King Charles III’s monarchy is at the “beginning of the end” after the scandal over Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly Prince Andrew, according to former U.K. Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries.
Charles stripped Andrew of his royal titles on October 30 amid mounting pressure over Andrew’s friendship with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and following allegations from Virginia Giuffre, an outspoken Epstein accuser who died in April.
Giuffre said in court filings, interviews and Nobody’s Girl, her posthumous memoir published last month, that Epstein trafficked her in 2001, when she was 17, to have sex with Andrew in London, New York and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and that she feared death if she refused. Andrew has denied the allegations and also denied liability in 2022 while settling a lawsuit that Giuffre brought in New York for an undisclosed sum.
Dorries, a former Conservative Party politician who has joined Reform U.K., wrote on X: “There are more royal bombshells to come. This could be the beginning of the end for the monarchy.”
Why It Matters
Andrew’s friendship with Epstein has cast a cloud over the monarchy for almost 15 years since he was photographed walking through Central Park with Epstein in December 2010.
In October, newly released emails showed that Andrew misled the public about when he broke off contact with Epstein. In 2019, Andrew told BBC’s Newsnight that the purpose of his 2010 visit had been to tell Epstein in person that their friendship was over following Epstein’s conviction for soliciting prostitution from a minor. However, in February 2011, he emailed Epstein saying, “We’ll play again soon.”
Another newly published email from the same month showed Andrew telling a palace press officer that he had asked an on-duty police protection officer to look into suggestions that Giuffre might have a criminal record. The Metropolitan Police has said it is “actively looking into” the reports.
What To Know
“I will always be the biggest defender of our royal family,” Dorries wrote in an accompanying article for the Daily Mail. “So it is with great sorrow that even I have to admit the true extent of the damage caused by the man formerly known as Prince Andrew.”
She continued: “His disgrace marks the beginning of the end for the monarchy as we know it. Much of what King Charles and his mother, the late Queen Elizabeth, had been working toward has, thanks to Andrew, been destroyed.”
On October 17, ahead of the release of Giuffre’s book, the palace released a statement from Andrew in which he voluntarily gave up his titles: “In discussion with the King, and my immediate and wider family, we have concluded the continued accusations about me distract from the work of His Majesty and the Royal Family. I have decided, as I always have, to put my duty to my family and country first.”
The framing appeared to further ignite the public’s anger at Andrew, with critics believing the monarchy had been too weak in dealing with him. Many commentators also noted that he was still in possession of the titles but had simply agreed not to use them.
Frustration grew not only among the British public but also in British politics. Prime Minister Keir Starmer appeared in the House of Commons to support the idea of a parliamentary inquiry into Andrew’s financial arrangements at his home, Royal Lodge.
As the pressure built, Charles took further action. Buckingham Palace issued a new statement representing the views of the monarchy. The message said Charles had begun the process of stripping Andrew of his titles and removing him from Royal Lodge. Andrew is expected to move to the Sandringham Estate, which the royals privately own.
What People Are Saying
Buckingham Palace said of Andrew Mountbatten Windsor in a statement on October 30: “These censures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him. Their Majesties wish to make clear that their thoughts and utmost sympathies have been, and will remain with, the victims and survivors of any and all forms of abuse.”
Former U.K. Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries wrote in the Daily Mail: “Until recent events, I thought that the royals had pulled it off. That they’d kept the show on the road despite the antics of Prince Harry and his plastic princess, Meghan.
“Following the King’s decisive action in banishing Andrew to Norfolk, there will be plenty who believe that the furor surrounding his friendship with pedophile Jeffrey Epstein will fade and that, in due course, life for the royal family will return to normal.
“I am very certain that it won’t. There will be more bombshells, more shock waves to come.”
She continued, suggesting that Andrew’s ex-wife could write a tell-all: “Who would bet against Sarah Ferguson writing a memoir of her own one day, her quill pen sharpened and dipped in bitterness? Her motive will be to earn money; her excuse—to clear her name.
“Who now can stop difficult MPs demanding greater transparency, particularly when it comes to the Windsors’ finances? Who believes that, with the U.S. Congress poring over Epstein’s emails, there isn’t still more appalling material about Andrew and his spendthrift ex-wife Fergie to be exposed? We are in a new world. The genie is out of the bottle and won’t be put back in.”
What Happens Next
Prince Andrew has surrendered his lease on Royal Lodge, beginning a long process set to culminate with his move to Sandringham. It remains to be seen how long the move will take.
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