’t need to be a neutral figurehead – that is just what suits her image, and will maintain her income the easiest.
@Spookie ——— if she is of no use, why do you people keep her where she is? LOL
@Anna, I agree. I think there are a lot of cultural forces driving this. Just for the record, she’s constitutionally handcuffed where Brexit and obvious politics are concerned. It’s ironic tho that the same outlets that have painted her as weak and malleable for respecting her role in the face of Boris Johnson’s shenanigans (this is what I think you are talking about) seem to have forgotten how much of an outrage they were in when they found out about Charles’ so-called black spider memos. They said he was basically an overreaching svengoolie trying to exercise power that’s not in keeping with his or his family’s role. When she stays in her lane, politically, she’s now a dupe and needs to be carted off to a nursing home for the senile and infirm? That really bothers me. It really does.
But, back to your post and my response. I think you are right and are pointing to an under looked dimension. The overall cultural climate has changed. Brexit has caused a lot of anxiety and uncertainty, which adds to the atmosphere. I’m not British or even live there but I can see how years of austerity measures has people up in arms. Added to that as they watch the monied class and the powerful pull away from ordinary people and get away with crimes ordinary folks would never be allowed to commit hasn’t helped either. Then there is the fact that more people are watching the Windsors in part due to Diana and now Meghan. More people are also watching because of access and because the 24- hour infotainment beast must be feed. Also, because of the times, the interest, and the info beast it’s not as easy to bury unsavory acts and taboos as quietly as it used to be. Added to all of that is the fact that the veneer has somewhat fallen off the Windsors. I think, in part, because some of those things I mentioned but also, I think, because QEII and the Windsors have had so many movies, books, and stories (RRs) published about them in their own lifetimes that they have become ordinary. That type of interest or volumes of work usually happens after death and not while the subject is living. What’s left is that the curtain has been pulled back. We’ve seen and now can’t unsee the wizard. The fantasy is gone.
But I’m still on the fence. Do you fire a CEO because a member of the executive f*cked up? I don’t know. I don’t think so. Depending on what the CEO knew about the team member’s actions and were those actions authorized. In this case, was it
a failure of leadership to authorize the interview and basically do PR with a favored member of the executive team? No, not a failure of leadership IMHO but a failure of objectivity. Should a CEO be shuttled aside for that lack of objectivity? I don’t know. Sometimes they are fired; sometimes they aren’t. If she knows or knew to the extent what Andrew has been doing over the years and authorizing it by being silent, then yeah. Let’s heads roll. Sorry QEII. 🥰🤗 However, as the article pointed out, her internal team that could advise her, keep her informed and who honestly lives less of an insular and cloistered life than she does has fractured and is no longer operating at peak. So, what do you do? The best case here is to stubble Andrew (no Christmas walks no obvious PR support including financial transfers of money, bring Charles forward as Regent more quickly than planned but keep QEII out there working and as a symbol. She still has goodwill among a lot of people, e.g., school children and older adults. Folks aren’t necessarily clamoring to get photographs with Charles at Clarence House but they do clamor to get photographs with her at BP and other functions. She still adds value.
Svengali.
Thank you, Rusted. I had a few typos and grammatical errors in there as well. Typing too fast. However, this guy was on my mind.
https://svengoolie.com/
That’s funny. Did you know that “goolies” is Brit slang for balls?
Redundant comment.
@Anna, I think the Queen can’t publicly say or advise the PM on political issues, but my gut instinct as well as some other reporting suggests to me that she supported Brexit. And, while she things Boorish Johnson is, well, a boor, she is hedging her bets with him and the Conservative party as the future support base for the continuation of the monarchy, given the current political situation. And in general, I do think that she, being the Queen, has much more of an affinity with someone like Boris Johnson or Theresa May or David Cameron precisely because they’re all posh toffs. The fact that she can’t see that the future doesn’t lie with a dying stereotype of a lily white Little England with hydrangeas and everyone going on about Queen and country is her biggest failing. I don’t know how the election will go for Britain. But even if the Tories are re-elected, they are part of a dying group in a bubble that is not sustainable. I think this is also why she has failed to prioritize Harry and Meghan.
