The Royal Family has been warned that it risks harming its public standing if it appears to favour Andrew Mountbatten Windsor over Prince Harry, as fresh scrutiny falls on the monarchy’s handling of both men amid Andrew’s historic unpopularity and Harry’s ongoing estrangement, with recent polling showing Andrew’s approval rating in the UK at just three percent following renewed controversy over his and Sarah Ferguson’s past connections to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, connections that resurfaced after the release of Virginia Giuffre’s posthumous memoir “Nobody’s Girl” and a joint biography of Andrew and Ferguson, even as both have denied wrongdoing and Andrew has repeatedly rejected the allegations against him.
In response to mounting criticism, King Charles stripped his younger brother of his royal titles and styles and moved to distance the monarchy from him, a decision welcomed by author Andrew Lownie, who said, “I think they are distancing themselves from Andrew quite rightly, they don’t want further reputational damage to the monarchy from being linked to him… Particularly the comments about the victims, I welcome it. I think it shows the King has acted ruthlessly,” as Andrew prepares to leave Royal Lodge for a new residence on the Sandringham Estate, described by Lownie as a “very neat solution,” while Ferguson is expected to seek her own home in the Windsor area.
However, royal historian Dr Tessa Dunlop has cautioned that the contrasting treatment of Andrew and Harry could create “challenging optics,” writing that “Going forward, the House of Windsor cannot be seen to favour Andrew over not-so-bad Harry,” particularly as Andrew is rehoused within the royal estate while Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, were asked to vacate Frogmore Cottage after the publication of Harry’s memoir Spare, in which he noted that Andrew retained police security despite scandal, writing, “Despite being involved in an embarrassing scandal, accused of having sexually abused a young woman, nobody had suggested removing his security… People may have a lot of grievances towards us, but sexual offences weren’t one of them,” as Harry and Meghan are expected to return to the UK next year for Invictus Games-related engagements in Birmingham, with Harry reportedly hopeful that his father might attend.