Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor : Why did the Queen protect him & was she complicit?

[SpottyAardvark]

Queen Elizabeth was very well aware of the seriousness of the allegations against Andrew, and of the testimony of his victim. She very likely knew there were more allegations against him by more victims. Yet she still protected him. She refused to take any action, other than bailing him out by paying paid out millions of pounds to settle legal claims against him by his victim.

Queen Elizabeth was part of the culture of denial & cover-up of serious crimes. Is this a serious stain on her reputation as monarch, and should there now be an enquiry into what she knew, and when, before we start putting up statues to this woman?

Did she know Lord Mountbatten sexually abused boys in Kincora Boys Home in Belfast? Was she part of the cover up of that scandal? Along with Philip?

The callous way she treated her cousins Nerissa and Katherine Bowes-Lyon was appalling too.

I get what people are saying about her being a 95yo lady who just wanted things to go away; but isn't it ironic that she would see this as an acceptable way to quash the matter, when you consider that every single court convened and every single sentence was handed out in her name?

If she believed Andrew so fiercely, surely she would have diverted some of that money towards defending him in due legal process, whereby the evidence could have been presented and scrutinised and her precious son could have completely cleared his name and held his head high in the face of malicious false accusations. Interesting how she never seemed to see that even as an option...

People always say Andrew was the Queen's favourite but was he really, what's the evidence for that? Seems a bit hurtful to the other children that people always bring this up if it's not true.

I remember many years ago when there was a 'joke' going around, whereby people would tell you about 'this family' they knew of who engaged in all sorts of less-than-perfect things. To be fair, it wasn't really terrible stuff: just things that might have been judged in 'lesser' people as moral failings - like divorces and rumours of infidelity.

The big punchline, though, was that it wasn't the Gallager family on the Chatsworth estate in Shameless (or their equivalents of the time), but it was actually the Windsors!!!!

It was just so widely assumed that they should be perfect and so far above the standard of ordinary people, it was automatically seen as a massive hilarious gotcha.

Elizabeth was an oyster. She gave nothing away. I always wonder if it was a claim spread by Andrew himself, for kudos and to gain from others.

I think it's the US putting focus in UK individuals.

Why only the emails from Andrew, Fergie & Peter Madelson? Many more US residents were involved. Seems to be selective leaking to focus away from high profile US people.

I don't think she was complicit. I think that she was like many mothers and just did not believe that he could possibly be guilty of these awful acts. I think he would have hoodwinked his mother very easily.

@Pleasealexa
The Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday have been diligent in their digging into RF dirty laundry. Don't blame the USA!

Many more US residents were involved.

Was there a 'p' missing from that sentence?

She protected the monster she created, if she ever felt any remorse she hid it well.

I am very far from being a royalist but please let's leave the late Queen out of this affair and keep the memories of her as a monarch unsullied. Andrew can FOTTFSOF however.

Cat well and truly out of the bag, not that this wasn't all known, just not mentioned in the media before because he's mummy's special princey (hopefully all of legal age because Thailand is so big on that).
I'm surprised how many are making out this is all down to Epstein and there are other people on the lists. Epstein is just his contact that got caught, he does the same when he travels to Thailand and probably in the Middle East. It's who he is as person and what he feels he is entitled to (as many other rich men might feel, but this one is doing it on taxpayer tick).

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15243951/prince-andrew-prostitutes-thailand-trip-royal-historian-lownie.html

People have stated they went to her with concerns about his behaviour, his treatment of staff and his shady dealings. Including Prince Charles. She ignored them all. He said he only answered to TQ, and she always backed him up. I agree she wasnt a cuddly granny. She believed in the divine right of her family to do what they liked.

She paid £12million. She must have known he’d done something. You don’t pay that sort of money to someone if you think they’re making the whole thing up surely?

keep the memories of her as a monarch unsullied
That ship has long sailed. She is well and truly sullied now.

In the last few years it was evident that she was frail and very little time was spent with anyone other than those in her tight circle getting close to her

I remember a news report of her a the Chelsea Flower Show it was quite obvious she was confused but all around her everyone was pretending all was fine

I think by this time she was going along with those who advise her and their roles are very dependent on their being as little damage to the royal family as possible, fare better to push the focus on Prince Harry and Megan which got many very angry rather than a rapist prince

I am not saying she didn't protect him or wasn't at fault but I think those around her where far more instrumental in protecting him.

@HRTQueen Well, she could have stepped down at 90 and handed over the rei(g)ns but she chose not to.

The whole Harry and Meghan hatefest is purely down to the same bollocks that Linda McCartney was subjected to when Paul ditched lovely English rose Jane Asher for the yank. It's nothing more than a case of 'how dare you, you American trollops! They belong to us!" [massive eye roll]

I can hear her now Never complain never explain ! Andrew allegedly was her favourite. I hope he gets the book thrown at him odious bloated toff

She would never have stepped down - she swore an oath before god to reign until her death, and given her Christian faith she would have never reneged on it. That is the UK system of monarchy - unlike others, where abdication is common. I think thats also a ridiculous analysis of the Harry/Meghan situation - they were both massively popular around the time of the wedding, it’s only after they left the country and started the tell-all interviews that people turned against them.

And I think it’s completely obvious why she would have paid out £12m even if she thought him innocent - she wanted to buy privacy, which was always a massive priority for her. In the end it was a poor decision, but I don’t think it’s plausible to say she must have known just because she paid.

The Queen was never going to step down that was always made clear.

Megan is also disliked for not being white too and has suffered from racism from our own press. I am not going along with the pretence its only because she is an American and said too much or pretend there is not racism involved in the dislike or rather what is often hatred towards Megan

I think Andrew probably lied to his mother the same way he lied to everyone else. I just wish his 2 dd's saw through his lies.

Bright enough to fly helicopters, and have a high position in the Navy!

I hope that there are consequences for trump as well now. And everyone else involved.

@Tiredofwhataboutery I think you are right.

His view is probably that he is a member of the British royal family and women have been throwing themselves at him since he was in his teens. He believed himself to be just as desirable in late middle age and took it for granted.

I doubt it occurred to him that VG might have been trafficked, or paid to give him her attention. In his eyes she was a young woman, not a child, and I doubt, being completely self-obsessed, he thought any further than that.

Or because Camilla is not the head of State and cannot initiate that process. But she and Charles can sympathise since that is not "regulated".