Sports players routinely cover their mouths when they talk so that nobody can lip-read them. Senior royals might want to think about doing the same when they’re having conversations in front of cameras.
We all recall that moment in 2025 when then-Prince Andrew sidled up to King Charles and Prince William outside the Duchess of Kent’s funeral. It was the moment when we saw the depth of William’s contempt for Andrew, and we witnessed, in real time, the different approaches that William and Charles adopt to dealing with this man.
You’ll recall how Andrew sidled up to William, trying to talk to him. William stared straight ahead, stony-faced. Andrew said something, William didn’t respond, and Andrew looked embarrassed, glancing at the ground before shuffling away.
This was after the first drop of Epstein files, and now we have a lip-reader’s account of what was said in that moment.
According to Nicola Hickling in the U.K. Channel 5 show Lip-Reading the Royals, Andrew approaches his nephew and says: “I’ve learned from what I’ve done but, before I forget, and if I can, I’d like to ask you if you can forgive me.”
William does not respond. Andrew moves away.
Catherine then apparently says, “He seemed very sorry.”
William replies: “Do you think I deserve that? Is that what you mean?”
Catherine simply repeats that he seemed very sorry.
That interaction between Andrew and William, even if not perfectly interpreted, goes to the core of what is going on in the royal family: the shift in power to William when Charles announced he had cancer.
Remember, Charles didn’t originally intend to say that. At first, the line was that he was having treatment for an enlarged prostate—very common, very routine. That in itself was presented as Charles ringing the changes, because his mother was very secretive about her health. She didn’t even tell her family that she was dying because she was worried they would try to impose a regency on her.
She understood that power starts to ebb away the moment people think the monarch is dying.
This Andrew encounter is a significant marker. Andrew is not seeking forgiveness from his elder brother or his sovereign; he is apologizing to his nephew because he knows William—the next king—is calling the shots.
More bad news
There have been more ill tidings for Andrew this weekend. Events in the Middle East make it unlikely that he’ll be heading there any time soon. We don’t know whether Sarah Ferguson is already there, but it has long been assumed that some sort of bolthole there—probably in the UAE, where Andrew has done a lot of business and has access to a villa—was part of the escape plan.
His daughters, too, have done business in the region and are in and out of the Middle East the whole time. The current conflict is causing them problems as well.
Then came an intervention from Mark Carney, the Canadian leader, who called Andrew’s links to Jeffrey Epstein “deplorable” and said he should be removed from the line of succession.
This matters because the king is the head of state in Canada. Canada is one of 15 realms, and all the realms have to agree to any major constitutional change, such as a change in the order of succession.
I don’t think anyone will object to Andrew being removed from the line of succession, but it is still a very important sign.
Carney made his remarks in Tokyo when asked whether Andrew was fit to hold any public role. He said, in effect, that Andrew’s actions make him unfit for public office and that he should be stripped of his role and titles, which would necessarily mean removal from the line of succession.
Carney is an interesting character because he actually has some connections through marriage to the British establishment and, as a former governor of the Bank of England, a more intimate understanding of the royal establishment than your average Commonwealth leader.
So this is not some random backbencher popping off. This is a heavyweight making a call, in public, to remove Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor from the line of succession.
Andrew will inevitably be removed from the line of succession and, with William now the nucleus of power in the family, The Royalist suspects Beatrice and Eugenie will be removed as well.
We have seen a lot of overt telegraphing over the last few days that William does not want those princesses anywhere near front-line royal life.
The day after Andrew was stripped of his military titles and HRH honorific, Charles appointed Beatrice as patron of the Outward Bound Trust, a charity that was one of Prince Philip’s greatest loves.
William was not happy about it. Now we are seeing his responses, and the King is being forced to acquiesce.
No one can stand up to William. We’ve been told that Beatrice and Eugenie will not be attending further public events with the core royal family.
We are in a time of massive flux for the royal family, and Andrew’s disgrace has solidified public and institutional support for William, while faith in Charles is ebbing away after an astonishing series of appalling decisions.
And finally…
Another story has made a lot of news this weekend: Meghan’s lifestyle firm, As Ever, has parted ways with Netflix.
Meghan’s people are making it clear that it was Meghan who walked away from Netflix, and they are saying she did so because the company was holding her back. Well, we will just have to wait and see on that one. Time will tell.
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