Why have the Windsors ‘changed strategy’ when it comes to Prince Andrew?

I think the average person dips into royal gossip every so often, and they’re familiar with the broad strokes. For someone like me, covering the royals on a daily basis is like a lobster slowly being boiled – I lose the forest for the trees, and I sometimes forget how appalling this Prince Andrew situation is to the casual viewer who only pays attention to the royal sh-tshow every few months. When Prince Andrew turned up in a car with Prince William and Kate in Balmoral over the weekend, it ended up getting international headlines and international condemnation. The casual viewer might not know the ins and outs of Peg and Buttons’ laziness, but they know that Andrew is a human-trafficking pervert and that the Windsors would walk a mile to cover up Andrew’s crimes but they wouldn’t walk three feet to show compassion to Harry and Meghan. The cruelty, as always, is the point with this family. Well, the Royalist had an exclusive about just what it means that the Windsors are bending over backwards to rehabilitate Andrew.

A friend of the king says Andrew is coming back in some way: “Andrew won’t ever have the same ceremonial role within the family, he is no longer and never will be a working royal. That is clear,” a friend of the king told The Daily Beast. “But he is part of the family. He is the king’s brother. He has not been found guilty of any crime and I think it’s fair to say that the king is making it clear that he won’t turn his back on his brother.”

A carefully choreographed move: The historian and writer Andrew Lownie, who is currently working on what many expect will be the definitive biography of Andrew, told The Daily Beast that Sunday’s trip to church was particularly interesting because “the relationship between William and Andrew has never been good.” He said that suggested this was a carefully choreographed move. “The family have been using the Prince and Princess of Wales to get them out of trouble a lot lately, and once again, they are doing the heavy lifting here, fixing problems not of their creation. This was clearly a very important event, and William’s had to put aside his objections… to agree to be in a car with him when they knew it was going to be filmed is an extraordinary development.”

An entirely new public relations plan to try and re-integrate Andrew. “Until now, the family have been trying to distance themselves from Andrew, but Sunday’s ballet suggests that there’s been a change of strategy. The question is, why? Andrew is still very toxic. I mean, if I was advising them on PR, I would have him locked up in Balmoral and out of sight. So, why have they apparently decided they need to be showing some sort of support for him and that they’re all in this together?”

Lownie believes Andrew is lobbying a lot behind the scenes: “There’s a lot going on behind the scenes in terms of his lobbying. Sunday’s car ride shows that he has clearly been quite successful,” Lownie said.

Andrew’s presence overshadowed the re-emergence of Lady Susan Hussey. Hussey, who was a lady-in-waiting for the queen and is Prince William’s godmother, resigned after Black British charity director Ngozi Fulani said Hussey had repeatedly asked her, “Where are you from?” at a Buckingham Palace reception. On Sunday, she was back at the heart of the family at the Balmoral service.

[From The Daily Beast]

My take is different from Lownie’s, obviously. My thoughts are the same as they were on Monday – that this “choreography” with Andrew was entirely designed as a “message” to and about Prince Harry. It was a message to Harry saying “look, we’ve got the whole family here, even the rapist, look at us, snubbing you and refusing to invite you to Balmoral, aren’t you jealous.” I think that’s why William and Kate went along with it too, because they understood that it was all about their “snub” of Harry. Plus, never forget that these people are drama queens staggering from one self-created soap opera to the next. There might not have even been some larger plan, it might have been simply “hey, this will get us some headlines!”

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

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59 Responses to “Why have the Windsors ‘changed strategy’ when it comes to Prince Andrew?”

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  1. Ana Maria says:
    August 30, 2023 at 8:22 am

    it is my impression that Andrew played his last Ace, he must have threatened Charles with something huge

    • dlc says:
      August 30, 2023 at 8:27 am

      that was my initial thought. but how does that get William into play? he will happily screw over his father. So it is possibly about “family unity” aka f*ck you Harry!

