At one point it would have been unimaginable for the King to strip his brother of his princely title. But after the mounting pressure and flurry of headlines and accusations in recent weeks it became almost inevitable that more would be done after relinquishing use of his Duke of York title did nothing to quell calls for further action.
Even so, the announcement that Prince Andrew is now Mr Andrew Mountbatten Windsor came as something of a shock. It was an unprecedented move by King Charles, who also confirmed that "formal notice has now been served [for Andrew] to surrender the lease" on Royal Lodge.
These measures were "deemed necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him". However, it's the final line of the statement that immediately drew my attention, and it mentions Queen Camilla.
"Their Majesties wish to make clear that their thoughts and utmost sympathies have been, and will remain with, the victims and survivors of any and all forms of abuse," it declared.
It’s not just the King, but the Queen too, who wanted to make this sentiment abundantly clear and mentions of "victims and survivors" haven’t been included in Andrew-focused statements before. The couple aren’t directly commenting on the allegations, but they’re publicly acknowledging those who have gone through "any and all forms of abuse" and the suffering they experienced.
They’re not erasing them from the story and making it all about Andrew instead. It cements King Charles and Queen Camilla’s stance and I think that Her Majesty could possibly have been instrumental in crafting this particular part of the statement.
Queen Camilla’s commitment to raising awareness and working to end violence against women and domestic and sexual violence is well-known. She has been vocal about this for so many years and in 2020 on the UN Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women she declared in a message that everyone has a part to play "to do everything in our power to raise awareness, to ‘reach in’ to others, and to support, and be inspired by, those very brave survivors".
I believe that the Queen likely had a part to play in the wording of King Charles’s entire statement as his wife and confidante, but more specifically in the message to "victims and survivors".
A friend of Their Majesties has been quoted as claiming that any time courtiers drafted references to the victims in statements since Andrew’s 2019 Newsnight interview, they were removed and it had required him to sign it off.
"There has long been a sense from the family that the voices of the victims needed to be heard in these pronouncements, because they feature so heavily in this saga and because there is no credible way the Queen and the Duchess of Edinburgh can continue to do the work they do in the areas of sexual abuse if they can’t point to that," the friend added.
Camilla has been described as a "wise counsel" to her husband throughout his decision-making process, though the "Their Majesties" wording is the only official reference to her so far. The last remaining honour Andrew has is his place as eighth in the royal line of succession, which in turn makes him a Counsellor of State.
Downing Street has confirmed that there are no current plans to remove him from the succession, though I think it’s not beyond the realms of possibility someday given the steps King Charles has taken so far and the ongoing public outcry.
