The monarch’s unconditional love and support for her son had long given him a faint hope that he might eventually be welcomed back into the fold. That hope, though probably misplaced, no longer exists. Because while the Duke was allowed to don his navy uniform to stand vigil at his late mother’s coffin last week, few expect to see him in it again. The King has made it clear that there will be no reprieve for his younger brother. He has repeatedly insisted that the controversy surrounding the Duke should not be allowed to tarnish the monarchy’s reputation and has personally intervened more than once in recent months to keep him out of the public eye. Those closest to the Duke, 62, acknowledge that in the coming weeks and months, he will have to sit down with the monarch and draw up a plan for his future. No one believes it will involve any semblance of a return to royal duty.
Unwavering support
The Queen has been the Duke’s greatest champion in recent years. At times, apart from the vocal and unwavering support of his ex-wife, the Duchess of York, she was his only champion. “Andrew took great comfort in his mother’s support, particularly when he found himself mired in scandal over his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein,” a friend told the Telegraph. “She could be relied upon and relied heavily on her advice.” In recent years, when the Duke’s friendship with Epstein, the convicted sex offender, has repeatedly threatened the reputation and future of the monarchy, the Queen has done her best to steady the ship. The first explosive allegation that 17-year-old Virginia Giuffre, who was trafficked by Epstein, had been repeatedly forced to have sex with the Duke, first came to light in January 2015. Buckingham Palace issued its first denial, saying any suggestion he was involved in indecency with minors was “categorically untrue”. The queen is said to have been horrified. But most importantly, she believed her son when he told her he hadn’t done anything wrong. That belief did not waver as the crisis unfolded, leading to his disastrous Newsnight interview and a civil case that raised the terrifying prospect of the Duke having to take the witness stand in a New York courtroom. As the Duke found himself in deeper and deeper waters, it was the Queen who offered both public and private support. She paid for his legal fees and was the shoulder he leaned on over many cups of tea in the drawing room at Windsor Castle. When matters came to a head in January, the monarch responded to public pressure by stripping her son of his honorary military titles and charitable donations. But the door never closed completely.
An unbreakable bond
In March, people watched in agony as the disgraced Duke escorted his frail mother to Westminster Abbey for the Duke of Edinburgh’s memorial service, leading her to her seat. Senior members of the royal family were “disappointed” by this turn of events, but they also knew that the Queen’s bond with her son was unbreakable. As the sovereign’s much-loved son, he could override the palace powers. He always had her ear. “She was a mother first,” a source said. “With him, that never changed.” The bond of mother and son was forged when the Duke was very young. Born a decade after the Princess Royal, he gave the Queen a chance to be a different, more hands-on mother. When Prince Charles and Princess Anne were young, the monarch was overwhelmed by the demands of her role and was often abroad. The arrival of Prince Andrew gave her another chance at motherhood and she relished it, enjoying him in a way she hadn’t with his siblings. The pair continued to be incredibly close, especially as the Duke lived almost next door to her at Windsor Estate. He was her most frequent visitor, dropping by often for tea and entertaining her. In November 2019, just days after the Queen effectively sacked him as a working royal amid the devastating fallout from his Newsnight interview, he was photographed out riding with him. The queen did nothing by accident. It was rightly interpreted as a personal show of support.
There is no going back
Earlier this year, the Duke gently pressed her for a return to royal duties, asking to be reinstated as Colonel of the Grenadier Guards. His efforts were almost rewarded with an appearance alongside senior members of the royal family at the annual Order of the Garter ceremony, when he was due to join the colorful procession at Windsor Castle, wearing brilliant velvet robes and the traditional plumed hat. But it was a step too far for Prince Charles and his successor, Prince William, who feared a “backlash” and pressured the Queen to change plans. Their intervention at the eleventh hour ensured that the Duke remained out of public view. But the Duke was not deterred. Knowing he had his mother’s support, he enlisted his daughters, Beatrice and Eugenie, to lobby Prince Charles this summer at Balmoral. Their request to allow their father to return to royal duties inevitably fell on deaf ears. With the Queen gone, the Duke’s future is now more uncertain than ever. “She always stood by him, supported him and believed in him,” a source said. “It was never disputed. “Maybe if he had lived for many more years, he might have tried to help him make some kind of comeback. But now, there’s no going back.”
