A year on from Queen’s death, the Sussexes, Prince Andrew keep adding to King Charles’ headache
A year on from the Queen’s passing, the royals are in chaos. Now, Meghan and Harry have another turning point as Prince Andrew brings more scandal to the House of Windsor.
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It was the frantic call that sent the royal family into panic mode and marked the heartbreaking end of an incredible era.
As journalists from America’s NBC prepared for a prearranged interview, the then Prince Charles was informed by telephone that his beloved mother’s health was rapidly deteriorating.
Minutes after taking the call, he and his wife Camilla were aboard a helicopter flying towards Balmoral Castle to say their final goodbyes.
Hours later, the world was plunged into mourning when it was announced that the Queen, who had only months before marked an unprecedented 70 years of service to the people with the joyous Platinum Jubilee Celebrations, had died at the age of 96.
And Charles, the man who some critics believed was never really cut out for the top job despite being groomed for the role since birth, was suddenly thrust into the hot seat.
As the first anniversary of the Queen’s death on September 8 nears, and King Charles continues his mother’s tradition of holidaying at Balmoral, the air of gloom that descended on the royal family on that dreadful day has failed to lift.
Devoid of the late Queen’s unwavering stoicism, as well as Prince Philip’s military-style no-nonsense approach, it was always going to be risky for The Firm.
But few could have predicted the countless grenades and vicious infighting that have shaken the House of Windsor to its very core.
Just a year into his reign, King Charles has already been forced to contend with his own “annus horribilis”, the term used by the Queen to describe 1992, a year marked by scandalous marriage splits and the horrendous fire at Windsor Castle.
The situation is so desperate that the King called for an urgent summit last week with William and Catherine, the Prince and Princess of Wales, at Balmoral to decide the future direction of the monarchy, according to The Sun.
The King, it is said, wants to try to use William and Catherine’s star power to help bind the Commonwealth together.
The damaging roles that royal exiles Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have played in this torrid saga, with their embarrassing revelations and hunger for publicity, is undeniable.
With the so-called truth bombs of their bombshell Netflix series and the embarrassing revelations in Prince Harry’s memoir Spare, the Sussexes have been ruthless in their trashing of the monarchy.
Palace insiders say William and Catherine are still furious over Prince Harry’s claim in Spare that his older brother knocked him to the ground in a physical attack after calling Meghan “abrasive”, royal author Tom Quinn has revealed.
The coming weeks will be crucial for the Sussexes as they travel to Germany and work hard to repair their tarnished brand and make the Invictus Games, Prince Harry’s pet project, a success.
Speculation was rife that Prince Harry would attempt to visit his father and brother after the Games to clear the air, but insiders now say there is no chance of any reconciliation as Prince William feels “utterly betrayed”.
Royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams said the behaviour of the Sussexes gave the late Queen a good deal of grief in her final years and had been a major headache for King Charles in the first year of his reign.
“The documentary Heart of Invictus, which Prince Harry is producing for Netflix, will undoubtedly be valuable, but it is nonetheless likely to have limited appeal,” he said from London.
“We don’t know if the Sussexes, either together or singly, will be visiting King Charles at Balmoral after attending the Invictus Games in Dusseldorf.
“What seems certain is that the rift in the royal family is extremely wide. It is most unlikely that William and Harry will meet; it would be impossible to trust him after his behaviour in recent years.”
And then there is Prince Andrew.
As the late Queen’s rumoured favourite child, the Duke of York had some form of protection before the monarch’s death, despite his removal from public life following his car crash BBC interview and his previous links with convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
In the year since, he has stubbornly fought his corner and refused to leave his Royal Lodge residence despite King Charles’ efforts to force him into Frogmore Cottage, the former home of Prince Harry and Meghan.
It is a battle the Duke of York appears to have won, with reports that he and ex-wife Sarah Ferguson have been given a reprieve and their somewhat unusual living arrangements will continue for now.
But a new documentary that claims to lift the lid on Prince Andrew’s former friendship with Epstein, including the allegation that a model was forced by Epstein to have sex with the Duke of York, shows the cloud of scandal and King Charles’ woes will not be evaporating any time soon.
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