King Charles is reportedly weary and withdrawn as he marks his 77th birthday, burdened by the shadow of his disgraced brother’s ongoing scandals.
Royal experts told Fox News Digital that the monarch will spend his birthday focused on duty — a hallmark of his reign. Yet behind palace walls, they say Charles remains deeply troubled by how ex-Prince Andrew’s controversies continue to cast a long, painful cloud over both his family and the monarchy he leads.
Fox News Digital reached out to Buckingham Palace for comment.
KING CHARLES STRIPS PRINCE ANDREW OF ALL ROYAL TITLES AND HONORS AMID ONGOING SCANDALS
“During Remembrance Sunday at the Cenotaph Parade, King Charles was particularly emotional, shedding a tear while standing in silence,” British royals expert Hilary Fordwich told Fox News Digital.
“He was withered and withdrawn, with one able to observe the toll the Andrew nightmare had taken on him. He appeared to be somewhat resolute. He is also known to be wanting to double down on duty, rather than anything verging on a shallow or frivolous celebration.”
“While Andrew, of course, will always remain his brother, now that he’s a private citizen, the king is likely to further publicly distance himself,” Fordwich shared. “We won’t be seeing Andrew at any birthday festivities. He’s actually made it worse for himself due to his pride and pervasively privileged attitude, thinking he’s still entitled.”
Fordwich claimed that the former Duke of York, now known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, is “refusing to negotiate residence terms.” She noted this has “merely served to widen the gulf between himself and the family at large.”
A spokesperson for Buckingham Palace previously told Fox News Digital they don’t answer for Andrew as he’s not a working royal.
“Charles is purportedly ‘fed up’ with Andrew and, to the greatest extent possible, will be barring Andrew from any royal events,” Fordwich added.
On Oct. 30, Buckingham Palace announced that Charles was removing his brother’s titles and evicting him from his palatial Royal Lodge home over his relationship with late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Ongoing pressure has loomed over the palace to punish the 65-year-old over new revelations about his friendship with Epstein and renewed attention on sexual abuse allegations by one of Epstein’s victims, Virginia Roberts Giuffre. Her posthumous memoir was published last month.
Charles stripped Andrew of his princely title, one that he’d had since birth. But the scrutiny surrounding the late queen’s favorite son is far from over.
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On Tuesday, Democratic members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee made public tens of thousands of additional pages of documents from the estate of the late disgraced financier.
Emails included in the files referenced Andrew in connection with Giuffre, who accused him of sexually abusing her on three separate occasions in 2001 when she was a teenager after Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell trafficked her.
Andrew has consistently denied Giuffre’s allegations and claimed he has no memory of meeting her. However, several emails included in the documents and obtained by The Telegraph and Sky News appeared to cast doubt on Andrew’s denials, including statements that he made during a 2019 interview on BBC’s “Newsnight.”
In one email that Epstein sent to a journalist, he seemed to contradict a suggestion made by Andrew during the interview that a now-infamous photo showing the former prince with an underage Giuffre was fake.
The image, which allegedly showed Andrew with his arm around Giuffre’s waist and Maxwell in the background, was first made public in February 2011 and became key to the controversy surrounding the royal.
In the newly released correspondence, which was sent in July 2011, Epstein appeared to confirm the image’s authenticity and claimed “many” of his employees also took photos with Andrew.
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“King Charles may be choking on his birthday cake as more allegations over Andrew are revealed,” royal expert Ian Pelham Turner told Fox News Digital.
“There is little more the king can do to further punish his erstwhile brother,” he said.
“Andrew is sidelined. But the king wonders how he can preserve the monarchy from this latest twist, knowing that further recriminations may continue. Brotherly love between them is at an all-time low. Prince William is said to be demanding that all these revelations mean not showing any leniency towards Andrew.”
In a 2015 federal lawsuit that Giuffre filed against Maxwell, she claimed that she met and was recruited by the socialite in the summer of 2000 when she was 16 and working as a spa attendant at President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida.
In her book “Nobody’s Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice,” Giuffre — who died by suicide at the age of 41 earlier this year — provided further details about meeting Maxwell and how events unfolded afterward.
During his interview with the BBC, which was widely considered disastrous for the former prince, Andrew addressed the infamous image, saying, “I have absolutely no memory of that photograph ever being taken.”
“Nobody can prove whether or not that photograph has been doctored, but I don’t recollect that photograph ever being taken,” Andrew continued.
“From the investigations that we’ve done, you can’t prove whether or not that photograph is faked or not because it is a photograph of a photograph of a photograph,” he added.
In another 2011 email obtained by The Telegraph from the newly released files, Andrew appeared to express distress over the mounting public and media scrutiny over his relationship with Epstein and Giuffre’s allegations.
According to the outlet, a reporter from the Mail on Sunday emailed Epstein on March 4, 2011, to ask for comment on the relationship that he, Maxwell and Andrew had with Giuffre.
Per the outlet, Andrew appeared to reply directly to Maxwell after the email was forwarded to him, writing, “Hey there! What’s all this? I don’t know anything about this. You must SAY [sic] so please. This has NOTHING To do with me.”
“I can’t take any more of this.”
PRINCE ANDREW VANISHES FROM ROYAL WEBSITE AFTER KING CHARLES STRIPS ALL TITLES AND HONORS
Fordwich noted that on his birthday, the king will be supported by his heir and beloved daughter-in-law as the royals navigate the media storm.
“Given the current fervor regarding Andrew, birthday celebrations for the king are likely to be subdued with a greater emphasis on service,” said Fordwich. “They will demonstrate all the dedication to duty the monarchy stands for to ensure continuity.”
“Prince William and Princess Catherine are stepping up, with her better health and his determination to move past his uncle,” she said.
“They project stability and are focused on the future of the monarchy. They are intimately involved in succession planning, international engagements and global initiatives. Both of them are projecting a more reform-focused monarchy, only including a narrow inner circle with a far greater emphasis on accountability.”
British broadcaster and photographer Helena Chard told Fox News Digital that for Charles, the show must go on.
“The king’s decision to keep his birthday celebrations low-key is a reflection of his philosophy that the monarchy should serve, rather than celebrate itself,” she explained. “Instead of hosting a lavish reception, he will be engaging in official duties. A private celebration with Queen Camilla and a public cutting of a birthday cake will be on the menu.”
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“The relationship between Charles and Andrew is strained,” said Chard. “The king’s inner circle has also shrunk, with some now pushing for an even stronger stance against Andrew as he’s still making headlines for all the wrong reasons.”
“Andrew’s downfall was brought on by his hubris. Despite these challenges, the king remains committed to his role.”