If the monarchy is a family business, and the business is literally the family, they should really be looking into the failure rates of family businesses after a few generations. They aren’t good.
The monarchy as a business model doesn’t make a ton of sense. Think about whatever your grandparents did for a living, how talented do you think you would be at it?
My grandfather was a badass shipyard foreman and a bartender in Jersey City, NJ…yeah, I’m boring as heck and would be pretty terrible at it. My other grandfather was a published photographer…and I still get my thumb in the way of photos.
In other words, you’re so right.
I agree. They need to upgrade and modernize quickly if they want to stay in business for a few more generations. I honestly think it will collapse as we know it under William if not George. It’s lasted a long time. Japan’s is even older. Then there are royal houses all over the world that haven’t caged yet, so I don’t think we can completely bet against the House of Windsor. But to mix a lot of sayings together not only is that old grey mule not what she used to be but that dog ain’t hunting no more.
She will be made to step down if abolish the monarchy continues to be a topic of debate and conversation. The institution will always look out for itself.
I don’t mean to sound like an ageist *sshole but I’m a middle-aged hospice/home health nurse and I meet a lot of “old” and “really old” people. Even our most dynamic 94 year old client isn’t up for full-time work and at one time he was traveling the world full-time. Based on QE’s age, I don’t doubt she can’t see outside the tunnel she’s operating from.
You are so right. The news in my town had some story about a 95-year-old guy that supposedly still goes to work every day. Sounded impressive until they got into the story and it turns out that it’s his kids that run the company now, and the only real thing he does when he goes in there is socialize and read the paper before going home in the early afternoon.
I just want to throw this in here based on what you all have said. You all are casting doubt on a 93-year old and her ability to function full throttle. I’m not tripping on that. For real. I’m not. However, I am tripping on this: If doubts are being cast on a 93 year old, why in the hell or what in the hell are some people hoping her 98! year old husband will do? That’s killing me. It’s really killing me. It is. I’m sorry but I just can’t let it go. It’s just killing me. Ok. I’ve released it. I’m better now. I’m better. Thank you. Thank you.
Patting Chelle on the back while handing her a glass of cold water:)
😊🤗 Thank you Lady D. Thank you.
Chelle, I’m on the same page as you. Thinking that a 98-year-old man with practically one foot in the grave is going to bail out the royal family with his leadership, brilliant and incisive acumen, and critical thinking skills is just mind-boggling. No way, no how do l believe this man has such capabilities. The last pictures I remember seeing of him behind the wheel of his car before his license was yanked he looked like the Grim Reaper.
I wouldn’t put my faith in a 98-old man who, after being involved in a serious car accident, immediately got behind the wheel without a seat belt. It was only several days after bad publicity that he handed in his driving license. His judgement doesn’t seem to be that great either. Not to mention that he looks like death warmed over and probably isn’t long for this world.
I really hope I see this archaic, racist institution abolished in my lifetime.
Oh for Pete’s sakes, Andy and Epstein were buds for years and Andy’s ma gave him a sash/ribbon/tin medal/whatever not to mention the Vanity Fair article on Andy years ago and while we’re at it what about VF Funny Hair Editor putting the kibosh on a Vanity Fair story on Epstein after said Epstein called and suddenly pertinent details were dropped from the article? NYT, what say you?
I doubt the Queen likes to be portrayed this way. This woman wanted to set on that throne until she died. Giving it up early would be a huge blow to her.
Peter Hunt on Twitter is one of the more tapped in royal insiders and he has been saying that losing Geidt was the biggest mistake they made. He blames Charles and Andrew for that. Geidt had a way of wrangling everyone together. It just seems like the center isn’t holding in the royal household. As for Meghan and Harry – despite royal reporter fantasies, – they are a part of the streamlined royal family scenario, so…they ain’t going anywhere unless they want to.
