San Francisco Frontiers - UK's Andrew in freefall, stripped of queen's protection

Rumours had long swirled around the questionable behaviour of the 65-year-old royal but, basking in the queen's favour, he emerged bruised though not down-and-out from each lurid, headline-hitting scandal over the years.

After the disastrous 2019 television interview in which he sought and failed to explain his ties to US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Andrew was forced to give up his HRH title, and banished from life as a working royal.

But he kept the rich trappings afforded by royal life, including his coveted title as Duke of York, and his home in the luxury 30-room mansion Royal Lodge nestled on the secluded Windsor estate, for which he paid only a token rent.

"People complained about him for years and nothing was done. I think also she (the queen) just had a complete blind spot about him," said biographer Andrew Lownie.

It was the queen who bestowed on Andrew and his then-new wife Sarah Ferguson the title of Duke and Duchess of York -- a title steeped in history which once belonged to Elizabeth II's beloved father, George VI, before he ascended to the throne.

- 'Deep bond' -

It was just one of the signs of the strong ties between Elizabeth and Andrew, her third child after King Charles III and Princess Anne.

"The queen was deeply fond of Andrew. They really had a deep bond," said royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams.

But the explosive revelations in the posthumous memoir of Epstein victim, Virginia Giuffre, in which she reiterated in shocking detail allegations that she was trafficked to have sex with Andrew three times, opened the floodgates to further outrage.

And the queen was no longer around to protect him.

Under pressure from his older brother, Andrew agreed to relinquish his cherished title as Duke of York, as well as the prestigious Order of the Garter this month.

On Thursday, the king went even further, moving to strip his younger brother of all his titles, and ousting him from his home of two decades on the Windsor estate.

Andrew "lost his protector" when Elizabeth died in 2022 and the king should have been "far more ruthless" sooner, said Lownie.

Charles is almost 12 years older than Andrew, and the two brothers have never been close.

But it seems that Prince William, Charles's oldest son and the heir to the throne, has been leading the charge.

UK media have reported that once William succeeds his father he plans to deepen Andrew's banishment, even forbidding him from attending his coronation.

Moves to oust Andrew from Royal Lodge have gathered pace in the past week, given new urgency by the pending move of William, and his wife Kate and three young children, into a new home not far away from the lodge on the Windsor estate.

Andrew had dug his heels in, reportedly demanding to move into Frogmore Cottage, the former home of his nephew Prince Harry and his wife Meghan.

He was also reportedly demanding that Ferguson, his ex-wife with whom he shared the lodge for two decades, be allowed to move into Adelaide Cottage, once it is vacated by William and his family.

The BBC reported this week that Andrew hosted Epstein, his girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell -- imprisoned for trafficking -- and former US film producer Harvey Weinstein, now in prison for sexual assault, at the Lodge in 2006 for his daughter Beatrice's 18th birthday.

- Threat to the Crown -

Public anger has grown at Andrew's privileged lifestyle, and on Monday the king was heckled during a visit to a cathedral when a man in the crowd shouted out: "How long have you known about Andrew and Epstein?"

Buckingham Palace is acutely aware of the reputational damage posed to the Crown by the scandal.

And now Andrew will be surrendering the lease on Royal Lodge as soon as possible. It is understood he will be moving to the king's Sandringham estate in eastern Norfolk. Ferguson will make her own arrangements.

The decisive action could have been taken to stave off MPs, who appeared ready to break a long-standing taboo on questioning the royals, by holding a parliamentary debate and demanding proper scrutiny of the secretive finances of the family, dubbed The Firm.

One palace source told the Sunday Times that some of the blame lay at the late queen's feet, saying she left "an unexploded bomb for Charles".

"This was a terrible dereliction of duty. She indulged Andrew all the time and always avoided confrontation."

S.Hall--SFF