Ever since Prince Andrew fell out of favor, King Charles seems to have been doing everything in his power to oust his brother from the royal family. But the brothers’ relationship had cracked long before Andrew’s scandals.
Because of his involvement in the Epstein scandal, Prince Andrew, 63, had to give up his military titles and patronage in early 2022. In addition, he may no longer use the salutation “His Royal Highness” in any official capacity. King Charles, 74, is said to have pushed for this decision. A few weeks ago, the monarch is said to have thrown his brother out of the Royal Lodge. “It looks like his brother wants to evict him,” a source told The Sun. The king offered him Frogmore Cottage as a shelter, which is now being vacated by Prince Harry, 38, and Duchess Meghan, 41. But Andrew is reluctant to accept the offer. However, these are only the most recent clashes between the brothers – the tensions started when they were children.
King Charles and Prince Andrew had different childhoods
Despite growing up in the same house and palace, Charles and Andrew received very different upbringings. Queen Elizabeth, † 96, became queen when Charles was just three years old. Royal duty took her around the world while her firstborn stayed at home, longing for his parents. Andrew, on the other hand, never had to fight for his mother’s attention. “The Queen treated Andrew and Edward very differently from Charles and Anne. She was very affectionate to the two younger ones,” writes Christopher Andersen in the biography The King: The Life of Charles III.
Because Andrew was born when Elizabeth had already sat on the throne for several years and felt “more comfortable in her role as queen”. In addition, the monarch is said to have noticed what her sister, Princess Margaret, † 71, had to go through as a “surrogate child”. That’s why, according to “Mirror”, she took particularly good care of Andrew and gave him freedoms that were unattainable for Charles. This is said to have made Charles extremely jealous.
Prince Andrew was jealous of the heir to the throne
The 63-year-old, on the other hand, – like his nephew Prince Harry – could not come to terms with his role as a so-called “substitute man”. In the 2019 Channel 5 documentary Paxman on the Queen’s Children, royal pundit Richard Kay claims Charles once said, “The problem with my brother Andrew is that he wants to be me.” Andrew’s irritation was so great that he allegedly campaigned for the crown not to go to his big brother, but directly to Prince William, 40. Later, Princess Diana, † 36, and Andrew’s current ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, 63, are said to have teamed up to achieve this goal – apparently unsuccessfully.
Andrew wanted to stop Charles from marrying Camilla
Royal expert Angela Levin also claims in her book Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall: From Outcast to Queen Consort that the disgraced prince tried to prevent Charles from marrying Queen Camilla, 75. According to an unnamed source, he went to his mother and said he was “pretty toxic, mean, unhelpful and very angry” about the woman at his brother’s side. His behavior was said to have been “very, very negative and extremely uncomfortable” for the Queen. Eventually, however, he could not persuade her to boycott Charles’ marriage.
King Charles: Public affront to his brother
Over the years, the relationship between the brothers became increasingly strained. In 2018, Camilla skipped Princess Eugenie’s, 32, wedding as she was “entertaining guests” at her Scottish home – a move interpreted as a public snub. A few months later, Charles made an affront: Because in March 2019, according to “Mirror”, Andrew was absent from Charles’ big celebration of the 50th anniversary of his appointment as Prince of Wales. Whether Andrew was invited or not remained unclear. However, voices were raised that Charles deliberately chose not to have his little brother present. A source told Daily Beast at the time that Andrew’s absence could be described as a “naked display of hostility.”
Queen Elizabeth is said to have been despondent as her sons’ relationship grew more and more frosty. They also appear to have become even more estranged since her passing. In some ways, Charles and Andrew’s relationship is similar to that of Harry and William. A sad conclusion that shows how history seems to repeat itself in relation to heirs to the throne and their “substitutes”.
Sources used: thesun.co.uk, The King: The Life of Charles III, Paxman on the Queen’s Children, mirror.co.uk, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall: From Outcast to Queen Consort