      • BlueNailsBetty says:
        August 30, 2023 at 9:00 am

        Andrew’s ace is that he knows a lot of secrets about a lot of royals, including William. Charles may be petty and short sighted but he won’t allow Andrew to take down the future of the monarchy.

      • Olivia says:
        August 30, 2023 at 11:54 am

        What @bluenailsbetty and @dlc say. Charlie is NOT any different than Andrew or Phillip for that matter. In their minds what Andrew did was nothing untoward (and they have done the same) and he was careless and thus caught from a hustling person. They don’t understand that a person who was groomed as a child and then traded between people all the way up to her “consent” age (in the UK) is not a consenting situation. Just look who Charlie considered BFFs for years.. Privilege is a hell of a drug. And yeah, Andrew has a lot of information possibly given to him not by being part of The Firm, but because people like Epstein or Sarah Ferguson told him. If Andrew goes down, a lot of people go with him.

      • Megan says:
        August 30, 2023 at 1:09 pm

        It’s mutually assured destruction. Andrew has dirt on them, they have dirt on Andrew. Everyone has to play nice.

      • Kathleen Williams says:
        September 2, 2023 at 3:39 am

        I think that was why Willy played along. He has not been shy about defying Charles in the past so clearly he is agreeing with anything that could possibly hurt Harry. It also gets their name in the papers and distracts for 5 seconds from the HOI and the IG which are dominating world news. It’s definitely a “Hey look at me” move. They are also desperately short of working royals so don’t be surprised if Andrew comes all the way in from the cold. Somehow, I think Harry is too busy to care

    • Taytanish says:
      August 30, 2023 at 9:24 am

      I believe Andrew is blackmailing the whole lot of them. I think they all are racist pedophiles and Andrew knows where all their skeletons are buried. They’re terrified he’ll spill, and I believe he’s threatening to if they don’t fall in line. That’s why everyone of them is bending over backwards to accommodate him. Notice how no one is mentioning evicting Andrew from Royal Lodge anymore? Notice how Charles stupidly miscalculated when he thought Andrew would happily and easily give up RL and move to FC? Yeah, they all are terrified of Andrew. And at this point, I wouldn’t rule out the possibility that Diana was murdered and Andrew knows everything, right on top of Charles and William being pedophiles and probably closeted too. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

    • SarahLee says:
      August 30, 2023 at 3:03 pm

      That is my thought as well. Andrew could write his own book, you know. He could call it I Was Spare First.

    • Hyacinth Bucket says:
      August 31, 2023 at 5:30 am

      Indeed. Imagine what stories about the BRF “Spare -The Pedo’s Files” would have to tell.

  2. seaflower says:
    August 30, 2023 at 8:25 am

    WanK doing the “doing the heavy lifting” hahahaaaaaa! hahahaaaaaa!!!!

  3. Beana says:
    August 30, 2023 at 8:29 am

    Andrew’s perception: “My PR man failed in his bid to get Priti Patel to work on my public restoration. Oh, well, at least William is picking me up tomorrow. My comeback plan is still coming together!”

    Charles: “Listen, Willy Boy, I need you to pick up your uncle and bring him to church. Look, at least you can put your wife in the backseat, and someone needs to make sure the nonce is going to church. Just make sure you don’t smile for the cameras “

  4. Nanea says:
    August 30, 2023 at 8:29 am

    I think Paedrew knows where every single skeleton is buried in all palaces, and he has tons of dirt on all of them.

    And, no matter what will happen in the future with him back in the fold, things will come out eventually.

    H&M did the best thing for themselves and the kids, and for their mental health, when they quit.

    Too funny to watch all this unfold from afar though, C&W briefing against each other in the press, the speculations, the “… but Harry” handwringing.

