Andrew's Recent Moves Could Cost Him the One Relationship He Can't Afford to Lose
While Andrew’s public standing has taken a brutal blow, his daughters remain his final link to royal life ― and even that’s at risk if he isn't careful.
Over the last few months, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has lost more than he could ever imagine. Firstly, he was stripped of his dukedom, then his remaining titles and honors, and lastly, he was asked to surrender the lease of Royal Lodge, a Grade II-listed property he called home for the last two decades. While his public standing has suffered a brutal blow, some suggest he still has that one thing that truly matters to him: his daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie. Despite the controversies surrounding the disgraced royal’s ties with late financier Jeffrey Epstein, his daughters have continued to include him in their lives, especially Beatrice, who even invited him to her daughter Athena’s christening. But, as per one royal reporter, he might ruin that bond if he’s not careful.
Writing for the Express, royal reporter Jasmine Carey suggests that if the former Duke does not play his cards right, then his daughters could be next on his ‘to-lose’ list. She claimed that Mountbatten-Windsor looks at Beatrice and Eugenie as his last possible link to his royal standing, also observing that just recently a royal expert had suggested that the disgraced royal had pressured the Princesses to spend the annual Christmas at Sandringham just so they could ‘keep tabs’ on the happenings and report them back to him. Though these claims remain unconfirmed at the moment, if true, they could be quite ‘damaging.’ The reporter further explained that if he uses Beatrice and Eugenie as a ‘listening ear’ for his own selfish motives, then they might break all ties with him.
The same was echoed by royal experts Matt Wilkinson, Charles Rae, and Ingrid Seward in The Sun’s Royal Exclusive show as well. The three talked about the Mountbatten-Windsor's embattled estate while also showcasing their fascination when Beatrice and Eugenie made an appearance during the annual church walk, contradicting earlier reports that suggested otherwise. Seward suggested that the York sisters had no choice but to attend the event due to their father. “Andrew said to them, You have to go. Because he wants to keep a foot in. A, he wants to know what's going on. B, he'd want to know what people were saying about him,” she noted. Seward referred to the sisters as Mountbatten-Windsor’s ‘passports,’ adding, “And they might have said, 'Oh, Papa, we want to be with you.' And he'd said, 'No, I want you to go there.'"
Rae also agreed with Seward’s take on the matter, adding that the former Prince must have planned to ‘keep an eye’ on what the royals are talking about him. "He's not invited, so he's not at the table anymore. So one of the first things that would have happened when they got back would be Andrew would be on the phone saying, right, who said what?" he said. On the other hand, Wilkinson had a different take and argued that by smiling and joining the King instead of their parents, the sisters showcased their loyalty to the Crown amid the Andrew-Epstein controversy.
Even King Charles has been highly supportive of his nieces, who remain blameless in their parents' scandals. In her Express write-up, Carey also suggested that "the King seems to still have his nieces’ backs, with this not set to change anytime soon." Even royal photographer Arthur Edwards, who has known Beatrice and Eugenie for years, highlighted in his essay for The Sun that “the sins of the father are not the sins of the child.”
