Ayesha Hazarika
(Picture: Daniel Hambury)I had mixed feelings watching the royal family gather at Westminster Abbey for the Duke of Edinburgh’s memorial service. It’s been another rough week for the monarchy following the visit by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, which turned from Caribbean Dream to PR disaster in real time. This comes on top of what feels like relentless stresses from the departure of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to the stain of Prince Andrew’s association with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
It was surprising to see the disgraced Duke of York take centre stage in front of the cameras and escort his mother to her seat. Having brought global shame to the royal family, this was his first public appearance since he struck an out-of-court settlement with one of Epstein’s victims, Virginia Giuffre. It has been reported that both Prince Charles and William were “dismayed” that Prince Andrew was so prominent, and they are right to be. It was crass and a poor judgment call as it took away attention from what should have been the sole focus of the day — the Queen.