  5. Susan Collins says:
    August 30, 2023 at 8:32 am

    Yes the pedo knows where all the family skeletons are buried and he is using them to claw his way back. I think Chuckles played Peg with the look we are snubbing Harry angle but Peg figured it out and hence the I was forced to be with the pedo article. Chuckles is bringing the pedo back slowly but surely.

  6. JMOney says:
    August 30, 2023 at 8:33 am

    My theory is Charles realized his slim down monarchy means that the RR focus on the remaining Sr. royals only for better or worse. He needs a “spare” or “black sheep” to throw to the wolves every now and then to take to redirect any negative stories on any sr. royal member.

    Take for example Billy not going to the Women’s World Cup. He got heat for it so naturally they roll out Andrew on a red carpet and tease the possibility of his coming back, create endless stories on it and ultimately changing the narrative from the lazy prince to “see be grateful for what you get or we may or may not bring back or pedo prince”.

    Billy went along with this b/c he thought doing this would redirect the media narrative of him not going to the world cup and it worked. Everyone’s now talking about him chauffeuring Pedo Andrew rather than his nonexistent work ethic.

    • EasternViolet says:
      August 30, 2023 at 8:49 am

      This is my thinking as well. “Look over here while my marriage falls apart and I stay on summer vacation.”

      Andrew turned up to change the narrative from Lazy William to a threat of giving us more Paedo.

    • ArtHistorian says:
      August 30, 2023 at 8:52 am

      If that is their strategy then they are even more stupid than I thought. Being criticized for being lazy is much better than showing public support for a sex offender! Because that is how Andrew is seen by the public. Then again, the Windsors have never lived in the real world and they probably think that the only thing Andrew did wrong was the interview where he showed himself to be a very bad liar. They don’t seem to realize that because of this interview the public became even more convinced that Andrew is guilty as hell. That interview isn’t some PR stumble that they can move on from after some time.

      • JMOney says:
        August 30, 2023 at 9:05 am

        @ArtHistorian the focus is now not on Prince William but rather Andrew and countless stories of him “possibly” coming back. Meanwhile PW purposely leaked how he was coerced to drive his uncle portraying himself as “the victim” and oh look suddenly those critiques of him being lazy have vanished from public discourse (notably the media not individual twitter accounts) altogether and no longer going down that route and possibly questioning the value of the monarchy which would have surely followed.

        So yes in that instance it IS effective. The narrative is redirected and Billy can continue his affairs and his nonexistent work ethic in peace.

      • ArtHistorian says:
        August 30, 2023 at 9:42 am

        Perhaps, but in the long term this is a terrible strategy. There’s a reason why competent public figures takes pains NOT to be pictured with sex offenders in any capacity – and especially not in a calculated message of “we are closing ranks around this particular sex offender to make sure the public knows that this sex offender is a much loved member of our family.”

      • Harper says:
        August 30, 2023 at 1:31 pm

        So Andrew is at Balmoral. He sees that Kate and the kids fly in without Wills. He notes that Wills, who can’t fly to the World Cup because of his family vacation time, isn’t actually spending time with his family on said family vacation time. Maybe Louis tells August or Fergie that Daddy was away and Andrew hears the gossip. Wills finally rolls in to Balmoral. Andrew says, we have to talk, and voila! Instant ride to church in the front seat. Family unity always sounds better than family blackmail.

  7. ML says:
    August 30, 2023 at 8:36 am

    Dumber than dirt. About a year ago WanK got their coveted “of Wales” titles, were sent to Wales on Prince Owain’s Day not knowing Welsh or Welsh history and received a cold welcome. In Boston these two were booed at a basketball game. Keen had the joy of watching her grifting parents sell off Party Pieces. The BM is breathing down their necks for stories and slowly but surely their laziness and vacations are being reported on.
    When your father is the type to throw you under a bus and your popularity is waning and you’re scheduled to go to the US mid September, what is a breathtakingly stupid thing to do? How about cheerfully being seen driving a sex offender uncle who hung out with fellow sex offenders and is known to have settled with an American victim of trafficking for 12 million? When you’re seen as responsible for helping attack your brother who is popular and married to an American?

