According to sources in the Daily Beast, the royal family is more on board with his plan than we initially assumed.
“Andrew won’t ever have the same ceremonial role within the family, he is no longer and never will be a working royal. That is clear,” a friend of King Charles III told the outlet.
“But he is part of the family. He is the King’s brother. He has not been found guilty of any crime and I think it’s fair to say that the King is making it clear that he won’t turn his back on his brother.”
Most recently, that was seen by the public when he was driven to a church in Balmoral by Prince William with Kate Middleton in the backseat.
The gesture was, of course, a calculated strategy from royal PR.
“The family have been using the Prince and Princess of Wales to get them out of trouble a lot lately, and once again, they are doing the heavy lifting,” said historian and writer Andrew Lownie.
“This was clearly a very important event, and William’s had to put aside his objections to agree to be in a car with him when they knew it was going to be filmed is an extraordinary development.”
The carpool moment was even more telling because Andrew and William’s relationship “has never been good” to start off with.
Why Prince William & Kate Middleton Reconciled With Disgraced Prince Andrew. Why Prince William & Kate Middleton Reconciled With Disgraced Prince Andrew