Victoria Ward
London: Amid the noise, regret and recriminations, one branch of the royal family has remained unusually silent.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have chosen not to add their voices to those of many who apparently feel compelled to intervene in the cataclysmic arrest of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and his period in police custody.
Because? Because for all of Prince Harry’s simmering anger and frustration at being eternally “lumped up” with his errant uncle, he recognizes that, for once, no good can come from collaborating with his family’s shame.
The Duke made his views on Andrew very clear in his memoirs: Replacement.
He said he found it surprising that, while he and Meghan were being stripped of their taxpayer-funded security for simply opting out of the institution and choosing to live abroad, Andrew, who had been accused of sexually assaulting a teenager, was not facing such ramifications.
“He was embroiled in a disgraceful scandal, accused of sexually assaulting a young woman, and no one had even suggested that he lose his security,” Harry wrote.
“Whatever complaints people had against us, sexual crimes were not on the list.”
Those two short paragraphs are a lot of work. Those bitter rivers are deep.
Harry has long grappled with the fact that Buckingham Palace – both the family and the wider institution – “went around” Andrew despite year after year of distasteful revelations and accusations about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.
By comparison, Harry believes he was unceremoniously let go before being torn apart for airing the family’s dirty laundry in a series of extraordinary television interviews.
Since then, the propensity to group Harry and Andrew under one umbrella as “the Duke and Duchess of Hazard” has only served to deepen divisions.
The Duke of Sussex had spent 10 years serving his country with distinction. His greatest crimes were little more than an ill-advised disguise and a few drunken nights. Why, then, did the family act so quickly to cut off his funding and security while Andrew remained protected by the institution for years?
It’s no secret that Harry, like his brother William, had never been a big fan of his uncle, despite his fondness for his cousins, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie.
But he vehemently denied a report that he gave the former Duke of York a “nosebleed” during a row at a family gathering in 2013.
According to historian Andrew Lownie’s book, EntitledAndrew also once told his nephew that his marriage to Meghan “wouldn’t last more than a month.”
He allegedly “accused Meghan of being an opportunist and thought she was too old for Harry, adding that his nephew was making the biggest mistake ever.”
Andrew is said to have told his nephew he had gone “crazy”, accusing him of not doing “any due diligence on his past” before proposing to her in 2017.
In a carefully worded response to the allegations, made last year, the Sussexes’ spokesperson said Andrew and Harry had “never had a physical fight, nor did Andrew ever make the comments he allegedly made about the Duchess of Sussex to Prince Harry.”
Whatever has happened before, the Sussexes are under no illusions about the enormity of Andrew’s arrest and what it means for the reputation of the monarchy.
Harry has long criticized injustice. His personal desire for accountability was illustrated by his decision to take legal action against the tabloid press.
Their opinions, therefore, speak for themselves.
There is little love lost for Harry and Meghan in Britain. But whichever side of the fence you sit on, it will surely be a relief to finally recognize that there are times when it’s better to just say nothing.
The Telegraph, London
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