When it comes to royal scandals, this hasn't exactly been a stellar December—or, let's face it, decade—for Prince Andrew.
The Duke of York's connections to suspected Chinese spy Yango Tengbo have been the talk of the royal world these days, and after Andrew was forced to back out of The King's Christmas lunch and skip the holidays at Sandringham, it seems the only people in his corner are ex-wife Sarah Ferguson and their daughters Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie. In fact, Prince Andrew's situation has become so untenable that some of his friends are suggesting he might move out of the country, at least according to the Daily Beast.
"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 or Bahrain," one longtime pal told the media outlet.
“None of us would blame him if he decided to do a Harry and leave," the friend continued, referring to the Duke of Sussex, who famously relocated to California in 2020. "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.” (Philby was a British double agent during WWII).
Another friend added, “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.”
As pointed out by The Daily Beast, Andrew "has wealthy if sometimes dubious supporters in both jurisdictions, but especially in the autocratic monarchy of Bahrain." The Duke of York could potentially turn to the country's king—who welcomed Andrew for a personal vacation in 2022—as a supporter.
In fact, this isn't the first time Bahrain has been mentioned as a potential escape plan for the duke; royal sources floated the option when Prince Andrew's connections to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein made headlines in 2019.
However, considering the Duke of York recently came up with a large sum of money to carry out the repairs on his crumbling Windsor home, Royal Lodge, it seems like a potential move isn't something that would happen anytime soon.
Discussing the Duke of York's friendship with Tengbo, one of his friends continued, “The whole thing stinks to high heaven. You’d think Andrew had been passing state secrets to the man."
While Prince Andrew hasn't been accused of doing anything illegal, his close relationship with the suspected spy has put The King in a tough position, as Andrew included Tengbo in his former Pitch@Palace project and invited him to Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace.
As for whether Prince Andrew will leave Windsor for sunnier shores, only time will tell.
