Andrew is Blaming Kate Middleton as the Quiet Architect Behind His Royal Exile
Of the lengthy list of individuals that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor believes have wronged him, one name looms larger than most, and it's not his brother. According to palace insiders, the former Duke of York has settled upon an unlikely figure as the chief villain in his personal downfall, Catherine, Princess of Wales. In Mountbatten-Windsor’s telling of recent years, Kate Middleton is the force, operating just out of sight and steadily tightening the circle around him.
People close to him describe an obsession that has set in concrete. "Andrew has become completely obsessed with Kate," says one source, per IB Times. "He just keeps going on about how she's a 'silent assassin' who's been quietly pulling the strings and whipping William into a frenzy about him." In his mind, the campaign against him was not simply institutional, or inevitable, it was personal, calculated, and led from within the family.
The anger seems to be one-way traffic, but this has not lessened it in the least. And it is believed that Mountbatten-Windsor feels that Prince William, now firmly in line to lead the monarchy itself, is “controlled” by his wife. He is said to complain that Kate has “whispered in his ear” to persuade William to distance himself from his uncle in the interests of earning the trust of the British people.
For someone who is familiar with her public image, as a matter of fact, the picture that Mountbatten-Windsor paints of her is very different from reality. However, this is exactly what causes his ire. “He’s convinced himself that she is much more powerful than she shows,” continues the source. “In his head, Kate is now the perfect villain.” While others see consistency and restraint, Andrew sees calculation.
Geography is only exacerbating this tension. The Prince and Princess of Wales, both now 43, just moved into Forest Lodge, which is intended to be their permanent residence. However, they find themselves much too close to Mountbatten-Windsor’s current abode, known as Royal Lodge, close enough that social distancing is impossible. Just before the rumors of Andrew being evicted began circulating, a source said, “Catherine shudders at the thought of living so close to Royal Lodge while Prince Andrew is still in there,” suggesting they may have pushed hard for a resolution.
In Mountbatten-Windsor’s case, the feeling of being betrayed becomes tinged by memory. There is, or at least there has been, the insider claims, a point when everything was hunky-dory, or rather friendly. “What makes it sting even more for Mountbatten-Windsor is that they used to be on perfectly good terms,” an insider explains. “Now she won’t give him the time of day…He’s vowing to get back at her.” He feels that instead of being indifferent, Middleton is ignoring him and that he is finding it difficult to deal with this feeling of exclusion.
Middleton, too, seems to be unfazed by the tempest building in the former prince’s mind. "It's very awkward for her, so she's avoiding Mountbatten-Windsor and telling everyone that she's glad to have him out of her hair," a source says. "Andrew is so narcissistic that he can't understand why she would want to get away from him."