It appears that making public statements on social media has now become the official communication tool for the Royal Family. Using President-elect Trump’s favorite mode of communication, Twitter, Prince Andrew has now issued a public statement insisting that he is not feuding with his brother Prince Charles nor did he demand that any future husband, of either of his daughters, hold a title. What else did the Duke of York write and what is the general response?
Family Feud , the Royal Family edition, began in late October, when reports came out that Prince Andrew sent his mother, Queen Elizabeth, a statement insisting that his two daughters, “blood princesses,” be granted royal privileges. Some considered this a dig towards Kate Middleton , as the commoner wife of Prince William, who is now a princess through her marriage and now enjoys all of the perks and privileges that Andrew’s daughters, Eugenie and Beatrice, recently had before Charles took them away in order to streamline the monarchy.
Based on a report from a royal insider, it appears that when the Queen of England opened the letter, she was so stunned by the contents that she passed the missive over to her son, the future King of England. In return, Charles reportedly blocked any sort of change to benefit either of his two nieces.
It has been well known that a few years back, Prince Charles has decided to create a streamlined monarchy and payroll, with just himself and his wife Camilla, as well as his sons Prince Harry and Prince William, as well as Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge. Several years ago, both Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie were cut off of the royal perks and residents that they once enjoyed. Reports from all British papers, including Express, mention that Andrew believes that William’s family has overshadowed his own beloved daughters, the blood princesses Eugenie and Beatrice.
Yet, it is understandable that Charles wants to economize and having less people on the royal payroll is the way to ensure that the publicly funded Royal Family continues for generations to come.
Then, in early November, it appears that their mother, Queen Elizabeth, undermined Charles and was siding with Prince Andrew. She allegedly told Charles that the Royal Family needs more people involved in order to do all of the charitable work that is needed throughout Great Britain. The five people in Charles’ immediate family is just not enough.
Then the Charles and Andrew feud story was instantly silenced as the news of Prince Harry’s new love, American actress Meghan Markle, began to fire up, filling tabloid headlines. On November 8, the day most Americans were voting, the Kensington Palace Twitter page posted a public statement issued by Harry, written with the official Kensington Palace letterhead, confirming their romance and asking the press to please leave the Suits actress and her family alone.
This was unprecedented for the very private Royal Family. But royal watchers who thought this was shocking had not seen anything yet!
On December 9, a new, more public twist to the feud between Charles and Andrew heated up. The Duke of York tweeted an official letter, complete with “Buckingham Palace” at the top right of his letter, his official seal on the top left and his signature at the bottom of the page.
He started out his statement by explaining that he needed to write this because several newspapers that have published stories on his daughters that he claimed had “no basis of fact.” While he mentions that he “appreciates” that his daughters are of interest to the media as they are the granddaughters of the Queen of England, he did not appreciate the “speculation” on their future livelihood. He then clarified that he has never asked that any future husband, of either of his daughters, be given a title. He also insists that there is no dissension with Prince Charles regarding Beatrice and Eugenie participating as official members of the royal family. He also expressed delight at watching his beloved daughters grow in their careers.
“Over the past few weeks a number of stories have run in various newspapers that have no basis of fact and the most recent, relating to my daughters, requires correction to terminate further speculation and innuendo.
“To clarify
“—It is a complete fabrication to suggest I have asked for any future husbands of the Princesses to have titles. —There is no truth to the story that there could be a split between The Prince of Wales and I over my daughters’ participation as Members of the Royal Family and any continued speculation is pointless.
“As a father, my wish for my daughters is for them is to be modern working young women, who happen to be members of the Royal Family, and I am delighted to see them building their careers. When they do support the Royal Family in its work this is very much appreciated by my Family and most importantly by those organizations and to those for whom their participation makes such a difference to their lives.
“Whilst I appreciate, as Granddaughters of the Queen, there is a considerable interest in my daughters, I cannot continue to stand by and have the media speculate on their futures based on my purported interventions, which are completely made up and an invention.”
The response? Charlie Jacoby, who has written on the Royal Family for over two decades, told the Telegraph that he believe that Prince Andrew is just looking after his two daughters, yet, this statement “only makes it worse.”
“Just fanning the flames.”
Journalist and author of several books on the royals, Penny Junior, thought that Andrew posting on Twitter was “strange” and “unprofessional.”
“Who knows whether there’s any truth the stories he’s referring to, but he’s not a very popular royal and his daughters aren’t known as the most hardworking of girls. I think it was a bit of a mistake for him to take it into his own hands.”
Meanwhile, Sarah Ferguson, Andrew’s ex-wife and mother of the two girls told People that these tabloid rumors was “bullying” the Yorks. Sarah was more interested in talking about Sarah’s Teenage Cancer Trust, a charity that both girls are involved with. Fergie expressed pride that Eugenie and Beatrice are both taking personal time off from working hard in their own careers to work on this very important charity.
“Let’s focus more on this than tittle -tattle gossip, and incorrect gossip that is taken out of all proportion. I have no qualms about it. Stop bullying. And stop bullying the York family.”
What do you think of Prince Andrew’s Twitter statement? Do you agree with Fergie that the tabloids are bullying the Yorks?
[Featured Image by Chris Jackson/Getty Images]