Former BBC journalist Emily Maitlis, who grilled Prince Andrew in his infamous interview on BBC Newsnight, made the claim despite Kensington Palace saying no meeting between Prince William, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie took place
Prince William threatened to take away the titles of Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie if they didn’t help persuade their father Prince Andrew to leave Royal Lodge, Emily Maitlis has claimed.
Maitlis, who famously grilled Andrew in his car-crash Newsnight interview in 2019, made the claim – even though Kensington Palace has said no meeting between William and his cousins, the princesses, took place. It comes as Andrew is facing calls to vacate his 30-room Windsor mansion amid the continuing furore over his links to paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, and the ‘peppercorn’ rent deal he has for the property, which means he has barely paid for more than 20 years.
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Andrew announced he would be relinquishing his Duke of York title earlier this month, but Buckingham Palace made it clear there would be no change for his daughters, Beatrice and Eugenie.
But speaking on her News Agents podcast, Maitlis said that, last week, camera crews were scrambled to the gates of Royal Lodge amid speculation there could be further developments in the long-running controversy surrounding the late Queen’s second son.
This was the same day the King prayed with with Pope Leo in a historic moment at the Vatican with former BBC journalist Maitlis saying it came after a “tip off”.
She alleged: “There was a question over whether there had been, earlier in the day, a meeting between Prince William and the princesses, Beatrice and Eugenie, saying you guys have to get your dad to move out of Royal Lodge otherwise we will start re-examining the state of your own titles.
“They are at the moment allowed to be princesses, but there was a bit of pressure, we understand, being put on the princesses to say this is going to happen. Obviously you can see why Andrew as a father would want to keep their daughters happy and keep their titles in place come what may.
“What we learned what was going to happen on Thursday was that Charles, fresh from the Vatican and his audience with the Pope, was going to come via Royal Lodge to be seen in other words reading the riot act to his brother.”
“Nobody was going to film the conversation or see him stepping out the car but there was going to be the moment caught on camera of King Charles’s car heading to Royal Lodge.
“What happened, I understand, was that the Palace then got very nervous, and when they saw the choppers and helicopters, they thought this has all got too big, this has got out of control, they cancelled the whole thing. The King just went straight home and never came by.”
When The Mirror contacted Kensington Palace it confirmed no meeting between Prince William and the princesses took place, and said it would also be factually inaccurate to say the Prince of Wales can remove titles. Constitutionally he cannot.
It comes as pressure is mounting on Andrew to be hauled in front of MPs over his Royal Lodge lease – as the King was heckled by a protestor over his disgraced brother yesterday.
Andrew is said to be in talks with Charles’ representatives about leaving Royal Lodge, where he has lived for more than 20 years. Reports have suggested he and ex-wife Sarah Ferguson have agreed to leave the property in exchange for two separate residences.
But calls are getting louder for him to also testify to a Commons select committee on the use of taxpayer money after it emerged he has lived effectively rent-free in the Crown Estate property since 2003.
The King had attempted to brush off any family drama as he visited the West Midlands to attend a special service at the Cathedral on Monday morning.
But he was heckled as he met crowds outside Lichfield Cathedral by a man in the crowd who shouted a string of questions including “How long have you known about Andrew and Epstein?”
