Bye, bitch? Certain royal insiders are saying that alleged rapist and rumored sex pest Prince Andrew is getting the boot from his Buckingham Palace apartments now that his older brother Charles is in charge and mummy is no longer available to protect him. The initial report published in the Sun on Wednesday, and now Entertainment Tonight’s sources agree: The King has revoked Andrew’s access to the “plush suite of rooms” the Duke of York used as his London HQ. About time if true, but that is not what makes this development notable. Real heads will of course recognize Prince Andrew’s palace accommodations as the place where he kept his horrible teddy-bear collection.
The move is arguably overdue, though. Prince Andrew relinquished his royal duties in 2019 after spectacularly bungling a BBC interview about his ties to Jeffrey Epstein and convicted sex offender Ghislaine Maxwell. At the time, Virginia Roberts Giuffre — among the most vocal women to have been trafficked by Epstein — had not yet sued the royal for allegedly having sexually assaulted her when she was 17, but because she had already gone public with her account and because a famous photo placed Andrew and Giuffre together, the prince attempted to provide an alibi. The effort exploded in his face, and so he “voluntarily” stepped down (or was pushed, by his mother the queen no less, as per various reports) shortly thereafter.
According to the Sun, Andrew lost his office last year, but held onto the sleeping quarters until now — presumably because as his mother’s favorite, he retained some privileges even amid all the public disgrace. (The queen, for example, is believed to have paid some portion of her second son’s eight-figure settlement with Giuffre; in December, the Telegraph reported that Charles might pay for his brother’s security, something he apparently declined to do for Prince Harry.) Andrew’s main residence remains the royal lodge at Windsor, where he lives with his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson. He is holding on to that for now, but if the Sun is to be believed, he may not be holding on to his approximately 72 teddies. Buckingham Palace is, and has been, undergoing extensive renovations, and according to the tabloid, all of Andrew’s “treasured possessions have been shifted out” while that happens. What’s more, the Sun’s sources say “they will never return now his older brother Charles is king.” About time for that, too.
