REBECCA ENGLISH: Why Andrew should spare his brother the anguish and fall on his sword

There have been many ‘bad weeks’ for the Duke of York in recent years.

But this one feels different from the others.

For starters, thanks to an exclusive report to the world in The Mail on Sunday, there has been undeniable evidence that Prince Andrew was clearly lying when he broke the news that he would only ever have anything to do with him again by claiming to have met convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein in December 2010.

Andrew told the BBC he felt it was ‘honorable’ to meet his friend face to face and never contacted him again.

We now know that just 12 weeks later, the billionaire secretly emailed the predator the day after a photo with alleged teen sex victim Virginia Giuffre was first published, saying that “we’re in this together” and that we needed to “get through this.”

He concluded, ad nauseam: ‘Otherwise, stay in close contact and we’ll play some more soon.’

It was signed ‘A, HRH The Duke of York, KG’; I will return to the last letters later.

Much of the saga in recent years surrounding Epstein, the late Queen’s (supposedly favourite) son, and Ms Giuffre, who tragically committed suicide earlier this year but whose harrowing memoirs from beyond the grave have also just been published, has focused on little more than claim and counterclaim.

The discovery of the e-mail he sent to the pedophile changes the situation.

In addition to the recent unwelcome revelation that Andrew invited the senior Chinese official at the center of the current Beijing spy case to Buckingham Palace for lunch in 2018 (one of too many scandals related to his questionable business activities to mention), it is fair to say that the situation has led to crisis talks at Buckingham Palace.

My understanding is that ‘all options are on the table’ and that everything from removing him from the dukedom to finally expelling him from the Order of the Garter, the oldest order of chivalry in the country to which most senior members of the Royal Family belong for their loyal service to the Crown, is ‘actively being considered’. This was given as a gift from the King.

Andrew also remains a State Counselor, who can step in and act on the monarch’s behalf if he or she becomes incapacitated.

The chances of this happening in reality are slim, but it’s still the position of authority he holds.

In fact, Andrew remains – incredibly – listed as a member of the Royal Family on the website, but has a significantly smaller profile alongside fellow royal troublemakers Harry and Meghan.

When serious allegations against the prince first began to emerge more than 15 years ago, the Royal Family and their advisors were initially extremely slow to act.

In 2011 Andrew was forced to resign from his freewheeling role as ‘ambassador’ for trade and industry (seen by many as little more than a fig leaf to enjoy foreign trips and line his own pockets) after years of scandal.

But it wasn’t until January 2022 that Queen Elizabeth finally stripped him of his military titles, royal patronages and use of his HRH title, following a judge’s ruling that he must defend a civilian sexual assault claim filed by Ms Guiffre in the US. He eventually left court without admitting any responsibility.

Virginia Giuffre photographed with Prince Andrew and Ghislaine Maxwell in London in 2001

King Charles similarly attacked his younger brother in a private capacity, although his friends repeatedly emphasized that it was impossible for him to ‘expel’ him as a member of his family.

Shortly after ascending the throne, she quietly stripped Andrew of his private family allowance to ‘smoke’ him out of the Royal Lodge, the 30-room mansion he still lavishly occupied with his ex-wife Sarah, Duchess of York, at Windsor (he lost all remaining official taxpayer funds when he was forced to resign as a working royal).

The feeling on the King’s side is that Andrew’s dogged insistence on remaining at the Berkshire palace (for which he has a 100-plus year lease) has put him at further risk from his own hubris and at the mercy of forces hostile to the UK, who happily exploit both his stupidity and his desperation for money.

If Andrew accepted the offer of a smaller, more manageable estate on the royal estate, Charles was even prepared to refund his salary and pay out of his own pocket for the prince to maintain private security guards.

But as a friend told me earlier this year: ‘Given that his brother is now a grown man and a private individual, there is only so much the king can do. ‘He has cut himself off financially, no longer holds any official royal duties, he has tried to help her but they have all been rebuffed.’

The only option now left to the King is to deprive his younger brother of any shred of dignity or connection with public life.

Promoted as a Knight of the Order of the Garter in 2006, Andrew has always enjoyed having the letters KG next to his name. It was in the signature of his now-infamous email to Epstein, and it’s something he still uses today, I’m told.

Until now, honors such as the Order of the Garter had only been received for treason or heresy.

But although no charges have been formally brought against him, there is a growing sense that Andrew’s cumulative behavior over the years amounts to a flagrant dereliction of duty to both the Crown and the country.

As I said on the Daily Mail’s Palace Confidential program this week, this would be a final move for public condemnation and our viewers are at least openly crying out for the king to take action.

Maybe Andrew will spare his brother the pain, do the right thing, and recuse himself?

It was certainly what the King had always hoped for.

‘The garter is, of course, our highest chivalric honour. A courtier recently told me how ironic it would be if the Duke voluntarily lost this quality for the first time. ‘That’s why people can respect him, even respect him.’