Queen Elizabeth Cancels Prince Andrew's Birthday Party After His Disastrous Interview
Between the reported royal feud between Prince Harry and Prince William and the controversy surrounding Prince Andrew, it's safe to say the royal family has encountered a rough patch as of late. And unfortunately things have just gotten worse for them. After the Prince Andrew interview -- which was very ill-received -- the Queen decided to both cancel her youngest son's upcoming 60th birthday party, as well as strip him of his royal duties for the time being.
After Prince Andrew gave a reported unauthorized interview with 'BBC Newsnight' discussing his friendship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the duke has stepped down from royal duties.
In addition to vehemently denying that he ever had a sexual relationship with Virginia Roberts (who's accusing him of soliciting sex from her when she was underage), Prince Andrew said during the interview that his friendship with Epstein "let the side down."
According to the Sunday Times, the royal family was a bit taken a back by the Duke of York's interview -- particularly Queen Elizabeth. "The queen did not give her approval. The fact that notion has somehow been put about has aggrieved people in the [royal] households," a royal source said.
The insider also revealed, "Andrew had a son-to-mother conversation, letting her know that he was planning to address the controversy, but without going into any details. ... What should have happened was the full palace process."
Given that the "full palace process" didn't take place (and the interview was a bit of a disaster), the Queen wants Prince Andrew to lie low for a bit.
In February of 2020, the queen was set to throw her son a 60th birthday party, celebrating both his birthday as well as the charities he's supported over the years. Instead, though, Queen Elizabeth "is understood to be intending to hold only a small family dinner."
Good call.
Additionally, last week the prince revealed that his mother agreed to having him take a step back from his royal duties for the time being. In a statement, Prince Andrew said:
"It has become clear to me over the last few days that the circumstances relating to my former association with Jeffrey Epstein has become a major disruption to my family’s work and the valuable work going on in the many organizations and charities that I am proud to support. Therefore, I have asked Her Majesty if I may step back from public duties for the foreseeable future, and she has given her permission."
In other words, it's not a good look for Andrew to be carrying out work on behalf of the royal family right now.
And evidently, the Queen wasn't the only person who wanted Prince Andrew to step down -- Prince William had a heavy hand in the decision as well.
According to the Times of London, Prince William advocated dismissing Prince Andrew from royal duties -- and the decision was an easy one, given that Wills "is not a huge fan of his Uncle Andrew."
Interesting.
According to People, the palace's move to separate themselves from Andrew has been "swift and ruthless."
Royal historian Robert Lacey, author of The Crown: The Official Companion Vol. II, said that it's only a matter of time before it's revealed that Prince Andrew has been stripped of his royal duties forever. "His entire public existence has been wiped out by his own behavior," Lacey told People, adding that the inevitable decision "shows that the royals can move very swiftly and very ruthlessly" -- even with members of their own family.
Looks like even members of the royal family aren't untouchable.
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