AS I SEE IT
BY MARIANNE HERON
Covering Andrew, Duke of York, and his marriage to Sarah Ferguson in Westminster Abbey I couldn’t have imagined how things would turn out. Yet 40 years later there was Andrew splashed across front pages on February 19, his 66thbirthday, prone in the back of a police car, following his arrest and 11 hours of interrogation by Thames police on suspicion of misconduct in public office.
The latest step in the former prince’s spiral into disgrace, where the Epstein files point to his leaking of confidential information to the financier about investment opportunities in Afghanistan while acting as British Government Trade representative, is shocking. But it can hardly have come as a shock to insiders in the British establishment or to the immediate Royal Family.
How could the descent from royal to rogue happen and why was it allowed to continue for so long? When Andrew left the Royal Navy in 2001 after 22 years’ service, having seen action in the Falklands, he was very much the poor relative. His income was about a quarter of a million compared with Prince Charles’ income of £20m. from the Duchy of Lancaster alone. Plenty, you might say, but not enough for the lifestyle the Yorks were after, rubbing shoulders with celebs and the super-rich.
The Duke’s new post as special representative for trade and investment in 2001 allowed plenty of opportunities for self-enrichment from bribes to backhanders, to commission on deals which may be practice – dubious practice – if you are a private business individual. I
f you are Britain’s representative and a prince, however, they amount at very least to misconduct, possible corruption and to letting the side down. Prince Charles’ premonition that Andrew’s appointment was a disaster waiting to happen became all too true.
The Prince, had contacts and partnerships with shady characters as Andrew Lownie reveals in his devastating book on the Yorks, ‘Entitled’. The Prince was known as HBH His Buffoon Highness by diplomats, for his habit of doing exactly the opposite of what his brief required.
Where, you might ask was the oversight in all this? British Trade Missions are generally run in conjunction with the Department of Business and Trade and the Diplomatic Service. There are aides, secretaries, security agents, (all admittedly bound by non-disclosure contracts), never mind covert agencies, from MI6, the overseas secret service, to the CIA and the FBI, who air bound to be in the know. The Duke’s friendship with Jeffrey Epstein continued for two years after the financier was convicted for soliciting prostitution with a minor in 2008. Andrew stepped down from his post in 2011 after allegations that underage Virginia Guider was forced to have sex with him.
It wasn’t until 2022 that the Palace began damage limitation, removing Andrew’s military titles and patronage, after Guiffre sued him for sexual assault in 2021.Not until 2025 was he stripped of his royal titles after further leaks about the Epstein connection, three years after his £12m. settlement with Guiffre.
The Monarchy have survived many crises from the abdication of Edward VIII, the death of Princess Diana and the defection of Harry. But can it survive this one? With only half the more than three million Epstein files released, the investigation into Andrew’s activities just beginning, former US Ambassador Mandelson being investigated for giving Epstein information and the police now questioning Andrew’s aides, the scandals are set to run and run.
Times have changed, Queen Elizabeth is no longer there to provide the protective cloak of loyalty and the mystique surrounding the royals has long gone. Younger generations no longer hold such regard for the British class system, with the Monarchy at its apex.
How much tolerance now is there for denial, for protection of privilege, for failure to take action, then taking it far too late and for lack of accountability? Where one set of morals applies to the general population and not to the supposed ‘higher-ups.’ There is a parallel between what has happened and the erosion of belief here in the Catholic Church, where lack of accountability, cover ups and lies over child abuse have eroded trust in a once revered institution.
The toppling of the Monarchy won’t be sudden but it may be eroded gradually by scandal until it loses its hold.
Ironic if Andrew, the most entitled of royals, causes its downfall.
