QUEEN ELIZABETH ‘REMAINED INCREDIBLY CLOSE’ TO PRINCE ANDREW ‘RIGHT UP UNTIL HER DEATH,’ ROYAL AUTHOR CLAIMS
It's been said King Charles and his younger brother, Prince Andrew, have had a frosty relationship over the years.
“In 2006, Prince William joined the Way Ahead Group, his grandmother Queen Elizabeth’s tight-knit circle of family and anonymous advisers whose whole purpose was to chart a future course for the monarchy,” Andersen explained. “Its members included Charles and his siblings Anne, Andrew, Edward, and, of course, the queen. Details of the group’s twice-yearly meetings were top secret.
“The queen’s decisions to voluntarily pay income taxes, to mothball the royal yacht HMS Britannia, and to end primogeniture — the thousand-year-old old rule stipulating that males have precedence over females in the line of succession — all grew out of Way Ahead Group deliberations,” Andersen explained. “Although Prince Harry was then third in line to the throne, he was not invited to join. By 2008, deliberations focused on future King Charles’ vision of a more efficient, streamlined monarchy.”
While demoting Eugenie and Beatrice would have been “a major shakeup,” Andersen claimed the rivalry between the brothers goes way back.
“The king and Prince Andrew have always had a strained relationship,” Andersen said. “The queen lavished attention on both Andrew and the youngest brother, Edward. Their father, Prince Philip, doted on Anne. They were often described as ‘two peas in a pod.’
“But as the oldest and heir to the throne, Charles was left out in the cold, emotionally abandoned by his parents,” Andersen claimed. “Charles was 11 when Andrew was born, and the king has resented his younger brother ever since.”
The queen, England’s longest-reigning monarch, died in 2022 at age 96. At the time, rumors were swirling that Charles, who ascended to the throne, would strip Beatrice and Eugenie of their titles.
The Duke of York became eighth in line to the throne, but his controversial friendship with Epstein, along with allegations of sexual assault, forced Buckingham Palace to strip Andrew of his military affiliations and royal patronages. It was believed that Charles would continue removing any trace of affiliation to the dynasty after the prince, 64, “embarrassed” the family with his actions.