Geidt was lobbying to keep Andrew, Edward, and Sophie on after the streamlining. In other words, his ideas weren’t helping and were guaranteed to get Charles’s back up.
Yep.
What did Ann do?
Geidt’s first priority was the monarch, who was his boss. He’d earned enough goodwill with her, and had spent enough time with the family, to know what they needed. I think he knew that it would be incredibly difficult for Charles to justify jettisoning Andrew alone without also doing the same to his other siblings, who fwiw, had been pulling their weight and were assets to the RF.
This was a problem, imho. How do you get rid of Andrew, the Queen’s second son, without ALSO cutting Ann, Edward, and Harry (who will be in the same shoes as Andrew one day, the monarch’s second son)?
Is it because of Andrew’s involvement in trafficking girls? If the royal family admits that is the reason, then they have to ALSO admit that Andrew needs to face criminal charges, and that will never happen. So how to treat Andrew as a criminal without admitting that Andrew is a criminal? How to cut Andrew (and not Harry) out of the family, without admitting Andrew is a criminal? I think the royal family is working behind the scenes to figure that one out.
@Mrs.Krabapple, precisely my point. How do you single out Andrew without putting a spotlight on his criminality? I think he handed them a golden ticket with this interview. It gave everyone a clear cut reason to excise him alone without having any of the other take the fall for his poor behaviour.
The Royal media are DESPERATE for the Sussexes to drop their lawsuits!
Aint it grand? I love it. I also predict we see more staff changes from both KP and BP before the trial starts.
Niraj Tanna was very vocal about it a few days. You know he isn’t alone.
Yes. And Niraj Tanna’s definitely been more vocal about it than actual royal reporters, which I find interesting. He tweeted a cover of the most recent headlines about Andrew the other day and said that the RF simply had to drop the lawsuits. Why *he’s* in such a fuss is interesting since he supposedly got cut off by Will and the Middletons years ago.
My grandmother is 92 with no dementia and still living independently. She’s fit and active and can carry on a conversation just fine – provided she has her hearing aids in.
I love her dearly, but I wouldn’t want her in charge of anything as big as the royal family. She is of course out of touch, because she lives her life they way she lived the most of her adult life – the way things were in the 50s-80s. She has email, but she’ll never be comfortable with it. She likes watching older tv shows and movies or those set in older times. Hello PBS.
My point is, you can’t expect someone that old to have kept pace – she just can’t. Everything for her is slower, and the world has kicked up to light speed with the internet and social media. Of course she isn’t fit to be in charge. Of course she should abdicate and retire.
My senior residence had to call a resident meeting to calm everyone down after pot was legalized here in Canada. They were all panicking about their loved ones od’ing or being killed sharing the road with a toker. They were loud and afraid.
The royal family thought they could shelter Andrew and permit him to keep his profile because the allegations against him first emerged in a pre-Jimmy Saville, pre-historic sex crimes investigations, pre Me-Too world where people didn’t care about or believe victims. However if they weren’t so out of touch/arrogant – then by the time that Epstein’s plea bargain deal and further charges were being looked at in 2016, the palace should have noticed that the allegations around Andrew could become an issue and come up with a strategy for managing him. They really need new people.
The royal reporters as usual don’t speak for the public in downplaying the Andrew allegations and saying the real crisis could be the issues around the Sussexes. Whilst empathy with Meghan trended worldwide following the African Journey documentary and she had elected representatives and brands like Dove voice support, in relation to Andrew’s interview I’ve seen articles in Australian and Canadian media saying they are happy about the interview for making people look at getting rid of the Queen as a head of state in those countries. His lack of empathy for the victims was denounced by many politicians and thanks to him, the future of the monarchy has even been debated during the UK election campaigns. It’s also led to people questioning the Queen’s judgement.
But as someone said above, Andrew isn’t clickbait like the young royals and looking at him further exposes the royal family in real damaging ways so that’s why courtiers and their friends in the press would want to shift attention back to the younger royals.
