On December 23, 2022, the Sun reported that Charles III had kicked his brother, Prince Andrew, out of Buckingham Palace. Prince Andrew’s expulsion from Buckingham Palace by Charles III was due to his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, the leader of the gang of underage girls. Prince Andrew’s £1million annual ‘living allowance’ has been withdrawn by Charles III, according to a new book by Robert Hardman. This action is another step the king takes to distance himself from his younger brother publicly. The royal family’s successive scandals have led to negative public opinion on the British monarchy. According to a poll by YouGov, support for the monarchy in Britain has fallen from around 73 per cent in 2012 to 53 per cent now. This article examines the decline of the institution of monarchy in the UK.
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Prince Andrew’s close relationship with Jeffrey Epstein
Prince Andrew, the middle son of Queen Elizabeth II, announced his retirement from public life in 2019 following allegations of his close relationship with the notorious American tycoon. Police arrested Jeffrey Epstein in July 2019 on charges of sex trafficking of minors. Epstein committed suicide a month later. In January 2022, Buckingham Palace stripped Prince Andrew of his military affiliations and royal patronage. These actions were because the public opinion on the British monarchy was angry after these scandals.
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Criticism of Prince Andrew for having sex with a teenage girl
Andrew faced much criticism after an interview with the BBC News. In this interview, he denied the accusation of having sex with a teenage girl. He said he is not sorry for being friends with Jeffrey Epstein, the American tycoon accused of child abuse. At the same time, girls who were sexually abused by him came forward with confessions, which made Andrew’s case more serious. Virginia Giuffre, who introduced herself as Jeffrey Epstein’s sex slave, admitted in an interview that she was sexually abused by Andrew when she was underage.
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Prince Andrew bans after cutting off royal patronage.
Prince Andrew has been grappling with allegations of sexual abuse from 17-year-old Virginia Roberts, one of Epstein’s victims. He was finally able to settle the dispute. Prince Andrew could also no longer have an office at the royal residence in London, so he could no longer use that address as his own. A source told The Sun that any presence at the palace has officially ended. So, Prince Andrew is no longer a working royal.
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Abolition of Prince Andrew’s military titles
The revelations against Andrew caused Andrew to step down from royal duties. “It has become clear over the past few days that my association with Jeffrey Epstein has become a major disruption to my family’s work and the valuable work going on in the many organizations and charities that I am proud to support,” he wrote in a statement. So, I asked the Queen to agree to my resignation from public duties, and she agreed. However, as previously mentioned, the matter did not end with Prince Andrew’s resignation. He could no longer hold military titles. Another of Prince Andrew’s restrictions is the ban on invitations to official royal events.
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Andrew’s cut-off from the royal treasury
Prince Andrew’s dismissal was not the end of his story of scandals. Following the pressure of public opinion about the moral scandal of his brother Andrew, Charles III cut off his expenses from the royal treasury. The British media, citing royal sources, reported that the country’s king had ordered the payment of a 1 million pound allowance to Prince Andrew, the last link of his financial connection with the royal family, to be stopped. After Prince Andrew was kicked out of Buckingham Palace, his only connection to the monarchy was a £1 million expenditure. He also had a 30-bedroom villa, which has now been taken from him by order of the king. He has to move to a smaller place.
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Charles III’s discontinuance of the security of Prince Andrew
King Charles III tries to cover up his brother’s moral scandal by cutting off his brother’s expenses from the royal treasury. The scandal in the British royal system has reached such a point that Charles cut off his brother Andrew’s expenses from the royal treasury to prevent the matter from deepening. According to statistics, this is while at least one-third of the Britons consider the monarchy an extra element, costly and outdated. The Guardian recently wrote in a report that the British royal system is more vulnerable and fragile than ever. The monarchy may fall due to republican movements.
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Public opinion on the British monarchy
The successive scandals of the royal family have reduced the credibility of the institution of the monarchy among the British. Public opinion on the British monarchy has been negative in recent years. Some polls suggest that public support for the monarchy has fallen dramatically, especially among Britain’s younger generation. The results of polls show that the popularity of Charles III is much lower than that of his mother, Elizabeth II. According to a YouGov survey, support for the monarchy in the UK has dropped from 73% in 2012 to 53%.
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The insignificance of the institution of monarchy for the British
Public opinion on the British monarchy is not positive among the younger generation, but adults have a favourable view of the monarchy. According to a survey by the National Centre for Social Research, 45 per cent of respondents said the monarchy either “should be abolished,” “doesn’t matter” or “doesn’t matter at all.” According to Guy Goodwin, Chief Executive at the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen), the most critical challenge for the monarchy today is connecting it with the younger generation and maintaining it. 42% of people aged 55 and over in this country still attach great importance to the monarchy. Three in 10 Britons still see the monarchy as “very important,” according to the centre’s poll.
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The decline of the institution of monarchy with the death of Elizabeth II
With the death of Queen Elizabeth II, supporters of republican rule in Britain believe they may be one step closer to ending the more than 1,000-year-old monarchy. Graham Smith, Chief Executive Officer of the Republican, said: “Some people think we’ve got the toughest job [in Europe] – the monarchy that is least likely to fall – but I think that we’ve shown over the last few years that there’s is much reason for optimism.” Many people in the UK agree with this opinion. Republic Group says that the total cost of this royal institution is more than £510m. Reuters estimates the royal family’s wealth to be around £23bn, based on a 2015 analysis.
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Charles III’s unpopularity among Britons
Charles III has finally become the official King of Britain after 71 years on the throne. According to a poll conducted by Ipsos a week before the coronation, Charles’s popularity is around 49 per cent. Several major scandals and challenges in recent decades have made Charles more of a challenge to the throne than his late mother, Queen Elizabeth. Many still blame Charles for the death of his beloved ex-wife, Princess Diana. In 2017, Prince Charles was criticized after his office was accused of colluding to investigate abuse of his financial power at his charity.
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Young Britons are turning away from the monarchy.
Many Britons, especially young people, no longer see the monarchy as beneficial to their country. The revelation of the princes’ moral and financial scandals has tarnished the image of the British royal family. According to Guy Goodwin, Chief Executive at the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen), the current major challenge for the monarchy is to connect with and maintain the younger generation. The lack of common ground with young people is one of the most critical challenges supporting the British monarchy.
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The possible collapse of the royal family shortly
There is more possibility of the kingdom’s collapse in the UK than ever. Public opinion on the British monarchy shows that support for the monarchy among young Britons is declining. There is far less support for Charles III. The generation gap among Britons is one of the most important reasons for the difference in views towards the royal family. The older generation supports the monarchy, while the monarchy means nothing to the younger generation. New scandals in the royal family daily negatively affect the credibility of the institution of monarchy in the UK.