Many members of the Royal Family are magnets for drama. But right now, none are drawing quite as much unwanted attention as Prince Andrew.
As the third of Queen Elizabeth’s children, Prince Andrew was born into a world of immense luxury and fame. And even though he never looked likely to claim the throne, he seemed to have a bright future ahead of him.
That all came to an end amid allegations in 2019 that Andrew was friends with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and that he sexually assaulted American Virginia Giuffre when she was 17. In August 2021, Andrew faced a civil lawsuit from his accuser, now 38, which was ultimately settled on Feb. 15, 2022 (via CNN). Still, ahead of the settlement and facing a possible trial, Andrew was stripped of his royal patronages and honorary military titles.
The decision to remove those titles came from Queen Elizabeth, but many couldn’t help but look toward Prince William. Since he is the future King of England, how does he actually feel about his uncle Prince Andrew? We’ve got the full breakdown below.
Andrew was second-in-line to the throne before William was born
Even before the sex abuse scandals and allegations, it seemed impossible that Andrew would ever become the King of England in recent years. But four decades ago, it was much more likely.
Andrew is the Queen’s third child, after Prince Charles and Princess Anne. But he was originally second in line for the throne thanks to older succession laws that favored male heirs over female heirs.
However, Andrew’s close position to the throne changed in 1982 when Prince William was born to Prince Charles and Princess Diana. Prince Charles, destined to become king, will pass the title and its responsibilities to William when he dies. It’s important to remember this because, politically speaking, William has been Andrew’s enemy from the moment he was born!
Andrew’s place in line to the throne has only gotten further away in time. He is currently ninth in line after William, his three children (George, Charlotte, and Louis), his brother Harry, and Harry’s two children (Archie and Lilibet).
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Andrew reportedly made a power play when Diana died
Whatever William thinks of Andrew, reportedly Charles is not a fan. As far as we know, the friction between Andrew and Charles began in 1997 when the unthinkable happened: Princess Diana died, leaving Prince William and Prince Harry without a mother. This triggered a number of headlines and behind-the-scenes events, but the weirdest thing was probably Andrew’s power play.
Before Diana died, public faith in Charles as a the future king declined as details of his affair with Camilla Parker Bowles came to light. As public support for the deceased Diana rose, public support for the man who cheated on her and functionally abandoned their marriage was at an all-time low.
This is where Andrew comes in. What would happen if Queen Elizabeth died? If Charles declined the throne and gave it immediately to William, there would be a potential problem: William was only 15 at the time. He couldn’t rule when he was underage.
According to royal expert Nigel Cawthorne (via Daily Beast), Andrew reportedly lobbied to become William’s regent, meaning he would rule in William’s stead until the young man came of age.
“Andrew tried to push Charles out of the way during the Diana scandal,” Cawthorne claims. “As Charles’ popularity plummeted, Andrew lobbied the palace to install him as a regent for William. That has created friction between them which persists to this day.”
So, we know that Charles doesn’t like Andrew. But what does William think?
William is not a fan of Andrew
William may or may not have liked Andrew before Diana died. But to hear Cawthorne tell it, William began to dislike his uncle soon afterward. And recent years have not softened that opinion one bit!
Back in 2019, a source close to the Royal Family told the Daily Mail that William played a major role in removing Andrew from his senior royal responsibilities in the wake of the Epstein scandal. As the source put it, “William is becoming more and more involved in decisions about the institution [monarchy] and he’s not a huge fan of his uncle Andrew.”
Taking away some of Andrew’s royal responsibilities was already a slap in the face. But last month, Andrew’s military and HRH titles were stripped away. Us Weekly reports that, once again, William played a major role in this decision against Andrew. “William, in fact, was very involved in this decision, and it’s been said that he met with the queen in person ahead of their announcement that came out last week.”
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The writing on the wall
Looking at William’s actions against Andrew, you might be tempted to chalk this up to personal dislike. But according to some who are close to Prince William, the truth is a bit simpler: this is all business.
A close friend to William told The Times of London that the future king is always aware of how the words and actions of other royals can affect (or even threaten) the monarchy. That source says William is “triggered” whenever he thinks another royal is putting themselves ahead of the monarchy.
“Any suggestion that there isn’t gratitude for the institution, anything that could lead anyone in the public to think that senior members of the royal family aren’t grateful for their position, [William thinks] is really dangerous.”
It makes sense, then, that William would dislike Andrew so much. In addition to allegedly abusing his royal privileges, the ongoing scandal with Andrew serves only to make the Royal Family look worse.
We don’t talk about Andrew
With public perception of the monarchy on the line, William is in an interesting place relative to Andrew. That’s because if he openly says anything against his uncle, then he could make the scandal (and therefore, the perception of the Royal Family) even worse.
William has seemingly found a solution. While the rest of us can’t stop singing “we don’t talk about Bruno,” William has seemingly adopted the position that “we don’t talk about Andrew.”
The Daily Mail reports that in January, while making an appearance at the Foundling Museum in London, a reporter asked William point-blank, “Your Royal Highness, could I just ask, do you support Prince Andrew?” At first, William said that he didn’t hear the question. When the reporter repeated the question, William simply walked away.
Chances are the reporter was disappointed they didn’t get a soundbite of how William really feels about his uncle. But clearly, William talking about the Andrew situation is off the table.
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