“Woke Royals”

Prince Andrew will refuse any efforts to get him out of his royal mansion despite new claims over his links with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

The Duke of York has reportedly vowed to fight any attempt made by King Charles to evict him from Royal Lodge, his ten-bedroom Windsor home since 2003, following the release of court documents detailing a slew of sexual assault allegations.

The King is said to want to remove his brother from his Berkshire residence and move him into the smaller Frogmore Cottage, which had belonged to Harry and Meghan before they left for the US.

I get the feeling Andrew will be “sent away” out of the Royal spotlight.

The Duke of York is set to be forced to fund future security operations at his Windsor home, The Telegraph can reveal, as Sir Keir Starmer said police should look into sexual abuse allegations made against him.

‌The King is preparing to withdraw the private funding he ploughs into the security operation at Royal Lodge, The Telegraph understands.

‌To avoid being forced out of the 30-room property, Prince Andrew will need to conjure up the small fortune required to maintain security and upkeep. He has no discernible income, and the house is in need of extensive repairs.

He is facing the prospect of not one, but two docudramas raking over the humiliation of his Newsnight interview

Five days in, and 2024 shows every sign of being yet another annus horribilis for Prince Andrew. After — by his, admittedly reduced, standards — a triumphant Christmas, in which he processed to church at Sandringham with the rest of the British royal family and, bizarrely, an apparently rehabilitated Fergie, the cold clear light of reality has intruded once again.

Prince Andrew has been reported to the police over the alleged sexual abuse of a 17-year-old girl in London after her claims were repeated in newly released court papers linking him to Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted paedophile.

Republic, Britain’s largest anti-monarchist campaign group, claimed that the files contained “new details of sexual assault and rape allegations” made against the Duke of York, which prompted it to ask the Metropolitan Police to re-investigate the claims.

pic.twitter.com/pTG9uZKITp

— Katie Hopkins (@Hellohowru12345) January 5, 2024

h/t Mauser

In many ways, this could not have come at a worse time for the Duke of York.

‌There he was, strolling to church on Christmas Day, back in the bosom of his family. Not only had he been publicly welcomed back into the fold but his former wife the Duchess of York, with whom he still lives, was also invited to join the annual show of family unity for the first time since 1992.

‌While most observers noted the presence of a visibly delighted Fergie, Prince Andrew barely got a mention – and this, after years of hugely damaging headlines concerning his ill-advised relationship with Jeffrey Epstein and allegations of sexual abuse, was progress.

2023 has left the arrogance of Charles and the ridiculousness of the Sussexes brutally exposed.

2023 – the year of King Charles’s coronation and Prince Harry’s Spare – was a weird year for a republican like me. Though I nurse a profound and lifelong loathing for Charles, I found myself repeatedly taking his side against Harry and Meghan of Montecito. Add to this my weakness for Diana-faced Prince William (even when he is manhandling man-necklaces) and his well-groomed, well-meaning wife (great-great-granddaughter of a miner, daughter of a trolly dolly), and my attitude towards the British monarchy became something of a hot mess.

If ever Prince Harry writes another volume of memoir, he may choose to look back on 2023 as his annus horribilis. The year began in high-profile fashion, with the publication of his autobiography Spare. This book swiftly became the fastest-selling non-fiction work of all time; he marked its appearance with promotional interviews that alternated between defensive, irritable and unduly arrogant. Yet Harry’s year is ending with myriad humiliations. These include losing one of his apparently innumerable court cases, he and his wife, Meghan Markle, being described as the ‘biggest Hollywood losers’ and a much-ridiculed video clip of the various endeavours of their charitable foundation Archewell over the past twelve months.

It’s not the happiest of Christmases for Prince Andrew who is said to be freaking out ahead of the unsealing of Jeffrey Epstein’s court documents in just over a week.

The King has used his Christmas message to preach the “universal” values of Christians, Jews and Muslims “at a time of increasingly tragic conflict around the world”.

The King, in his second annual festive message, said that the “Abrahamic family of religions” all hold the same fundamental beliefs about imagining oneself “in the shoes of our neighbours, and to seek their good as we would our own”.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are no strangers to criticism. Even so, a take-down from The Hollywood Reporter would have hurt. The magazine, the trade bible in the world of film, television and showbusiness has included the couple on their annual “winners and losers” list for 2023. They were not on the right side.

“In 2020, the royal duo fled a life of ceremonial public service to cash in their celebrity status in the States,” its citation as one of the year’s losers read. “But after a whiny Netflix documentary, a whiny biography (Spare – even the title is a pouty gripe) and an inert podcast, the Harry and Meghan brand swelled into a sanctimonious bubble just begging to be popped – and South Park was the pin.”

Prince Harry has had a win. The fifth in the line of succession to the British throne won his phone hacking lawsuit Friday against the publisher of the Daily Mirror and was awarded over £140,000 pounds ($180,000) in the first of a string of cases against tabloid newspapers to go to trial.

King Charles recorded his annual Christmas speech this week — ahead of his fifth Christmas without his son Prince Harry.

But while Harry won’t be with his “Pa” over the holidays, he is planning to reach out to the monarch, along with his wife Meghan Markle and their children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, from their Montecito mansion.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s Archewell Foundation suffered an $11 million drop in donations last year, meaning the organisation made a loss, tax filings reveal.

A public disclosure form filed with the American tax authorities shows Harry and Meghan’s foundation recorded a deficit of $674,485 due to a sharp plunge in donations.

The foundation received $13 million in 2021, including $10 million from a single donor, but that figure dropped to $2 million last year, the filing shows. The donations from last year were from two individual donors who each gave $1 million, though their identities are not revealed.

This marriage is toast.