Prince William has ‘long held a grudge’ against his disgraced uncle, Prince Andrew, and has pushed for him to be evicted from Royal Lodge, a royal correspondent claims
Prince William will not be as kind to Prince Andrew as his father King Charles has been, it has been claimed.
The Prince of Wales, 42, has remained tight-lipped about his opinion of his disgraced uncle after the Duke of York, 64, was forced to step down as a working royal amid the Jeffrey Epstein scandal in 2020. Andrew was then stripped of his military titles by the late Queen and was allegedly asked by Charles to move out of the Royal Lodge.
It is believed Charles wants to hand the 30-room Windsor mansion to his eldest son and is pushing for Andrew to leave the property and move into Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s previous royal residence, Frogmore Cottage. But, according to a royal correspondent, there is also speculation William is the one pushing for the eviction.
Royal writer Richard Kay told Mail Online that William has ‘long held a grudge’ against Andrew and feels that Charles has been ‘too soft’ on him. He wrote: “Differences between monarch and heir do remain, especially when it comes to the Prince Andrew scandal.
“William has long held a grudge against Andrew for being unwelcoming when he first introduced the then Kate Middleton to the Royal Family and feels that his father has been too soft on him. It has led to speculation that it is William who is pushing his father to evict the Duke of York from Royal Lodge, so the Waleses could move in.”
As well as allegedly pushing him out of the royal residence, William reportedly has no plans to let Andrew return to royal duties. Royal expert Richard Eden recently claimed that the heir is in favour of slimming the Royal Family even more.
Eden said: “[A friend of William] told me, ‘When the older members of the family retire, His Royal Highness won’t be inviting anyone else to become working royals. It remains to be seen if he will even want his two younger children to be working royals.” He added: “He sees the small European monarchies as the model for the future.”
It is not the first time William has been accused of wanting to push Andrew out of the family. According to Omid Scobie in his bombshell book Endgame last year, William played a role in his uncle’s downfall. Scobie detailed that William “set the wheels in motion” in 2022 when the “prospect of an out-of-court settlement involving money from the family’s private wealth were all damaging the monarchy’s reputation”.
Andrew was accused by Virginia Giuffre – a victim of Jeffrey Epstein – of sexually assaulting her. The Duke has consistently denied the allegations but settled a civil suit with Ms Guiffre out of court for a sum reported to be around £12million. Of the moment Andrew was stripped of his royal duties, Scobie wrote that a source told him Andrew “knew it was coming”, however, William’s leading role was a surprise.
The journalist claimed that “William was keenly aware that the horrific allegations, the fallout from the embarrassing interview, and now the prospect of an out-of-court settlement involving money from the family’s private wealth were all damaging the monarchy’s reputation.” He also reported that a source close to William told him that his father wasn’t ‘competent’ enough to deal with Andrew.
Scobie reported that William understood the late Queen had to make the decisive move, but without encouragement, he didn’t know if she would. “He felt she would remain ‘soft’ on his uncle if he didn’t forcefully express his concerns to his grandmother,” the book claimed.
The Mirror contacted Kensington Palace for comment.
