Someone close to Prince Andrew publicly confirmed that Andrew and Sarah Ferguson would not attend “royal Christmas” at Sandringham this year. The Yorks were invited to Sandringham, but then Andrew’s involvement with a Chinese spy was outed last week and all hell broke loose. The alleged spy had a wide variety of contacts within the British establishment, which is probably why everyone seems comfortable making this all about Andrew and HIS bad judgment alone. On Thursday, King Charles will apparently host the annual pre-Christmas lunch at Buckingham Palace, and the Sun claims that Andrew still intends to come to that event, because it’s a “family occasion,” even if it would look bad if he was photographed pulling into BP. Meanwhile, sources close to Andrew are playing a “poor pitiful Andrew” card and suggesting that the Windsors won’t have a credibly accused rapist to kick around for much longer. Andrew might just pick up and move to Bahrain!
The Daily Beast can reveal that Prince Andrew is eyeing a move to Bahrain and could “do a Harry” and leave the country after being effectively kicked out of the royal family all over again due to his links to an alleged Chinese spy.
Andrew is now likely to spend [Christmas Day] effectively in hiding at his home, Royal Lodge, where the former helicopter pilot has taken to projecting flight tracking apps on the walls. His ex-wife and children are also reportedly not attending Sandringham festivities so they may join him. Sarah likened herself in an interview this weekend as a “carer” to Andrew, whom she described, sympathetically, as a “sad man.”
However, it could be Andrew’s last Christmas in the U.K. The Daily Beast has been told by two friends of Andrew, who claim that he has been unfairly portrayed in the unfolding spying scandal, that he is now “sick and tired of being painted as a pariah” and is “seriously contemplating a move to the United Arab Emirates or Bahrain.”
He has wealthy if sometimes dubious supporters in both jurisdictions, but especially in the autocratic monarchy of Bahrain, where he has been a regular visitor for decades and has been feted by King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.
One friend of Andrew’s who has known him and his wife for decades told The Daily Beast: “The whole thing stinks to high heaven. You’d think Andrew had been passing state secrets to the man. Andrew is sick and tired of being painted as a pariah in the British media and is seriously contemplating a move to the United Arab Emirates of Bahrain. None of us would blame him if he decided to do a Harry and leave. He can’t do anything here anymore, he can’t leave the house, he can’t do any business, and now he is apparently Kim Philby.”
Another friend said: “Andrew has a vast array of contacts in the Middle East and could be leading a meaningful life there. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if he thought enough was enough after this latest stich-up by the establishment.”
When asked if they were suggesting Andrew’s relationship with the alleged spy—named on Monday as Yang Tengbo—had been misrepresented by the security services to harm Andrew’s reputation, the friend said: “Andrew doesn’t have any power. He was entirely open about Yang’s involvement with Pitch@Palace. This guy was meeting prime ministers and god knows who else. And yet mysteriously it’s his relationship with Andrew that matters? Come on.”
It’s a situation where, sadly, Andrew and his friends are making some decent points but no one will pay attention because Andrew is so contemptible and compromised. Yes, Andrew was super-close to this spy and Andrew provided all kinds of access. But… other people were involved with the spy as well, and it’s not like Andrew knows the launch codes. Andrew is being forced to take the fall for a much bigger situation which involves much more powerful people. You could even argue that it’s somewhat similar to the Jeffrey Epstein situation – while Andrew has been credibly accused of all kinds of seedy, sleazy and criminal things with Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, his involvement ended up protecting much more powerful people who were also involved with Epstein and Maxwell. King Charles is also using this spy drama to make his final push to get Andrew out of Royal Lodge.
As for Andrew’s dream of moving to Bahrain and starting over… I honestly don’t care, but it would shake things up a bit. It would be interesting from a gossip standpoint if Andrew went into self-imposed exile, living a life of luxury in Bahrain and making whatever deals he could. Would Fergie go with him?
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Instar and Avalon Red.
