Here we go … Andrew to leave Royal Lodge and lose title

[Flixon]

Headlined in The Times just now …. About bloody time …

The politicians appear to be terrified of doing any digging or debate etc. regarding the RF. So they are untouchable by anyone but themselves I feel.

William and the King are entirely right to remove Andrew's privileges and titles, and William's distaste for him was evident at the recent funeral. There's no doubt he abused his position of power and privilege and has done little good for the country or anyone else. The royal family are in a difficult position and many of the members try to use their position for the good of others and the country, but there are black sheep in every family.

The gloating we are now seeing from the family of VG is also horrible. Her brother saying how proud he is of her that she, a girl from an 'ordinary' family has brought down a prince. There's nothing ordinary about a family that allowed their daughter to be abused and did nothing to stop it, and according to her claims whose own father sexually abused her. I find VG and her family and her claims somewhat hard to fully believe and to stomach. The complete witch hunt she led against Andrew is out of proportion to any crimes he has committed compared to the crimes of Epstein and her own father. They are now calling for Andrew to be gaoled which is ridiculous. According to her she was abused and trafficked and slept with lots of men, but Andrew is an easy target.

I'm sure I read somewhere he'd had tomatoes thrown at him.

Highgrove is really just a surprisingly small house with a garden centre, a shop punting overpriced Duchy teabags and biscuits and a glorified cafe (yes, I've been for a garden tour and high tea, both of which were disappointing).
I'm willing to bet he'll turn Balmoral into similar.

I have been really disappointed by their weak response. They seem to believe we live in an absolute monarchy.

That was Prince Philip, in Australia. Charles had someone try to shoot him in Australia - he might have preferred tomatoes!

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/694374.stm

I was thinking the same when I saw Skye and Amanda being interviewed last night - where was he when Virginia was being abused as a child, or when she was away from home "working" at a very young age.

As for ex PA now AM-W, I can't say I feel sorry for him, but I've said on MN before that he was exploited and groomed too - JE wanted him for his contacts (not vice versa), and for possible/probable future blackmailing opportunities. AM-W is not clever enough to have recognised the dangerous situation he was getting into, and took all of JEs flattery and generosity to heart, and thought they were the best of friends.

Cheaper than what? RF finances are pretty murky. And it's hard to provide costings without specifying what services are to be provided, so a breakdown of what the RF offers would seem to be needed. What exactly do you think they provide? What would you put on the job description if we were looking to find an external candidate to fill their role?

I also believe royal finances should be clearer. It can only help going forward.

I'm happy with our system of constitutional monarchy i just want more clarity.

'Private property, personal money......' pull the other one.

It's all funded by the UK taxpayer, one way or another.

I'd love to nationalise the Royal Family- give 'senior' members a very generous million pounds each, and 'junior' members £500,000 plus a flat each in South Ken. And then be done with them, forever....

And then open all the palaces to tourists, use them for accomodating nurses, asylum seekers, battered women, rich paying Americans......

All the art work could go on public display, not hidden away.......

We could have a democratically elected non partisan consitutional president with a budget of a million or so a year, like Ireland or Germany. Hell they even get a suite or two in Buckingham Palace as their presidential appartment.

All the rent and income from the Duchies, Crown Estate etc could go into a Sovereign Wealth Fund like Norway's, with long term targets eg povery reduction in UK and abroad, making the UK energy self sufficent etc etc.

Increased revenue from making better use of the tourist sites could be of more immediate benefit eg the NHS and SEND.

All the places and castles and land could be put to the use and benefit of all, not just one family.

Tourists could still come and visit royal sites- look at how popular Versaille is in France.

This isn't all quite as radical as it once sounded.

What are ‘permanent pyjamas’?

I’m not a Republican because I think it would be cheaper-although I think there is a lot of scope for monetising an amazing amount of property, land and other “stuff” for the good of the nation. I am a Republican because I think deference is bad for society.

Virginia Guffre’s brothers are currently suing her estranged husband, Robert Giuffre, as in early 2025, she began accusing him of abusing her as well, claiming he was jealous of her professional success as a trafficking-awareness activist. Since her death in April, the tussle over her lucrative estate (including the proceeds of sale of her book) has resulted in court proceedings.

The attire he is accustomed to in his so called "lazy life" 😊

I think @waitamo is referring to the fact that William is perhaps a tad workshy.

Oh my god what a mess.

I think this would be amazing if it worked out as intended.

I really can’t see it happening though. I think we’re way too conservative as a country.

Unless a real scandal (bigger than the current and previous ones) hits the royal family, I cannot see this happening.

Also, just a couple of questions:

• Re giving money to the RF (£1m for seniors; £500k and S Ken flat for juniors), would this be a yearly allowance or just a one-off?
• Would they be allowed to work?
• And do you mean they’d all get a S Ken flat?
• If it’s just the juniors who get a flat, where would the seniors live - perhaps in the private homes they already have?

That makes total sense

Oh haha. I don’t think he is lazy, but I can see why working people outside the RF (ie me and probably most others on this thread) would consider him lazy.

I agree that deference isn't good for society. Just look at the government refusing to step up here.

I don't feel deferent but still support the constitutional monarchy. Maybe I'm an outlier?

Agree. I think the RF is very linked to our class system. As long as we have an RF, I think our class system - and the issues with that - will continue and be impossible to fix.

Her family would probably be advised to try to avoid fighting over money. I can see the press turning on them and questioning how Virginia ended up in the situation she did and why her family didn't protect her. Does the book go into her family background much?

Like I said, they don't have 'private' homes. It all belongs to the taxpayer one way or another. That family has been at the centre of the UK establisment for a thousand years- there's nothing 'private' about anything they 'own.'

This would be a very generous one off, take it leave it payment plus flat (and no, doesn't have to be South Ken!). I'd apply the same admittedly quite weak provisions re working that apply to ministers and senior civil servants ie as I understand it you can't leave your job one day and then parachute into a senior role in the private sector using all your contacts.

Why wouldn't this work. Took me five minutes to write the above- I am sure a mature national conversation with experts and planning would come up with something better, covering all bases.

I also support the constitutional monarchy.

I do think they should be reformed and drastically slimmed down though.

I think this Labour government might once have had - and may have in the future - a good opportunity to propose this. But they’re in such a political mess at the moment, and trying to prevent vote losses to the other parties, that I can’t see this happening - it’s very politically sensitive.

I also think they should be allowed fewer privileges (eg hiding wills from public view, not paying inheritance tax) and I think we should pay less tax to support them.

I have to say I don’t know how much tax we pay to support them, and what it goes on (apart from security etc), but I think they should fund more of their lifestyles themselves. I also think we should support fewer of them - perhaps only those in rhe direct line of succession. And I think the Crown Estate should should stop charging public establishments like hospitals and taking that money for themselves, and taking money from unclaimed wills - I think that’s disgusting.

Perhaps the only way they can keep control of MR AMW and stop him going out in the world doing more damage in seeking to further enrich himself, is for him to be on a property privately owned by the KC, with some kind of stipend from KC.

They can threaten to take it away if he misbehaves in any way. If he is literally left with nothing, he has nothing to lose and therefore no way to reign him in. Cash collection for his luxury "lifestyle" is his MO. They may well be re housing him in the face of further criticism to ensure he stays put and stays quiet not just about the RF and William who he has always resented, but all the UK government and security tit bits he's picked up over the years.
He's also the shittest parent ever knowingly inviting pedos to his 18th DDs party and I hope he will now be out of sight. Ankle bracelet?