Andrew's future outside of the working BRF

[Prinsara]

I was thinking about this, if Andrew were to remarry Sarah, would his reputation be improved a bit, even by the slightest measure? Someone who has accusations against him then settling down again in a healthy relationship, I don't know, just a thought.

From things like The Palace Papers, it's possible their relationship is more codependent than healthy.

 

[Sister Morphine]

Even if he and Sarah remarry, he needs to just retire to the country and stay there. They can trot him (and her, if they remarry) out for huge ceremonial events, like the coronation next year, but otherwise, he is neither to be seen nor heard.

 

[tommy100]

I can see him and Sarah remarrying - something about today just struck me about the two of them. Though I do believe it was likely HM's wish for Sarah to be sat with the family so not necessarily a sign of any new developments in that area.
TBH I always got the impression one of the reasons they split was because she was deemed so unsuitable at the royal role which put pressure on them. If Andrew is no longer doing anything "official" and can no longer fly the world for fear of legal action possibly (don't know where they stand on this) I can see him and Sarah settling down somewhere almost as married or indeed getting married very quietly. He has no way of finding a new partner now - who would go near him - so they have each other.

I think Andrew may possibly take on some role overseeing private things to do with his late mother - though I think Anne would be much better suited to this.

 

[Biri]

I always thought that in fact they never stopped loving each other.

 

[Tatiana Maria]

I'm glad the past speculation about the Duke of York possibly being excluded from his own mother's funeral did not come to pass. He seemed to be fully included in every step of the mourning ceremonial, even releasing his own statement of remembrance.

I did notice that he consistently walked behind the Princess Royal, in order of birth, instead of the Princess giving way to her brothers as the order of precedence used in the Court Circular's entries would dictate. Was that a change made because of the Duke's new status / to avoid photographs of him standing right next to the King?

 

[FigTree]

Walking the dogs. He has two corgis now and really just the life of a farmer would suit him. He hasn't really go lt many options.

 

[Lilyflo]

Walking the dogs. He has two corgis now and really just the life of a farmer would suit him. He hasn't really go lt many options.

He doesn't know anything about farming does he? Sarah wouldn't be happy having a quiet life as a farmer's wife / partner / whatever out of the public eye. She'd go to the opening of an envelope and is always gadding about the world promoting herself.

Life will be rather different for Andrew now as he has no reason to go up to the castle at weekends or to Balmoral or Sandringham without an invitation from the King.

 

[FigTree]

He doesn't know anything about farming does he? Sarah wouldn't be happy having a quiet life as a farmer's wife / partner / whatever out of the public eye. She'd go to the opening of an envelope and is always gadding about the world promoting herself.

Life will be rather different for Andrew now as he has no reason to go up to the castle at weekends or to Balmoral or Sandringham without an invitation from the King.

What would he know. Windsor is a working farm though. I'm sure he could get involved. Life will be very different for him but he and Sarah aren't 'together' at least not in any public sense and they live their own lives. Shame for him is he ry doesn't have anything to do. Pay Charles to give him responsibilities on the estates.

 

[Durham]

I would imagine The King wants as little (publicly) to do with his brother as possible. He wants the focus to be on working members of the rf only. Unpopular relatives are an unwelcome distraction from the business of monarchy.

 

[FigTree]

I would imagine The King wants as little (publicly) to do with his brother as possible. He wants the focus to be on working members of the rf only. Unpopular relatives are an unwelcome distraction from the business of monarchy.

Still there though. Give him a job around the estate s. Nothings more dangerous then someone with endless time. But in fairness Andrew has two young grand babies to spend time with ... if his daughters qant him involved in their life.

 

[Durham]

Well yes he is. And maybe he & The King are close but it's what HM does publicly that matters.

 

[suztav]

I agree that they have always been in love. After today, I’m willing to bet that they will remarry. They are good for each other.

I think that privately the King wants to support his brother, but publicly needs to use the “working royals” talking point.

JMHO.

 

[Tatiana Maria]

I can't imagine the King would deny his brother the opportunity to make himself useful on the estates in a private capacity. If I remember correctly, it was after the Duke of York's forced retirement that the then-Prince of Wales accompanied him to a private church service. The then Prince of Wales, along with the Queen, also responded to every "leak" of the Duke of York's wishes to return to public life with statements of his personal support along with the refusal to restore him to a public role. Over the past week and a half we have seen that the King allowed the Duke of York to participate in all parts of the family's public mourning, even the nonessential walkabouts. In short, the indications are that he has not been treated at all harshly within his family. If the Duke of York never works out a means of supporting his King and Royal Family while remaining outside the public eye, that would most likely be his own choice, not the King's.

