Rather like a monarchical relay race, it seems Prince Andrew has passed the baton of royal scandal to his elder brother. Having finally settled the claims against the Duke of York levelled by Virginia Giuffre, Buckingham Palace might have thought the royal family could catch their breath, get back to normal and start judging the entries for the platinum jubilee cake competition.
The palace cannot yet, as the phrase goes, “move on” from a deeply damaging chapter, however.
The news that the Metropolitan Police are to investigate allegations of “cash for honours” connected to The Prince’s Foundation, Prince Charles’ charity, merely adds to the sense of an institution in perpetual crisis. As the Met has stated, their inquiries will be related to media reports alleging offers of help were made to secure honours and citizenship for a Saudi Arabian national.
Prince Charles’ office states that he had “no knowledge of the alleged offer of honours or British citizenship on the basis of donation to his charities”. Ominously, that statement is not necessarily the same as a denial that such potential crimes took place.
So the celebrations marking the Queen’s remarkable record of service are not off to a flying start. From the point of view of the palace, it is a moment of some jeopardy, though of course the House of Windsor has been through worse. In fact, and much as the palace would wish it otherwise, the future of Prince Andrew is still a matter of intense public concern.
Even had he been entirely exonerated by his out-of-court settlement – and that is far from the case – there would still be disquiet about his alleged past behaviour. He was not vindicated, and has become an object of renewed scorn and ridicule. Notwithstanding the confidentiality clauses which, presumably, form an integral part of the provisional agreement with Ms Giuffre, the public have a right to know who is footing the bill for this episode, and how much it has all cost – much of it destined for the bank accounts belonging to expensive lawyers.
It is said that some will come from the sale of a Swiss chalet belonging to the Prince, and the rest from the Queen’s “personal” wealth, which is considerable. That has raised, in turn, uncomfortable questions about how the wealth of the head of state can be said to be truly “private” in any case, since so much of it is inextricably linked to “the crown” as the embodiment of the British state and sovereignty, and thus ultimately the property of the people. Arguably, it is very largely taxpayers’ money, no matter what label is put on it or how it is channelled.
In the end, the monarchy only exists with the consent of the people, and if the people are unhappy with what has been happening with what looks to be their money, then that is a problem. The first step in the House of Windsor continuing to command the respect of the public is a full accounting of the Giuffre settlement.
The second necessary step is formal clarification that the Duke of York’s public role will be minimal and confined to purely family occasions, such as the forthcoming memorial service for his father. There may be some lingering hopes in the mind of Prince Andrew that he can somehow now be rehabilitated. There is even some rumour that he might do some charity work for the victims of sex traffickers. That would hardly be appropriate, and it suggests that the scale of the scandal may not yet have fully sunk into the prince’s consciousness.
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Publicly disgraced figures can stage a comeback, but it requires sincere contrition, an acknowledgement of what went wrong, and at least some responsibility to be taken. Put bluntly, that is not going to happen for the prince if he maintains that he never met Ms Giuffre, and he sticks to his bizarre defence lines about not being able to sweat and being in the Pizza Express in Woking and nobody noticing his presence. It is too serious a matter.
Such contrition and responsibility on the part of Prince Andrew has so far not been forthcoming, so it seems unlikely the prince will be out and about much in the years ahead. A comfortable internal exile awaits him and besides, the palace has this fresh, albeit very different, crisis to contend with, connected to The Prince’s Foundation and possible breaches of the law prohibiting sale of honours.
After that will come the book reportedly being readied for publication by Prince Harry. It looks like 2022 may turn out to be another annus horribilis.
The one thing the House of Windsor has going for it is the popularity of the Queen herself, who has carried the monarchy through too many turbulent episodes in recent decades. Her conduct during the pandemic and the death of Prince Philip was a model of dignified and inspiring leadership. However, the institution, including its role at the head of the Commonwealth, cannot rely on the prestige of Elizabeth II indefinitely.
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