King Charles’ strategy to contain the fallout surrounding Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is unraveling, multiple royal experts told Fox News Digital before the fallen prince was reportedly arrested Wednesday on his 66th birthday.
The monarch is said to be increasingly concerned that more accusations about his brother’s connection to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein could soon come to light.
“The road is narrowing for Andrew as unprecedented bombshell revelations drop daily,” British broadcaster and photographer Helena Chard told Fox News Digital.
“There is an air of chaos as King Charles is also seemingly being pushed down this narrowing road,” she shared.
“The public is calling for accountability, and it seems the royal family can’t get ahead of the curve, let alone on top of the current public outcry. As King Charles endures a verbal battering, being thrown into the pot of blame, many wonder if he can read the room.”
Chard’s comments followed remarks by Vanity Fair correspondent and royal author Katie Nicholl, who told the outlet the 77-year-old king is concerned “that more is yet to come.”
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“There’s a sense of not knowing what is coming next, and that is destabilizing,” an insider told the outlet. “The king has done everything he can; he has stripped Andrew of his titles, removed him from his home, and is trying to keep Andrew out of the picture, but it is proving to be impossible.”
On Oct. 30, the king stripped his disgraced brother of his princely title and evicted him from his royal mansion.
Demands had been growing for Buckingham Palace to act amid reports about Andrew’s friendship with Epstein and renewed allegations from one of Epstein’s victims, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, whose posthumous memoir was released that month.
Andrew, long regarded as the late Queen Elizabeth II’s favorite son, faced renewed public outrage after emails also revealed he stayed in contact with Epstein longer than he previously admitted.
Andrew now lives on the king’s Sandringham estate, Britain’s Press Association reported. He is temporarily staying at Wood Farm cottage while his permanent residence, Marsh Farm cottage, undergoes repairs. According to multiple reports, the king is personally funding Andrew’s living arrangements.
“King Charles hasn’t completely kicked Andrew to the curb, funding Andrew’s living situation at present,” Chard explained. “His reasoning is likely due to a mix of family obligations and a desire to maintain control over the situation. Supporting Andrew privately allows the king to manage the narrative and minimize damage to the monarch. The irony is that it isn’t going to plan.”
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“Despite Andrew’s tarnished reputation, King Charles agreed to look out for his brother,” Chard continued.
“He made that promise to their mother. The queen had a strong sense of duty and family obligation, which may have led her to request that King Charles look after Andrew. Andrew’s emotional and overall well-being was of great importance to her.”
Royal experts told Fox News Digital that Charles has every reason to worry about how Andrew’s past could impact the monarchy’s future.
Andrew’s swift relocation came as Thames Valley Police confirmed they were investigating claims that Epstein flew another woman to Britain to have sex with the king’s brother. A lawyer for the alleged victim told the BBC the encounter occurred in 2010 at Andrew’s former residence, Royal Lodge.
The allegations are separate from those made by Giuffre, who claimed she had been trafficked to Britain to have sex with Andrew in 2001, when she was just 17.
Mountbatten-Windsor also appeared multiple times in the 3 million pages of documents released by the U.S. Department of Justice.
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In an email dated March 23, 2011, an attorney for an exotic dancer alleged that Epstein and Mountbatten-Windsor asked her to take part in a threesome at the sex offender’s Florida home, according to The Associated Press.
Mountbatten-Windsor has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing in connection with Epstein and has not responded publicly to the new trafficking claim.
Paul Burrell, Princess Diana’s former butler and author of “The Royal Insider,” told Fox News Digital that “the weight of monarchy weighs heavily” on the king.
“He is a father, a brother, a husband,” he said. “He has the weight of everybody on his shoulders. I often think to myself, he waited so long for this job. He waited so long to be king and wanted it so badly. I wonder if now that he has it, he should think, ‘Be careful what you wish for because in the end you get it.’ And now he has it. And what a job he has now.”
“His brother has gone rogue, and I don’t think we’ve seen the last of that yet,” Burrell warned.
“What Charles is trying to do at the moment is control the House of Windsor. If he can contain it and keep it all in its separate compartments, I think he’ll win. But he has to manage it very carefully. He can’t let people just ride roughshod over him because he’s king. Charles makes the rules. The family should abide by them.”
Other correspondence between Epstein and someone believed to be Mountbatten-Windsor shows Epstein offering to arrange a date between the man and a 26-year-old Russian woman, The Associated Press reported.
The man, who signs off simply as “A,” later suggested that he and Epstein have dinner in London, either at a restaurant or Buckingham Palace.
It’s also noted that the former prince’s residence at Royal Lodge has long been a point of contention between the king and his brother.
After Charles became king in 2022, he sought to move his brother into a smaller residence on the Windsor Castle estate, the outlet reported.
Mountbatten-Windsor refused, citing a lease that runs through 2078. But pressure for Andrew to leave intensified in October as lawmakers and the public questioned the favorable terms of his 30-room Royal Lodge lease, managed by the Crown Estate.
The Crown Estate controls properties throughout the country that are technically owned by the monarchy but are managed for the benefit of British taxpayers. The Sandringham estate in Norfolk, on the other hand, is the king’s personal property.
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“Wood Farm and Marsh Farm are private residences funded privately by the king,” British royals expert Hilary Fordwich told Fox News Digital. “He is thereby honoring the late queen’s wishes. There is no possibility of any rehabilitation for Andrew.”
“The king is known to be forgiving — viewing it as his Christian duty as head of the Church of England — and bound by duty to protect both his brother and the monarchy by isolating him,” Fordwich said. “By funding Andrew, the king retains control. It’s containment with compassion.”
But not everyone agrees with the king’s approach, said Fordwich.
“Prince William has been strongly behind all the isolation of his uncle,” she said. “He wants total obscurity, full banishment. He isn’t going to protect Andrew. But the king is thinking about risk management, attempting damage control and containment.
“If left to his own devices, Andrew might turn to unsavory ways to make money, per his track record, or write a book or consider pay-for-tell-all avenues or sketchy deals, adding to the existing crisis.”
Royal expert Ian Pelham Turner told Fox News Digital that Andrew could still pose problems for the monarchy if not carefully managed.
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“Now that Andrew is out of the royal family, what is stopping him from telling his side of the story?” said Turner. “In my opinion, we have not seen the last of Andrew. He may find a salutary solution to vent his anger at what has happened to disgrace him.”
