Key Points
- The role of embattled Prince Andrew in the British monarchy is again under scrutiny.
- Will he 'fade from view' under King Charles III's reign?
This article contains references to sexual assault/child abuse.
The role of embattled Prince Andrew in the British monarchy is again under scrutiny following .
The Duke of York is currently eighth in line to the throne following the death of his mother, but many have speculated that he will be sidelined from public appearances by the royal family in future due to ongoing fallout from his association with the late convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Prince Andrew was through Edinburgh this week, with a man tackled to the ground by police and arrested after he appeared to yell out, "Andrew, you're a sick old man" at the royal as he walked past.
With King Charles III expected to continue the trend of a pared-down monarchy and assign official public-facing roles to a select few 'working' royals, what will role will Prince Andrew now play in the royal family?
Why is Prince Andrew a controversial figure?
In January, Prince Andrew was stripped of his official military duties and agreed to stop using the title of His Royal Highness in an official capacity amid a sexual assault lawsuit brought by longtime accuser Virginia Giuffre in New York.
"With the Queen's approval and agreement, the Duke of York's military affiliations and royal patronages have been returned to the Queen," Buckingham Palace said in a statement at the time.
"The Duke of York will continue not to undertake any public duties and is defending this case as a private citizen."
Ms Giuffre claimed she had sex with Prince Andrew when she was 17 and a minor after meeting him through Epstein.
Prince Andrew repeatedly denied the allegations and has not been criminally charged.
He was met with public outcry following a BBC Newsnight interview in 2019 where he said he "still" did not regret his friendship with Epstein, who died in a US jail while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
In February, Ms Giuffre's lawsuit was settled for an undisclosed sum.
The agreement required Prince Andrew make a "substantial donation" to a charity established by Ms Giuffre that supports sex trafficking victims, her lawyer David Boies said.
What was Prince Andrew’s role prior to the Epstein scandal?
Prior to the Epstein scandal, Prince Andrew was a working royal who had represented the Queen at home and abroad for decades.
He officially retired from his career in the Royal Navy in 2001 but kept his naval affiliation, receiving the honourary title of vice admiral in 2015, a rank he still holds.
In recent years, Prince Andrew was "a sort of a roving economic adviser or representative of Britain", said Giselle Bastin an associate professor at Flinders University whose research focuses on British royalty.
"He was involved in entrepreneurial schemes to get startups happening and money moving and things like that … but he's had to give all of that up because of course it was in those international business dealings that he did, of course, come across Jeffrey Epstein," she said.
Prince Andrew. Source: AAP
"Andrew was, I think, the apple of her eye. There's a lot of evidence to suggest that yes, of course, she loved him as a son, and she did protect him. But now she's gone," she said.
"Certainly, when he seemed to hit rough patches in the press, and when the Epstein stories would emerge or various other scandals connected to his former wife, Sarah Ferguson, it was interesting the way the Queen always seemed to be seen at his side," Dr Bastin said.
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Andrew, Duke of York, in 2013. Credit: Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images
What is Prince Andrew's future under King Charles III?
In recent years we have seen "a real paring back" in the number of official working royals, Dr Bastin said.
"For some time the palace balcony was practically groaning under the weight of the royals, who would cram onto it to wave to the crowds. So that has already been really thinned out, and the Duke of York and his two daughters, Beatrice and Eugenie, were some of the ones to go," she said.
"And it was reported at the time that Prince Andrew was most unhappy about this decision, but it happened while his mother was alive."
Dr Bastin said she can't see "Andrew and the daughters necessarily being back on the balcony soon as it were".
King Charles "wants to very much focus the narrative on himself, the new Queen Consort, the new Prince and Princess of Wales, the Sussexes and then at a stretch the Wessexes", she said.
Prince Andrew's appearance in civilian rather than military dress while walking behind the Queen’s coffin in Edinburgh this week was "a very stark reminder of his change in status", Dr Bastin said.
King Charles III, Princess Anne and Prince Andrew (right) walk behind the hearse carrying the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II, on 12 September 2022 in Edinburgh, Scotland. Credit: WPA Pool/Getty Images
"It's hard to know. What does one do when he can't do his business and community schemes? He's probably not going to represent King Charles III on royal events within the United Kingdom or abroad. He has inherited the late Queen's dogs, so maybe he will just become the 'keeper of the corgis' … I don't see that he has all that much to do," Dr Bastin said.
However minor, the royal family will "have to come up with something" for the embattled prince to do to enable him to stay in house, which is on the Windsor estate, she said.
When it comes to ongoing public backlash, such as the incident of at the prince this week, Dr Bastin said the royal family is likely prepared for such eventualities.
"They are survivalists, the Windsors. I mean, they got their surname during the First World War when it had become apparent that their German associations, the German surname of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha was making them a bit vulnerable given, you know, the war," she said.
"So they know how to rally and do what needs to be done in terms of publicity when required.
"I think if Andrew has to fade from view … they will do that."
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