    • Susan Collins says:
      August 30, 2023 at 8:40 am

      ML. Exactly!!

    • BlueNailsBetty says:
      August 30, 2023 at 12:39 pm

      @ML You said it! Americans may not be informed about the British royals but they sure as heck know who Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell are. I’m sure a lot of Americans know Andrew was outed as one of their friends/co-traffickers. So WandK suddenly being seen driving this lowlife around is definitely NOT going to help them build their image in the US.

      I hope reporters in the US ask William about that drive when he comes over next month.

  8. Athena says:
    August 30, 2023 at 8:37 am

    This is not an “extraordinary development”, it’s the Windsors playing stupid games as if they were in middle school.

    If QEII who had a lot of goodwill from people couldn’t rehabilitate Andrew what makes Charles think he can.

  9. Eurydice says:
    August 30, 2023 at 8:42 am

    It’s not a changed strategy – it’s the same as QEII’s only without the actual love. For me the really interesting part of this piece is where he says the family is using W&K to clean up their messes. I don’t recall hearing that interpretation before – about Harry and Meghan, yes, but not about W&K.

    • Jais says:
      August 30, 2023 at 8:52 am

      Well, I can definitely see Charles and Camilla using W and K to clean up their messes. It’s revenge for being late to the coronation and showing up to the flower show and who knows what else. This fall will be interesting to see how the two houses navigate when they’re actually “working” more.

  10. Brassy Rebel says:
    August 30, 2023 at 8:45 am

    They can’t keep Andrew in the dungeon when so many of them have huge skeletons in their closets. And they do, including Charles’ many links to various well known pedophiles. Then there’s Lord Mountbatten a whole other mess.

  11. Macheath says:
    August 30, 2023 at 8:46 am

    I like to believe that Andy knows where they hide their skeletons (worse than everything we already know about these people) and has made it clear he will not go quietly if they try anything more than performative public cancellation.

    Also, they really aren’t that different from him. They probably think what he did was not a big deal in the first place.

    • First comment says:
      August 30, 2023 at 10:25 am

      I agree. The only difference between Andrew and the rest (Charles, William) is the fact that he was careless and got “caught “.

  12. Mslove says:
    August 30, 2023 at 9:18 am

    It kinda seems like Chuck is gathering the family together in order to protect them from being attacked. Virginia Giuffre has a book coming out, and maybe she says bad thing about the whole family.

  13. Lili says:
    August 30, 2023 at 9:24 am

    I think Andrew should worry more about William than his brother because if Charles goes before him Andrew is going to be in a whole heap of pain. I reckon that is part of the writing on the wall that Meghan and Harry saw and bounced

  14. MsIam says:
    August 30, 2023 at 9:24 am

    It feels like the sharks smell blood in the water. William was already down from the football fiasco, he and Kate are being called lazy and now they have Andrew stink on them. Plus Charles keeps trying to make the Harry situation all William’s fault instead of him and William.

    • Angie says:
      August 30, 2023 at 10:23 am

      Willian and Kate have to be the stupidest couple ever. He played right into C and C hands by siding with them against his brother. Harry was the only person in that family he could trust and because of his and Kate’s jealousy he destroyed everything. Now he is the spare constantly looking over his shoulder. He has to do whatever his father and Camilla wants hence playing Miss Daisy for his uncle. Like someone said before he has the pedo stench on him. He blew it up for what? Being the most popular which the tabloid press can take back and turn on you at anytime. You father had you drive Andrew to church to prove a point. You are not the King in the family at the moment and this was to prove it. You are going to America and now there are pics of you being the chauffeur for the person closest to Ghislaine Maxwell who is currently in an American prison accused of human trafficking. What an idiot!!!

