Who advised the Queen to walk into the Abbey escorted by Andrew??

[TinyTortoise]

This seems to be the most tone deaf and damaging decision. It's a public facing event with international leaders and royals. If it was a closed family gathering I could understand it - he is her son still- but why on earth would they allow him to escort her to her seat?! He should be invisible from now on and never represent the RF again. He could have attended and stood somewhere out of the way. She could have chosen anyone to escort her. It's staggeringly awful!

@AndAsIfByMagic

I think the highly annoyed on this thread need to accept that the majority of the public don't care.

Personally I’m delighted.

Sadly though for a Republican, this country cares a great deal for its outdated institution to an extent that is bordering on batshit.

I think she has underestimated how damaging this is, what a stupid move- does she not know or care about public opinion regarding her son??? Tone deaf is an understatement. They all need to go

We are all miserable sinners

I mean, there's sin as in saying 'Jesus fucking Christ' when you stub your toe and there's sin as in 'raping a trafficked teenager procured by a renowned paedophile', but OK

@ancientgran

That would have been when she was at Balmoral, with Princess Diana's children? So supporting them? How uncaring of her to think this was more important than supporting hysterical people in London who were not part of Diana's immediate family. It was an absolute disgrace, nutters crying and grabbing at two traumatised children. They really should have been left at Balmoral with their grandparents. The people who were clamouring for their return should be ashamed. I do hope Prince Harry condemns them in his forthcoming book.

Yeah, I'm opposed to the monarchy myself, but the idea that the queen should've been anywhere other than with her recently bereaved grandchildren somewhere very private at that point is fucking deranged. It speaks well of her that the hysterical amongst the public weren't her priority in that situation and she had to be talked into coming back. Of all the legitimate things to criticise the queen for, it beggars belief that some people choose that.

He is loathsome but it’s up to the queen who should escort her to her husband’s memorial.

@TinyTortoise

I get it but they do what they want, always have and the UK and the world let them get away with it.
Look how Harry was treated when he decided to protect his wife and children and their mental health, he’s had more stick than any other Royal, I mean we’re gonna have an actual King that wanted to be a tampon and live inside Camilla .. I dunno how old sausage fingers got away with that.
Andrew in all of this still has less said about him than Meghan and Harry cos they left the fold, but who would want their kids around Pervy Uncle Andrew? They left pretty asap after that non sweaty interview didn’t they.

Anyway I think you’re right but I do see it from the family side too.

@3peassuit

He is loathsome but it’s up to the queen who should escort her to her husband’s memorial.

And it’s up to us what we make of her choice.

@thereisonlyoneofme

For gods sake, theres no let up in the nastiness

I agree, it's quite shocking.

Prince Andrew may or may not have slept with a young girl who was underage in one place, not in others. He says he didn't. In any case he wouldn't have known she was 'trafficked', Maxwell and Epstein were hardly likely to advertise that fact.

He made an error of judgement, as did many other people, of remaining on friendly terms with a man who was convicted and served a sentence for a sex offence. No doubt Epstein presented it to him and his other 'friends' as him being wrongly convicted but he took a plea; his 'friends' believed him, probably thought it was an outrage. We mustn't forget he was an extremely charismatic man, you only have to look at Ghislane Maxwell to see that.

There's never been anything else but people have been calling Andrew a 'nonce' and the like, even making insinuations about his daughters, all over social media. That was horrible and totally uncalled for.

He wanted to counter sue Virginia Giuffre but was advised not to by his legal team and his family certainly didn't want it; it would have dragged on indefinitely. Therefore a cash settlement was made. In a way it was obvious that would happen as it is usual in civil cases. The sum is undisclosed, how much the Queen coughed up is not known.

Other people whom we in the UK don't know are continuing to fight VG's accusations. If we live long enough we may read of the conclusions. She has said nothing since her pay out.

Nobody has come out of this smelling of roses but the continued vehemence is way out of proportion.

It never occurred to me that anyone would raise their eyebrows at the Queen being escorted into and out of Westminster Abbey by her son, today. It seemed quite normal to me.

It never occurred to me that anyone would raise their eyebrows at the Queen being escorted into and out of Westminster Abbey by her son, today. It seemed quite normal to me.

You genuinely didn’t consider that her son who has very recently paid £12m to make allegations of sex trafficking go away and had to give up his royal title might raise a few eyebrows? Really?

@HardyBuckette I can't understand how people ever thought anything else and the idea that people still throw that at her when the hysteria isn't an excuse is totally ridiculous.

I sometimes think the making of excuses for Prince Harry because his mother died when he was so young is a bit strange, mainly as I lost a parents when I was about 4 weeks older than him, but of course the reaction of the hysterical mob made the damage to him so much worse. I know they didn't consciously want to hurt him and his brother but it is time it was acknowledged that they did.

Who advised it?

