Just how much more shame and scandal will Prince Andrew bring to the monarchy? His cancer-stricken brother, King Charles III, can only take so much, and reports about his association with a Chinese spy have allegedly only set the royals in crisis mode ahead of the Christmas festivities.
The fallout of his friendship with the late convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein should have already been lesson enough for the Duke of York on the pitfalls of attracting the wrong crowd. It only brought so much humiliation that he had to retreat from public life in 2019. Then he had to deal with a sexual abuse case brought on by one of Epstein’s victims, which he ultimately settled out of court.
Although his legal team clarified that the settlement doesn’t necessarily mean an admission of guilt, it cost Andrew his royal patronages and military titles, and, worse, the Royal Family money. And if these scandals weren’t troubling enough already, he’s once again landed in hot water by being a “close confidante” to businessman Yang Tengbo, an alleged Chinese spy who’s deemed a security risk by the U.K. government. Andrew’s team has since said that he has “ceased all contact” with Tengbo after “concerns were raised.” But the damage to his and the Royals’ reputations has already been done.
“The drama and embarrassment with Andrew just never seem to end,” an insider told InTouch Weekly adding that the Duke of York “is an absolute disaster.” However, “no one can very well contain him. He seems to have a knack for humiliating himself and the royals in the process.”
“Andrew was very quick to distance himself as soon as he learned about the dodgy spy connection, but the feeling at the palace is that he ought not to have even been in that position, that he ought to have done better due diligence,” the source added and noted that while the Duke has “not done anything technically wrong,” it still “doesn’t take away from the fact that he’s once again at the center of an unsavory scandal.”
“If it were anyone else in the family, they might get a bit of sympathy, but Andrew has put his foot in it so many times,” the insider claimed.
Charles is said to be “at the end of his rope” with all the drama surrounding his brother. The source claimed that the Duke of York has become “a walking PR nightmare” and has left “people in The Firm just wringing their hands, wondering how much more leniency or tolerance that they can possibly show Andrew before they just fling him out on his ear.”
Andrew has refused to leave the Royal Lodge per Charles’ order and instead managed to suspiciously acquire the funds that would allow him to keep living in the mansion. “The issue is that he’s clearly not going anywhere, so he’s like this thousand-pound elephant in the room,” the insider added.
That’s not to say that he hasn’t considered moving to another country to avoid the media’s intrusion into his private life. A long-time friend of Andrew claimed he “is sick and tired of being painted as a pariah in the British media and is seriously contemplating a move to the United Arab Emirates or Bahrain.” But as for his relationship with Charles, the unnamed pal “can’t see the king wanting to walk to church (for Christmas in Sandringham) with someone who was friends with a Chinese spy.” We can image the monarch would be the first to celebrate if and when his unruly brother finally got that one-way plane ticket to the Middle East.
Published: Dec 23, 2024 06:55 am