  15. Becks1 says:
    August 30, 2023 at 10:02 am

    I dont know what’s going on here. I’m inclined to side with those who think this is about Andrew knowing every skeleton in the Windsor closets, but Harry knows those skeletons too and they aren’t keep Harry in the fold, you know? Maybe Andrew knows a few things that the family knows Harry won’t touch? (for example, I think Andrew would absolutely spill about a Wales separation, Harry would never do that in my opinion.)

    But why W&K? If they want to show that Andrew truly is back in the fold, why didnt he drive with Charles? That’s what makes me think this is less a change in strategy for Charles (remember, the year Andrew didnt walk to church with the family, Charles and Andrew attended privately earlier that morning) and more about slapping down W&K. William has been vocal through his minions about being the one to push Andrew out, etc. Well now he’s the one driving him to church.

    My guess this is about punishing Harry, protecting Andrew, and putting William in his place, especially if he tried to say “no” to this as the other article indicates.

    • QuiteContrary says:
      August 30, 2023 at 12:43 pm

      I think Charles, despite all the bitching and moaning about “Spare,” does believe Harry will show some restraint about spilling the beans.

      Andrew, on the other hand, has never been a model of restraint or judgment, so he’s much more of a wild card. And Charles has to keep him in check.

      So, two birds, one stone: He punishes William and rewards Andrew with a showy ride to church.

    • Nic919 says:
      August 30, 2023 at 1:31 pm

      Andrew is a wild card who will sell secrets for money. Charles knows this and that’s why he has to keep him within the fold. William also has secrets to hide and Charles made him do this because Andrew could expose him too.

      Harry doesn’t have anything to hide but he’s unlikely to say anything about William cheating or worse.

    • SarahCS says:
      August 30, 2023 at 2:51 pm

      In spite of every narrative they spin to the media they know Harry is a good man who will not burn the institution down and they know Andrew is anyone’s for enough £££. They have to keep him close.

  16. Mary Pester says:
    August 30, 2023 at 10:09 am

    OK some facts, go look at the marriage of the mount battens and the rumours and PROOF that followed them. Then remember that Mount batten was Charlie’s (cough) mentor. Then look at Charlie’s friends, Saville, a perverted bishop, two perverted mp*s and the list goes on. Then look at HRH prince peg, there, right THERE are the main reasons the sex sicko prince is back in the fold. He KNOWS where the skeletons are buried and has a big shovel if he wants to use it. So really it’s a case of scum gonna scum

    • ChattyCath says:
      August 30, 2023 at 1:58 pm

      People forget it was a Lord’s RIGHT to have the pick of the young virgins. Andrew is being shunned for that interview and nothing else.

  17. Carrotface says:
    August 30, 2023 at 10:09 am

    I’ve been wondering if this is actually some sort of quid pro quo between Andrew and William? We know W has been coveting Royal Lodge and Andy doesn’t want to give it up. But I could see a scenario in which Andy gets W heavily involved in stunts like these in a misguided attempt to rehab Andrews image/help Andy regain some status even if he isn’t technically a working royal ever again. And in return for W’s help in the PR stunts and advocating for him with Charles, Andy eventually (with strings) agrees to vacate Royal Lodge. The optics for W are horrible but he’s also egotistical enough to believe that he “deserves” a grand property like RL (in addition to his many other homes ugh) and he’s so vain he probably doesn’t realize/care that being seen with a noted sexual predator like Andy is tremendously stupid.

    • Unblinkered says:
      August 30, 2023 at 3:08 pm

      That feels closer to the truth, Carrotface. KM has a horrible glint in her eye in the back of the car, she looks sly. Can’t begin to guess what’s going on but definitely there was something in it for W&K.

  18. Hairpin says:
    August 30, 2023 at 10:21 am

    Think it is about money and Charles actually not wanting to fund Andrew’s security anymore. Rehab him so public is okay paying his security.

    • First comment says:
      August 30, 2023 at 10:28 am

      This could be it!

