PRINCE William and Prince Harry’s rift is not the only feud taking place in the royal family at the moment.
According to royal experts, King Charles and Prince Andrew’s relationship is now “very, very bitter”, due to the Duke of York refusing to leave his home, Royal Lodge.
The monarch, 75, is allegedly threatening to sever ties with his younger brother the Duke of York, 64, over his failure to vacate Royal Lodge.
Andrew – often dubbed Elizabeth II’s favourite child – shares the home, on the grounds of Windsor Castle, with his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson.
The shamed duke will never return to public duty after paying millions to settle an abuse case with a Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking victim, and Charles has been trying to evict him from the 30-room property for 18 months as it falls into disrepair.
Kate Mansey, Royal Editor of The Times, claims Charles and Andrew’s feud appears to mirror that of the King’s own sons Prince William and Prince Harry.
Speaking on her podcast, The Royals with Roya and Kate, she said: “I think we think about Harry and William falling out, but this is very, very bitter now between Andrew and the King.”
She added: “What’s so interesting is just how fraught the relations have got between the brothers.”
The Sun exclusively revealed Andrew had rejected the chance to move into Frogmore Cottage last year after Harry and Meghan were served with eviction.
Andrew is said to have pointed out that he is in possession of a 75-year lease – but could Charles still force a move?
Kate continued: “Somebody said to me, a friend close to the King, said it can be done tidily or it can be done untidily.
“Getting rid of Andrew from Royal Lodge can be done with grace and dignity, or it can be forced upon him.
“So this is sort of fighting talk because Charles is paying a lot of money to have him stay there—his security, his allowance.”
Palace sources have insisted Prince Andrew “remains the King’s brother” and is welcome at family events but will never return to public duty.
The disgraced Duke’s police protection was removed when he stepped back from royal duties amid the Epstein scandal.
But Charles stepped in to pick up his multi-million pounds private security bill.
The crisis shows no sign of going away after Netflix screened its hit drama Scoop detailing Andrew’s ‘car crash’ Newsnight interview.
And there is yet another depiction of his shame in an Amazon series on his downfall where Andy is played by actor Michael Sheen.
The scandal-hit father of two has kept out of the public since he caused controversy leading the family into a service for late Greek King Constantine at Windsor Castle in February in the absence of the cancer-hit King.
But last month he was seen playing golf without a care in the world with pals in Scotland.
King Charles and Prince Andrew's relationship
King Charles and Prince Andrew are reported to have been closer as children, despite their 12-year age gap.
There are claims the now-monarch used to read bedtime stories to the young Duke of York, and they did attend royal duties together.
In 1981, Andrew was one of multiple best men at Charles’ wedding to Princess Diana.
Some royal experts suggest their relationship began to waiver after the Duke began dating Sarah Ferguson in 1985, who he then married the following year.
Richard Fitzwilliams pinpointed the period when Andrew’s marriage “started to disintegrate, and Sarah Ferguson was involved in a variety of controversial activities” that bad blood came to the surface.
“I mean, I think, very clearly Charles had doubts,” he continued, adding there were also issues with “the way Andrew handled his post” as a “special representative for British trade”.
In November 2019, things really came to a head when Andrew’s disastrous Newsnight interview was aired, in which he failed to say he regretted his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.
The pair appear to have first met in the early 1990s.
Mr Fitzwilliams added: “Charles must have been very concerned about the some of the company that his brother was keeping.”
Andrew was forced back from royal duties after the BBC broadcast and was later stripped of various titles and patronages amid his legal dispute with Virginia Giuffre.
Any hope that the attitude towards Andrew would soften now that Charles is King doesn’t appear realistic.
Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams told The Sun: “The King has undoubtedly got a problem, and the Royal Family very, very clearly have extremely serious and embarrassing perpetual problem with Prince Andrew.”
He said the differences between the two brothers, however, have been striking their whole lives.
“They seem to have gone on as complete opposites, really, in so many ways,” he explained.
“Of course, there’s a 12-year age gap between King Charles and Prince Andrew,” he continued, adding they “hadn’t got that much in common”.
I think we think about Harry and William falling out, but this is very, very bitter now between Andrew and the King
Kate Mansey
“Charles is rather sort of intellectual, serious, sensitive. Andrew, rather bumptious, outgoing.”
Referring to the Royal Lodge dispute, Mr Fitzwilliams said: “You could argue what’s the point of him now?
“He has no royal role, he never will have. So what happens, and then he should get any money.
“Well, this is up to the King, obviously. It’s an embarrassing situation.
“The facts are, however, he still remains a terrible and dreadful embarrassment to the Royal Family, but that is a different matter.”
'There is no way back for Prince Andrew', claims PR guru
PRINCE Andrew’s reputation is damaged beyond repair and he will never be able to engineer a return to public life, according to one of Britain’s top PR gurus.
Brand and culture expert Nick Ede, who runs East of Eden PR agency, called the shamed royal “deluded” for thinking he could ever return to royal duties and urged him to give up and ‘enjoy his life’ in exile.
It follows the release of Scoop – a Netflix movie based on the 2019 interview he gave to Newsnight.
Nick said: “There is no way back for him.
“I think you know this perpetual idea that he could still be back. Nobody cares. He hasn’t got fans.
“There’s nobody out there who’s going ‘We want to see Prince Andrew’, not one single person. I think he has to realise that. But I think it’s going to take a long, long time for him to actually understand. It’s very deluded.
“In my opinion, the best thing that he could do is just enjoy his life. He’s got gorgeous daughters. He has a great relationship with Fergie, he has a lovely house.
“Just live a quiet life.”
Reflecting on the interview five years ago – the fallout of which saw Andrew step back from royal duties “for the foreseeable future” – Nick compared the fallout to Frost vs Nixon and said he would have urged him not to do it.
He said: “If I had been advising him, I would say, go quiet, be quiet, just go to ground. You know you’re a prince. Enjoy the life that you lead, but do not open this can of worms, because that’s what it is.
“There was no admission that a relationship with somebody like Epstein was terribly toxic. There was no idea that there were loads of victims of trafficking whose lives were completely ruined by Epstein. He didn’t seem to think that the association he had with that man was anything but positive.
“I think his worst gaffe was obviously being in that interview and agreeing to it in the first place, for not realising that he’s actually going to be interviewed by a very, very good journalist who is going to ask him questions which he might not like.
“But I think what this has done is really shown how archaic Prince Andrew is in his opinions and thoughts.
“Read the room. He’s never read a room at all.”