There are eleventy billion stories about Prince Andrew out right now, all about how he was chummy with a Chinese spy and he was selling access to the Windsors and government officials. No one knows how much money Andrew got from this Chinese spy or the extent of Andrew’s relationship with the spy. Weirdly, Buckingham Palace is doing the most to center King Charles in the story. So many of this weekend’s articles came directly from BP courtiers who were spilling tea about how Charles feels about Andrew’s controversy. Like this:

The King is understood to be furious that Prince Andrew has plunged the monarchy into a major scandal – with his relationship with an alleged Chinese spy tarnishing the reputation of the entire Royal Family. A source, however, said that, despite his frustration with the Duke of York, Charles has accepted that he can’t ‘divorce or sack’ his younger brother, as ‘there will always be a bond of blood’.

It came as this newspaper learnt that, astonishingly, the Palace is unable to rule out that the Duke is using money from Chinese donors to support his stay in the 30-room Royal Lodge in Windsor Park. Officials have concluded they have no authority or legal right to probe Andrew’s financial affairs and must simply rely on his word that his income is from legitimate sources.

‘The Palace has behaved the best it possibly can with a difficult relation,’ the source said last night. ‘Every sanction that can be imposed has been, but you can’t divorce or sack your brother from being your brother. There will always be a bond of blood and all families often have difficult relatives to deal with. Of course it is understood that it looks bad for the entire family but that is because of one individual.’

[From The Daily Mail]

Tell me more about the bond of blood and the king’s refusal to divorce himself from a blood relative, when just days earlier, the same king was ensuring that everyone knew that he did not invite his son Prince Harry to Christmas. A royal source told Richard Eden at the Mail: “Relations between Harry and his family are not sufficiently close for an invitation to be sent. It’s very sad that things are that bad. We know that Harry wants to mend fences, but there is an awfully long way to go.” All because Harry married a Black woman, wrote a bestseller and never came crawling back, divorced and broke. But when Andrew is doing business with a Chinese spy, suddenly blood is thicker.

Meanwhile, sources now claim that Andrew is considering a move – to Abu Dhabi. Princess Beatrice was recently in Abu Dhabi and now sources are saying that her visit was “cover” and Andrew is “looking at moving there permanently. He’s desperately trying to get something going to make some money.” Spain’s King Juan Carlos moved to Abu Dhabi when he was being investigated for all of his money laundering and fraud. I don’t think Andrew will do the same, but it’s interesting that someone is throwing this narrative out there.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.