It’s been made very clear that Prince Andrew no longer has a future as an official working member of the Royal Family, but it seems he won’t give up on trying to make a royal return, even if it upsets his long-suffering daughters.
In 2019, Andrew’s official duties were suspended for the “foreseeable future”, due to his association with convicted child sex traffickers Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. But according to Closer’s royal insider, he’s hoping that now his elder brother Charles is King, that may change and he is pleading with him for a comeback – which is causing even more pain and embarrassment for Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie.
The insider says, “Both of them wish their dad would get it into his head that he needs to reinvent himself far, far away from the royal circle and stop hoping for a miracle that will never come. Of course they still love him, and their mum Sarah continues to rally round and remind everyone why they need to go easy on Andrew for the sake of his health as well as family loyalty. But for the girls it’s very upsetting and kind of humiliating. If he would just let it go and move somewhere remote it wouldn’t be so bad, but he won’t hear of it. It makes their lives so much harder, even though he’ll always be their dad.”
Andrew, 62, was always regarded as the Queen’s “favourite son”, but after his association with the Epstein scandal, she felt she could no longer let him be a working royal. He was stripped of military titles and banned from performing public duties. Andrew is said to still be very hurt by other members of his family not supporting him and because he hasn’t been found guilty of anything, feels he should be given a second chance. He thought things would change after the Queen’s death in September but so far nothing has. Last year, Andrew settled out of court after Virginia Giuffre accused him of "sexual assault and intentional infliction of emotional distress”, but he has always denied any wrongdoing.
The insider continues, “It’s no secret that King Charles has no interest or intention whatsoever to bring Andrew back into the fold, it would be a PR disaster for the royals and as far as almost everyone inside The Firm is concerned, it’s absolutely unthinkable and utterly undeserved. The facts are that he dragged the reputation of the entire monarchy through the gutter via his vile associations with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell and, on top of much of his other behaviour throughout the years, has been anything but becoming of a senior royal. It infuriated Charles that Andrew brought so much stress and turmoil to his parents, too, at a time of their lives when they needed peace and serenity – not toxicity and, to top it off, having to bail him out financially when he paid off his accuser. Andrew can plead all he likes, there’s absolutely no coming back.”
Initially, both Beatrice, 34, and Eugenie, 32 – who are both married and have children of their own – were keen for their dad to have a bigger role. But as time has gone on, they understand this can’t happen and feel his refusal to accept that is having a huge impact on their lives. And the insider says that though they want their dad to be happy and are pleased a reunion between him and their mum, The Duchess of York, could be on the cards, they just want it all to happen behind closed doors so everyone can get on with their lives.
The source says, “For Beatrice and Eugenie, it’s still a huge embarrassment that their father ended up in this position. They’ve endured so much and even now it’s been resolved legally there’s an acute awareness that people more or less hold their noses at the mere mention or sight of their dad. That’s very tough for them, they don’t dispute that he made bad choices but to see him pilloried and ostracised from civilised circles feels like a punishment too far.
“They want him to retain his dignity and forge ahead with a new life, away from his brother and other members of The Firm who will never accept he’s fit to serve as a royal again. They love their father deeply but seeing him suffer and plead like this just breaks their hearts. He is still capable of having a good life with their mother. But Andrew is such a proud man, it burns away at his soul that he’s lost that ability to serve. He’s having a horrible time behind closed doors and effectively cowering from the world.”