'Tears' for Prince Andrew: King Charles Is 'Afraid' for Black Sheep Duke's Mental Health

King Charles III is afraid for Prince Andrew's mental health due to the roller-coaster four years the Duke of York has experienced.

"[King Charles] was in tears because he was afraid for Andrew's mental health. Charles leads with his head and his heart. William is colder. He wants the job done, and he has no problem with casualties along the way," Prince Harry and Meghan Markle biographer Omid Scobie wrote in his new book, Endgame.

The revelations come after years of scandal, ever since the disgraced Duke of York sat down to be interviewed by Emily Maithis of BBC's Newsnight in November 2019. This led to sexual assault accusations by Virginia Roberts and an intense focus on his past relationship with deceased pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

Queen Elizabeth II responded by removing certain military honors from her son and ultimately banishing him from representing the royal family in a public capacity. Scobie alleges that it may have been William who had the late Queen's ear at that time, which persuaded her to denounce her son's alleged actions apart from her usual method of not responding.

However, once Charles acceded to the throne after Elizabeth II's death in September 2022, the King took what some characterize as a less than serious approach to the Andrew situation.

"Andrew has taken his punishment, withdrawn from public life, and done whatever has been asked of him. He knows he has damaged the monarchy. So have Harry and Meghan," a friend of the disgraced Duke told an outlet in October.

"If you were Charles, would you rather have a problem that looks like Harry and Meghan or a problem that looks like Andrew?" the source added. "The difference is [Andrew] deeply regrets it, and it was not intentional, whereas Harry and Meghan deliberately set out to cause as much damage to Charles and Camilla as they could to sell books and TV shows. That's an entirely different matter."

A friend of Charles III's further observed how "the extent to which the king has publicly made it clear Andrew is still part of the family has caught some people by surprise. But ultimately, he has the interests of the monarchy at heart, and that means a united family, whatever its problems. Hopefully, that message is getting through to Harry and Meghan."

In essence, the 14 months of the King's reign so far has been described by some analysts as a "trade-off" in the news cycle between Sussex and Prince Andrew scandals/reports.

"The strategy, I believe, is to keep in with him and to marginalize her, which is exactly what they did with Wallis and the Duke of Windsor," royal scribe Andrew Lownie dished when describing the palace's approach to the royal black sheeps. "Andrew has been loyal to a certain extent. He’s made some implicit threats, and things have been floated about books and TV interviews, but ultimately he is a loyalist."

Lownie continued: "Andrew is less of a problem than Harry. He may become more of a problem, especially when my book comes out, because I think there will be things in there that will rock the boat. But he’s not been rude about Camilla. He’s not set out to destabilize the monarchy. He hasn’t spilled secrets."

GBN reported on the excerpts from Endgame.