It’s amazing to see how the royal family have really fumbled the bag. There was such good will around the time of Harry and Meghan’s wedding to the extent that some people had forgotten the royal’s cold reputation, and horrified by the Markles’ pre wedding antics, were pleased that Meghan would be enveloped into this new family. LOL.
Also did anybody see that Twitter was trending last night that the Queen had passed away? Stemmed from some silly whatsapp message but there were some funny comments in the trends..
I see the NY Times is now helping with damage control? I assume this means more news about Andrew’s complicity is going to come out soon.
People need to pay careful attention to the parts talking about the Queen’s staffing issues. This was brought up in another article in the Guardian that discussed the same thing. The Queen lacks capable, erudite staffers at Buckingham Palace. The Guardian piece had a source that stated that Geidt “had the measure of her” and was able to level with her frankly in a way that his replacement has failed to do. It also talked about how the Queen and her courtiers, while they have a history of hiring capable individuals with the intention of effecting meaningful change, are actually fundamentally incapable of doing so because they’re far far too entrenched and stubborn to change their old ideas and adapt to a modern world. They especially don’t like frankness or being told that what they’re doing is wrong by their staff, and they don’t like being told that they need to change. Angela Kelly also alluded to this when she talked about how she was first brought on as a staffer and the pushback she experienced from the people around the Queen who thought she was too “opinionated” for her position, even though she’s proven herself to be one of the most capable staff members the Queen has had in the last decade.
So yeah. I know this is Charles’ great launch into regency or kingship or whatever. And I know the reporters are still desperately trying to make a big deal out of the Sussexs even though Andrew is the actual embodiment of why monarchies are a disgusting institution in the first place, even in their pared down and ultimately powerless iteration as it is right now with the BRF. But the whole fiasco has been mismanaged by the Queen’s staffers as well. It took them this long to come out with a coherent story about how the Queen is just a little old biddy who’s too old and stupid to know that her son lied to her, and even this is a pathetic attempt to lift the criticism off her. She knew. She’s 94 years old. She wasn’t born yesterday. She knows what’s happening with the government. She knows what’s happening with her son. She chooses to do what she does, and therein lies the rub.
Harry and Meghan look even more like utter geniuses for taking their sabbatical and for avoiding Christmas at Sandringham. They’d be the scapegoat while all this ish dropped if they were continuing to work and especially if Meghan was seen, ya know, breathing or doing anything at all. The reporters are dangling the Sussex carrot and trying to pull them into this crisis that the monarchy has created for itself to distract from the actual huge issue at hand. I didn’t want to believe that people inside were leaking damaging and conjured stories about Harry and Meghan (I’m an idealist at times to a fault) but it’s so obvious now. Perhaps her majesty wasn’t directly behind it because I do think she’s on autopilot in quite a lot of capacities. But certainly the people working around her helped will feed into a narrative to protect the queen and affirm her power. We saw that right after the interview blew up in their faces. They’re doing the most to push it now. Because the “issues” with Harry and Meghan and the rift with the Cambridge’s is a sexy, sudsy soap opera with its own appeal and is truly benign – not for Meghan though, but to the greater narrative of the monarchy. And it aided in putting Meghan in her place to not disrupt the system. The Andrew debacle? That’s an actual CRISIS that is an actual threat to the monarchy continuing to exist. Harry and Meghan withdrawing was a great idea in more ways than one. I hope they’re finding some peace this holiday season.
^^This^^, @onlyashes85, ^^This^^
Taking a nice long break was absolutely a genius move. Who in their right mind would want to be trapped in the Nightmare of this Royal Christmas. Andrew is vile. And now everyone sitting at the table with him will be Thinking of that interview where he all but advertised how gross and disgusting he is…
These claims that the Sussexes are causing the monarchy problems is a cover of fear of the lawsuiit; that chickens will come home to roost on the RRs at trial. Charles is not going to get rid of them. The extra bonus is the Markles are guaranteed they will never come in contact with Meghan, Harry, the royals ever. Over three years they have proven to be rent a snitches, they will blab for cash. They can’t be trusted around Harry and Meghan with the Andrew messes and the possible transition of power talks (the Sussexes are in the loop). If Sr Jr or Sam were to overhear anything (or claim to hear anything) they will run to Piers Morgan with a quickness.
