Why is this photo such a headache for King Charles? explains Richard Eden
Why IS this photo of Andrew such a headache for King Charles? And what does Princess Anne have to do with it? Richard Eden from The Mail explains…
If a picture is worth a thousand words, recent photos showing Prince Edward enjoying a leisurely horseback ride alongside his older brother Prince Andrew tell us a lot.
According to the Mail’s Richard Eden, it is a show of solidarity from the Duke of Edinburgh to his disgraced older brother as he fights to keep his royal house – a battle in which his sister, The Princess Royal, is also said to have her support. attested to her younger sibling.
Prince Edward’s agreement to ride with Prince Andrew – and be seen – is a show of support, suggests Richard Eden
Princess Anne, seen here at Trooping the Color, is a figure of increasing importance within the royal family. But she too would support her brother Prince Andrew on whether or not he should leave Royal Lodge
The Mail’s diary editor Richard Eden told Palace Confidential that the family’s support for Prince Andrew will make it difficult for older brother King Charles to force him out of the Royal Lodge.
Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park has been home to Prince Andrew for two decades. It used to be the home of his grandmother, the late Queen Mother
The alliance is a headache for King Charles, who reportedly wants the duke to leave Royal Lodge, the 30-room property he shares with his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, and move into Frogmore Cottage, the smaller house formerly owned by Sussexes. was inhabited.
Prince Andrew is a firm believer that he should have the right to stay permanently in his home for 20 years – a view shared by his siblings, according to Richard Eden, and underlined by Prince Edward’s decision to join his 63-year-old brother to be pictured. last week at Windsor Great Park ahead of the weekend’s Trooping the Color ceremony.
Speaking to Palace Confidential, he said: “What’s important is they knew they were going to be photographed – they often are when they’re in this public place, and I think it’s Edward showing his solidarity with his brother ‘, he says. . “We know that Princess Anne, his sister, is also sympathetic to Andrew, so to me it really illustrates the big problem the King would have if he tried to force something on Andrew.”
The king’s situation is not made any better, Eden believes, by the fact that Charles has to flex his muscles against a sibling he grew up next to.
“It’s such a different situation from Queen Elizabeth — she was the mother who could tell the kids to do something, and they should protect that,” he says. “If it’s one sibling against the other, it’s a completely different dynamic.”
Royal Lodge is due south of Windsor Castle and is in Windsor Great Park rather than its own estate
A happy family snap taken last year for Christmas. Although Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie now have families of their own, they would consider Royal Lodge “home.”
There seems little doubt that the situation around Royal Lodge is reaching a critical point: last week it was reported that Andrew refused to move even while roof repairs took place for fear he would be locked out and unable to return.
“It’s a sad reflection of how things are and how precarious the situation is regarding Andrew’s housing,” as Eden puts it. “I cannot believe that relations between Prince Andrew and his brother King Charles are so bad that he is a little afraid that Charles will immediately call in the workmen to get rid of him.”