      • JT says:
        August 30, 2023 at 10:38 am

        I think this is it. Everything that comes from Charles is a lie. Like Camilla being Princess Consort instead of queen, Andrew being kicked out of RL, totally missing my darling boy Harry. Charles claims he’ll keep privately paying for Andrew’s security, but he’s probably going to back out of that pretty soon.

  19. Amy Bee says:
    August 30, 2023 at 11:06 am

    I agree with Kaiser that William and Kate agreed to ride with Andrew to stick to Harry.
    Nevertheless, I still believe that William has no objection to Andrew he’s just being performative. If he did there would have been no way Andrew would have been on that private jet to Balmoral the day the Queen died.

  20. Athena says:
    August 30, 2023 at 11:11 am

    Love Edo’s expression in the first picture. Looks like he spotted “a dirty old man”

  21. Gucci says:
    August 30, 2023 at 12:17 pm

    Omg…that fat fecker PEDO!!! How revolting, and having him there as some distorted show of ‘family unity’ just shows you how arrogant any rich, famous, lionozed family/institution is. God forbid he suffer the consequences of his execrable CHOICES…

  22. Lisa says:
    August 30, 2023 at 1:48 pm

    Actually pretty sad that Harry will probably never be back to the places he grew up, when you think about it

  23. Well Wisher says:
    August 30, 2023 at 1:57 pm

    Andrew has friends in this realm, who refuse that he is capable of what he has been accused of, they deem the relationship with Epstein as one based in mostly finance strategy and investing opportunities…

    This is not necessarily my opinion, but it is widely shared among those that matter; hence they have no problems for his return in some limited capacity…

    The King is not adverse to him being around, he no longer warrants the spotlight, so he is not a threat, and his inclusion let the family seemed less dysfunctional.

    This is an option as long there is a continuing need to control all aspects of Harry’s live and his unique charisma/talent

    So there…….

  24. Mary Pester says:
    August 30, 2023 at 2:29 pm

    I hope this is spread far and wide in the US, especially now we know wank is heading there again

  25. SarahCS says:
    August 30, 2023 at 2:54 pm

    Not found guilty of any crimes. This in particular makes me so angry.

    The Met police (with their stellar record for protecting women) decided there was nothing to see here.

    The FBI do very much want to talk to him but he’s not doing that.

    He got mummy to pay up £12M to make a civil case go away.

    So I can’t argue that technically this sentence is incorrect but come on. He definitely hasn’t been found innocent. It’s like the Woody Allen scenario.

  26. Saucy&Sassy says:
    August 30, 2023 at 5:03 pm

    Does Wont understand how bad this looks in the US? He’ll be here next month. I think there will not be any press questions allowed. He’ll probably bring a little rr or two alomg with him, but he’s not going to agree to questions by US press, except under very clearly defined giuidelines.

    I hope when Virginia Giuffre’s memoir comes out that it is smash hit.

  27. Aidee Kay says:
    August 30, 2023 at 6:07 pm

    This is free advertising for Virginia Giuffre’s memoir. I hope she includes all the b.s. things the palaces told her lawyers as they were negotiating the settlement. I can’t wait.

  28. My opinion says:
    August 31, 2023 at 2:41 am

    The Windsors don’t care about now, it’s history they care about. They must rehabilitate the family perv so the history books show the perv as possibly innocent, it was all.just some girl getting money off the family scenario. Though this type of PR hurts Cain at the moment, it’s worth it to the firm. They will keep trying to clean the perv for the history books. Harry might be how they got Cain to do it but for the firm it’s all about the pervy scurvy uncle Andy.

  29. sammi says:
    September 2, 2023 at 8:54 am

    Perhaps there is another angle here? Eugenie is in contact with Meghan and Harry and they are loyal to each other. Eugenie loves her dad no matter what and if they cannot reach Harry now then perhaps they can through Eugenie?