What a s#!+ storm. I can’t imagine throwing my kids/grandkids unduly under a bus as a diversion.
H&M are lucky not to have to be front and center with Andrew. This isn’t going away..
Charles’ secretary was the ambassador to Morocco. Harry and Meghan had a trip to Morocco that was supposed to be a sign of the royal family’s belief in them. Quiet (too quiet) support?
Andrew and bitch-ass Donald are apparently cut from the same cloth– traitorous, selfish and “above the law” (in their own minds). Vile scum. Throw them both out.
I think Andrew shares some similarities with the Duke of Windsor – incredibly entitled, very stupid and with immensely bad judgement when it comes to the people they associate(d) with. Andrew associates with a pedophile, shady business people, oligarchs and dictators whereas Edward associated with Nazis and fascists. Incidentally, both are accused of passing confidential government information to third parties (though the accusations against Edward are much more serious since he was accused to pass information to Britain’s enemy just before and during a time of war).
William is a lot like the Duke of Windsor too. Selfish, lazy, doesn’t want to do the royal work, incredibly ill-suited to the job of monarch.
In better monarchy news, the Danish royals were out for Margrethe’s new show. Did you manage to get tickets?
I’m confused about Marie and Joachim traveling back and forth so much between Paris and Denmark, but I guess it makes sense to them. I thought they’d move to Paris and stay put for a year.
No, just didn’t have the money at this time of christmas shopping.
I understand that. I try to spread out the shopping over several months, but the last-minute smaller gifts mean Decemenber/January money is stretched thin.
Historically Queen Elizabeth’s reign is marked by constant decolonisation and decline of the United Kingdom. This implosion of the British empire has reached it’s final stage, the home-based implosion of the British political system (through Brexit and a probable breakup of the current UK) and the implosion of the monarchy, the figurehead of the rightwing establishment and upper class.
These forces have turned against their old Queen (like bees and ants who kill their queen) to bring the monarchy down and build a new nationalistic British republic on it’s ruins (chances are that the independence movements of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will spoil their party).
The Queen has been desperate to save her position and the direct heirline from these rightwing attacks by throwing the spares under the bus, first M&H to uplift W&K’s profile and now by sacrificing Andrew to uplift Charles’.
It appears like the Queen’s reign that started in crisis 5 years after the loss of India, the Jewel in the Crown, will also end in crisis, leaving it up to Charles to pick up the pieces.
Just saw the Virginia Giuffre interview. I can’t see how he can come from this. His comment about not remembering her seems disproven by a 2015 email to Ghislaine from court disclosure asking for help with Virginia. 5 claimants also want to subpoena him so he could be forced to testify if he ever comes to the US. He won’t but goes against him claims about wanting to help the victims. A right royal mess
Where did u see the interview? For some reason I can’t get it to play on the bbc site and it wasn’t on you tube last I checked….
@Carmen I watched it live on the BBC. I’m sure they will make it available on YouTube or something.
It’s really something. Virginia’s account is just more credible then Andrew’s. Shows how integrated Epstein& Ghislaine were in royal circles- they were even at Ascot on royal day& how Ghislaine was bitching about Fergie. And the 2015 email I mentioned which could suggest Andrew was lying about not remembering Virginia in his email in his interview was sent around 5am which reminded me of the hoopla around Meghan’s supposed 5am emails.
He’s dominating uk press right now. Maybe Epstein mutual friend Trump will do him a solid and knock him off front pages as he’s in town for NATO meeting
Prince Charles…..stabbing his mom in the back….that’s how the Royals roll
Sincere question, if William can sue for violation of his human rights why can’t Meghan sue for the same reason?
The future potential monarch of the UK is suing under a legal code that will not apply to him post-Brexit. Dead end.