When will the palace do something about Prince Andrew?

Read time: 4 mins

In brief…

• The King has been heckled during a cathedral visit, as Buckingham Palace and parliament continues to wrestle with what to do about Prince Andrew living in a 30-room mansion and paying minimal rent.
• The News Agents say King Charles is keen for Andrew to leave Royal Lodge, but is moving slowly at making this happen – meanwhile the blame for suspected palace complicity in Andrew’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein could now land at his feet.
• What both the Palace, and parliament, need to address first, Emily Maitlis and Jon Sopel say, is transparency with how the ongoing situation is handled.

What’s the story?

Public anger over Prince Andrew's relationship with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein has reached the king, after he was confronted by a heckler during a public appearance at Lichfield Cathedral.

"How long have you known about Andrew and Epstein?" A man yelled, as King Charles met the public.

The News Agents say it is unclear whether the heckler was an anti-monarchy activist, or a genuine reflection of public opinion around Andrew, and the King.

A new report suggests that Prince Andrew will agree to leave the 30-bedroom mansion where he lives almost rent-free on the agreement that both he, and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson – who is not a Royal – are given smaller properties to live on the Royal estate.

And by 'smaller', the properties in question include Frogmore Cottage, the former home of Harry and Meghan – once a 10-bedroom house, now converted to five, including a yoga studio.

"This is again so tone deaf that they think the public are going to buy this," says Jon Sopel.

Has King Charles inherited Royal 'complicity' in Andrew's private life?

Andrew's finances and living arrangements may seem like the priority for both Buckingham Palace and Parliament right now, but the Lichfield confrontation shows that the main point of contention for many people remains his relationship with Epstein.

"What is interesting about the heckle is that it's not about the houses, it's not about the number of bedrooms, it's not even about public money," says Emily Maitlis.

"It's about something much, much more sinister – which is whether King Charles himself was aware."

"Complicity is a really complicated area," Emily adds.

"Was there stuff the Royals knew about his friendship? Yes, I'm sure there was. Did they want it aired in public as dirty linen? Of course they didn't."

She says it's been "accepted" that Queen Elizabeth "didn't really go far enough" to deal with the Andrew problem, and has now become King Charles's fight – pressed by Prince William, who wants the issue settled before he comes to power.

"Prince Charles has moved to push this along, and clearly wants him out of Royal Lodge in Windsor, and he's trying to facilitate that," says Jon.

"He can't announce it on TV, so he's trying to do it in his own way, which probably isn't fast enough for a lot of people's tastes."

Will Parliament act if the palace moves too slowly?

Back in Westminster, it has largely been left to Ed Davey, leader of the Liberal Democrats, to lead calls for action on Prince Andrew's finances – and properties.

"By disgracing his office Prince Andrew is relinquishing the rights to special treatment at the expense of the taxpayer," Davey says – adding that Parliament is the guardian of the taxpayer.

Davey has called for a debate in parliament, and for Andrew to face a select committee. Starmer has said he "supports" this, but has made no public calls for this to happen.

"I get the impression this has the tacit approval of Downing Street, not because they think it will happen, but they think that this is another piece of pressure that can be applied to Prince Andrew," Jon says.

"If he doesn't start playing ball, he faces being hauled before a select committee to answer for himself – and that won't be a good look."

Jon adds that he does not think this will happen – but more likely (and more explosive) is the possibility of Andrew being called to testify in front of an Oversight Committee in the US, where an investigation into Epstein is already underway.

"There are now two or three members of the committee who've come out and said that Andrew needs to come and testify," Jon adds.

"If they call him and he goes, it will be electric."

What's The News Agents' take?

The palace and parliament appear focused on Andrew's living situation, while the public appear more concerned with the disgraced Royal's relationship with a sex-trafficker and paedophile.

Whichever issue is in question, more honesty is needed in explaining what's going on to taxpayers.

"What you want is a bit of transparency at the moment, and everything is so opaque," says Jon Sopel.

"It's all nods and winks behind closed doors, whispers in ears, and a bit of pressure being applied here and there – but no transparency."

Listen to the latest episode of The News Agents.