 

[FigTree]

I can't imagine the King would deny his brother the opportunity to make himself useful on the estates in a private capacity. If I remember correctly, it was after the Duke of York's forced retirement that the then-Prince of Wales accompanied him to a private church service. The then Prince of Wales, along with the Queen, also responded to every "leak" of the Duke of York's wishes to return to public life with statements of his personal support along with the refusal to restore him to a public role. Over the past week and a half we have seen that the King allowed the Duke of York to participate in all parts of the family's public mourning, even the nonessential walkabouts. In short, the indications are that he has not been treated at all harshly within his family. If the Duke of York never works out a means of supporting his King and Royal Family while remaining outside the public eye, that would most likely be his own choice, not the King's.

Well Andrew is a…pickle. Having said all that he did a very good job coparenting his daughters and seems devoted to his family in general. And in the last years was devoted to his mother.

 

[Heavs]

I think the King will want Andrew to find something positive to do outside his previous role. Apart from anything else it lessens the opportunity for him to cause more scandal out of boredom and resentment. However I'm not sure what that would look like. Business opportunities which he seemed to enjoy have a habit of blowing up in the Yorks' faces and that (together with the Prince's Trust issues) will be something everyone is keen to avoid. Private charity or estate work seems an obvious choice but if it was a passion of his he likely wouldn't be in his situation in the first place.

Really working at something would probably be good for him but again hard to see what that would be beyond "wouldn't be about his previous ego and would hopefully benefit others".

 

[FigTree]

I think the King will want Andrew to find something positive to do outside his previous role. Apart from anything else it lessens the opportunity for him to cause more scandal out of boredom and resentment. However I'm not sure what that would look like. Business opportunities which he seemed to enjoy have a habit of blowing up in the Yorks' faces and that (together with the Prince's Trust issues) will be something everyone is keen to avoid. Private charity or estate work seems an obvious choice but if it was a passion of his he likely wouldn't be in his situation in the first place.

Really working at something would probably be good for him but again hard to see what that would be beyond "wouldn't be about his previous ego and would hopefully benefit others".

Well he likes animals…he rides a lot and obviously the dogs. Involvement maybe with the stables and things would work well. He’s got two choices 1. Take opportunities that are open to him, create new life course for himself and enjoy his family or 2. Sit around, do nothing and be directionless.

 

[HRHHermione]

Well he likes animals…he rides a lot and obviously the dogs. Involvement maybe with the stables and things would work well. He’s got two choices 1. Take opportunities that are open to him, create new life course for himself and enjoy his family or 2. Sit around, do nothing and be directionless.

Honestly, taking over the Queen’s racing stables kind of sounds perfect, even if there might be some negative headlines about it. It’s got enough glitz and glam to keep him occupied but also mostly behind the scenes.

 

[tommy100]

Yes I agree they need to find him something to do (though that also relies on Andrew being smart enough to recognise there is no role for him in the "public Royal Family" as it were so he best make something for himself out of other opportunities). I wonder if part of the problem is, well, what exactly is Andrew good at? He was in the navy but there isn't really anything that lends itself to that, he thinks he is good at business but isn't. It isn't like he has a skills that can be put to use like asking Anne to run the stables or even the private estates as she runs Gatcombe.

The only real role I see for Andrew is something very private within the family e.g. taking care of the late Queen's legacy / papers etc but his biggest issue is having a complete lack of judgement (and i think even if his family think he is innocent they'd all agree his judgement is rubbisg) so putting him in charge of anything is a danger in itself.

 

[FigTree]

Yes I agree they need to find him something to do (though that also relies on Andrew being smart enough to recognise there is no role for him in the "public Royal Family" as it were so he best make something for himself out of other opportunities). I wonder if part of the problem is, well, what exactly is Andrew good at? He was in the navy but there isn't really anything that lends itself to that, he thinks he is good at business but isn't. It isn't like he has a skills that can be put to use like asking Anne to run the stables or even the private estates as she runs Gatcombe.

The only real role I see for Andrew is something very private within the family e.g. taking care of the late Queen's legacy / papers etc but his biggest issue is having a complete lack of judgement (and i think even if his family think he is innocent they'd all agree his judgement is rubbisg) so putting him in charge of anything is a danger in itself.

Good judgement hasn’t been a characteristic of HM sons. What’s he good at? Who knows. Maybe he could become the patriarch of the family, I actually think from watching him with his family this week he is maternal.

 

[Prinsara]

He was good when they had the fire at Windsor. Maybe get him involved with the reno at Buck House in the lowest-key manner possible?

The problem is, anything linking "Andrew" and "Buckingham Palace" will not go over well, publicly.

It's a pity the BRF doesn't have some property in Bermuda to redo.

 

[Moonmaiden23]

I don't know Andrew obviously. But my feeling from watching and listening to him during this past couple of weeks is that he has been humbled and humiliated enough. He is not a monster just because he is arrogant and uses/used appalling judgment.

His mother adored him. His ex-wife and his children still do. The late Diana Princess of Wales once said he was terribly underestimated and the "best out of the entire lot". ("Diana: Her True Story") I assume she was referring to the Windsors.