Probably the same people who advised that the farce that's just unfolded in the Caribbean, the one in which our nation was humiliated on a global stage, was a good idea.

Or that Andrew's interview with Maitlis was a resounding success, or that silencing victims by paying them off was in any way a good look (and can only possibly be viewed as the lesser evil of two alternatives).

These people have no clue. They probably (correctly) reasoned that after these monumental debacles, they couldn't possibly make themselves look any worse.

But she could just as easily have been escorted by Charles, who is - after all - the eldest and heir to the throne. The argument that protocol insists that couples must stay glued together is bonkers.

Probably the same people who advised that the farce that's just unfolded in the Caribbean, the one in which our nation was humiliated on a global stage, was a good idea.

An undercover Republican. Can't want to see what they have planned next.

@gogohm

He's her son, it's his dad's memorial. He's also the only one who is single (well publicly single who knows in private) . I don't think it means anything more than a son helping his frail mother who is stubborn and won't use a wheelchair.

This. He might be a horrible person but she is his mum and it's his dad's memorial.

[quote ancientgran]@HardyBuckette I can't understand how people ever thought anything else and the idea that people still throw that at her when the hysteria isn't an excuse is totally ridiculous.

I sometimes think the making of excuses for Prince Harry because his mother died when he was so young is a bit strange, mainly as I lost a parents when I was about 4 weeks older than him, but of course the reaction of the hysterical mob made the damage to him so much worse. I know they didn't consciously want to hurt him and his brother but it is time it was acknowledged that they did.[/quote]
Yeah, I can see why he's angry about the way he was treated at the time tbh.

It was actually a very wise decision. The queen exited via poets corner, not the main entrance down the aisle. Leaving that way with the Queen meant he left relatively discreetly and not in the main procession.
It was always appropriate that he attended, the Duke was his father and the queen his mother.
People need to get a grip ffs, trying to make him the new jimmy Saville.

@LBFseBrom

I shouldn't bite but such minimisation is nauseating. Andrew was the guest of Epstein on multiple occasions - he stayed at Epstein's Florida residence where staff and neighbours report a constant stream of teenage girls visiting the property all day every day.

He also stayed on his private island, the horrors of which were described in the media. Some of the reports were from the staff who commented how young the girls were:

“There’d be girls that look like they could be in high school...They looked very young. They were always wearing college sweatshirts. It seemed like camouflage, that’s the best way to put it.”

I have no doubt that VG was not the only one, she is just the one who had the courage and tenacity to hold him to account.

@1000yellowdaisies

It was actually a very wise decision. The queen exited via poets corner, not the main entrance down the aisle. Leaving that way with the Queen meant he left relatively discreetly and not in the main procession. It was always appropriate that he attended, the Duke was his father and the queen his mother. People need to get a grip ffs, trying to make him the new jimmy Saville.

Yeah I mean what's a few sex offences between friends, as long as it's not Savile proportions eh.

Oh for goodness sake leave the Queen alone. He is her son first and foremost and this was a memorial for her Husband.

Yeah, I'm opposed to the monarchy myself, but the idea that the queen should've been anywhere other than with her recently bereaved grandchildren somewhere very private at that point is fucking deranged. It speaks well of her that the hysterical amongst the public weren't her priority in that situation and she had to be talked into coming back. Of all the legitimate things to criticise the queen for, it beggars belief that some people choose that.

We all know that situation could have been managed much better if the Queen had acted more promptly and broadcast a filmed public statement from Balmoral acknowledging the loss of Diana. If she had done that, and not waited until much later on, she could have stayed up in Scotland looking after the boys, without any of the public outcry from London. They didn't do this however because their first instinct was to somehow try and play down Diana's death, just as they had stripped her of her HRH title when she was alive. They wanted her to go away quietly in other words - twice! They didn't even initially see the need for a public funeral fhs! So the public outcry, although ill-judged, was not without a context.

@gogohm

He's her son, it's his dad's memorial. He's also the only one who is single (well publicly single who knows in private) . I don't think it means anything more than a son helping his frail mother who is stubborn and won't use a wheelchair.

Well said

@Mumdiva99

After seeing her sitting alone at the funeral I couldn't care less who escorts her.....just so long as she is escorted and looked after. I thought the image of her at the funeral was one of the saddest things I've ever seen. (And yes I know it happened for other people too during Covid, and I feel the same empathy for them).

Exactly this.

Thank you @Abra1d1 re the Diana remark. Very sensible.
All we really know is that Prince Andrew has been foolish and paid money. That vale was set in New York which has a slightly exaggerated rate card for these things.
In the end his Mother stood by him. It is what we do.

value not vale

@Shtfday

Oh for goodness sake leave the Queen alone. He is her son first and foremost and this was a memorial for her Husband.

and his father.

He hasn't been convicted of anything in a court of law.

What we think doesn't matter. His father, her husband. None of our business.

However, it might have less tone-deaf for him to hide at the back.