Royal family feud? Prince Charles didn’t see eye to eye with Queen Elizabeth II when it came to Prince Andrew‘s presence at the late Prince Philip‘s memorial.
Charles, 73, “disagreed” with his mother, 95, about whether Andrew, 62, should attend the event after settling his lawsuit, a source exclusively reveals in the new issue of Us Weekly. The Prince of Wales was “against” his younger brother joining the rest of the family at the service, per the insider.
“Elizabeth is irritated with Prince Charles for giving his opinion where it’s not wanted,” the source continues, claiming that the monarch doesn’t need the future king “directing her on how to handle” the scandal.
The queen shared Charles and Andrew — along with Princess Anne and Prince Edward — with her late husband, who died of old age in April 2021 at the age of 99. Last month, the Duke of York escorted Elizabeth from Windsor Castle to Westminster Abbey in London for a memorial honoring Philip nearly one year after his death.
More than 1,800 people attended the service, BBC News reported on March 29. Though Elizabeth walked in with Andrew, she sat beside Charles for the duration of the event, with Prince William and Duchess Kate behind them. The couple brought their eldest two children — Prince George, 8, and Princess Charlotte — but Prince Louis, 3, did not appear to join them.
The memorial marked Andrew’s first public appearance since he settled his sexual assault lawsuit with Virginia Giuffre in February. Giuffre, 38, previously accused him of sexually assaulting her when she was underage, prompting Andrew to step away from his royal duties in November 2019.
“I have no recollection of ever meeting this lady, none whatsoever. It just never happened,” he claimed in an interview with the BBC at the time, denying Giuffre’s allegations.
Buckingham Palace largely remained quiet about the controversy. In January, however, the Firm announced that Andrew’s HRH titles would be stripped.
When he and Giuffre reached their undisclosed settlement the following month, a letter was submitted to the United States District Court in New York City addressing the fallout of the lawsuit, which called into question Andrew’s ties to the late Jeffrey Epstein.
“Prince Andrew intends to make a substantial donation to Ms. Giuffre’s charity in support of victims’ rights,” the letter read. “Prince Andrew has never intended to malign Ms. Giuffre’s character, and he accepts that she has suffered both as an established victim of abuse and as a result of unfair public attacks.”
The disgraced financier was arrested on federal charges for sex trafficking minors in August 2019 and died by suicide in his jail cell one month later. Andrew’s letter noted that he “regrets his association with Epstein and commends the bravery of Ms. Giuffre and other survivors in standing up for themselves and others.”
The former naval captain hoped to “demonstrate his regret for his association with Epstein by supporting the fight against the evils of sex trafficking, and by supporting its victims,” the document concluded.
For more on the “conflict” within the royal family, watch the video above and pick up the latest issue of Us Weekly, on newsstands now.