So why do the people that love the man love him? There has to be something to him other than arrogance and stupidity. He literally put his life on the line in service to Britain during the Falkland War.

None of this means I want to see the DoY back on the Royal front lines. I don't....that ship has sailed. But I also think it's too soon to write him off.

There must be something good and useful for him in the new reign of King Charles III.

 

[Curryong]

Yes, but what? Looking after the Royal Stables at Windsor has been suggested, as have supervising renovations at Buckingham Palace. However, the Queen had a perfectly good racing manager who may well be staying on for the new King and Queen Consort, and apart from possibly mucking out the stables occasionally as a child Andrew has no training in the management of any stables.

It would be the same at BP. Andrew does not have a background in architecture or the conservation of elderly buildings. Ditto for estate management, though I suppose he could look after the King’s properties in Romania, if he wanted to, which imo is doubtful. In fact it’s hard to know what Andrew can do in the future that would be of any practical use to the RF or fulfilment and satisfaction to himself.

 

[royal-blue]

He needs to do something completely uncontroversial. Charles now has a lot of estates which Andrew could be involved in. Something involving land management or conservation could be a possibility.

 

[Iluvbertie]

Does he know anything about land management or conservation? Unlike his older siblings he has never been that interested in county pursuits. He really only took up riding a preparation to ride in Trooping the Colour. He continued as a reason to go to Windsor to see his mother. I doubt we will see much of him riding now as I don't see Charles or William being happy with him going to Windsor all that often.

Andrew doesn't have great list of skills or educational qualifications.

 

[FigTree]

Does he know anything about land management or conservation? Unlike his older siblings he has never been that interested in county pursuits. He really only took up riding a preparation to ride in Trooping the Colour. He continued as a reason to go to Windsor to see his mother. I doubt we will see much of him riding now as I don't see Charles or William being happy with him going to Windsor all that often.

Andrew doesn't have great list of skills or educational qualifications.

He lives in Windsor Park. He pretty much rides everyday and there are the dogs. Like I said he could learn to do something.

 

[Denville]

Like what? Andrew isn't very bright or even very good at practical things. He can't work outside the RF because noone will work with him.

 

[Lilyflo]

If he could humble himself enough, he could assist the archivists and historians at the Windsor archive - maybe 2/3 days a week. I'm sure there will be loads of photos and documents from his parents that will need sorting & preserving. He'd have to take a subservient role of course but he could make himself useful and could even do some training.

He could train as a Samaritan (that would humble him) and commit one day a week to that.

He could assist the estate staff at Windsor doing 'behind the scenes' work one day a week.

He could learn photography and produce prints of the Windsor estate anonymously - proceeds to charity of course.

There's plenty he COULD do but whether he'd humble himself enough to take a low profile, low status role is another matter.

 

[Denville]

None of this is possible. No charity woudl take him, esp. not something like the Samaritans. He hasn't got the brains to do archiving work and there's no need for it, they have staff who are trained and skilled at what they do. He is a photographer but its a hobby, not an occupation... and I think he knows a but about websites but i dont see that being a full time occupation for him. Its very sad that his mother died right now because I think he was happy to go and see her and she was glad to have him near by. He'll probably find some things to do behind the scenes but they probably wont be enough to fill up his time or give him a real feeling of being at work.

 

[Leopoldine]

I think King Charles could deploy Andrew to great effect.

If Harry's book gets the green light for a winter 2023 publication date, the family can set up Andrew as a publicity decoy. It would have to be well-timed, of course. He can be on the TV show The Masked Singer. Or how about a video series on regaining physical fitness later in life, featuring the Duke doing some yoga and light cardio?

Andrew doesn't have many options, and a lighter self-deprecating approach that uses his huge name recognition to sideswipe Harry's book launch might be just the thing.

 

[Iluvbertie]

If he could humble himself enough, he could assist the archivists and historians at the Windsor archive - maybe 2/3 days a week. I'm sure there will be loads of photos and documents from his parents that will need sorting & preserving. He'd have to take a subservient role of course but he could make himself useful and could even do some training.

He could train as a Samaritan (that would humble him) and commit one day a week to that.

He could assist the estate staff at Windsor doing 'behind the scenes' work one day a week.

He could learn photography and produce prints of the Windsor estate anonymously - proceeds to charity of course.

There's plenty he COULD do but whether he'd humble himself enough to take a low profile, low status role is another matter.

He doesn't need to 'learn photography'. He is a very fine photographer already and many of the photos of the Queen have been taken by him. He was also the photographer for some of the baptismal pictures of his nieces and nephews.

He tried just helping out during covid but some of the charity people leaked the images and there was an outcry.

He can't do anything that involves interacting with the public as the people he would be working with would soon leak it and he would have to stop.

He really can't do anything without the public backlash at him 'daring' to help anyone in anyway.

The hatred for Andrew is palpable these days in the UK. The media would have a field day if he tried to do anything - even going to Windsor to ride and see his mother was criticised by the media and public