The Prince of Wales is set to arrive back in the UK on Tuesday morning fresh from his 12-day tour of the South Pacific where he will confront Prince Andrew over his Newsnight appearance face-to-face for the first time.
Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall have been overseas for a couple of weeks now, with the couple visiting New Zealand, India and the Solomon Islands.
Camilla left the tour a few days before her husband, with the 72-year-old arriving back in the UK on Sunday.
As reported in the Daily Telegraph, the Duke of York is expected to be summoned to Clarence House where his elder brother and the future king will demand an explanation from him over his Newsnight appearance.
Prince Andrew only formally confirmed his interview with the BBC once Prince Charles had already left the country, making it harder for the heir-to-the-throne to intervene and pull the plug on the idea.
As a result, Charles & Camilla’s tour was completely overshadowed by the Duke’s actions, something the Prince of Wales is said to be ‘furious’ about.
According to the Telegraph, Prince Charles is now desperate to ‘get a grip’ on the situation before the situation escalates.
There is concern that the Andrew/Epstein saga is having a negative impact on the institution of monarchy, a controversial subject, especially in the middle of a general election campaign.
After an intervention by The Queen and the Prince of Wales, the Duke of York announced that he has stepped down from all public duties following heavy criticism of him.
In a statement, Prince Andrew says that he asked The Queen for permission to step back from public duties, action she agreed to support.
The Duke also confirmed that he would be willing to speak to law enforcement officials if required.
The Duke faced a huge following the broadcast of his 50 minute interview, in which he said he did not regret his friendship with convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
In a statement released last week, the Duke did clarify that he regrets his ‘ill-judged association’ with Epstein.
