A former BBC Royal Correspondent has said that Prince Charles should tell his younger brother, the Duke of York, to retire from public life.
Peter Hunt, who was the BBC’s royal correspondent for 14 years, said that Charles as ‘Shadow King’ should find the courage to tell Prince Andrew to withdraw from public life.
He further claimed that The Queen herself would not do this, because she has a ‘blind spot’ for the Duke.
Taking to Twitter, Mr Hunt wrote: “Prince Andrew’s judgement has long been called into question – now it’s also the Queen who’s exposed after the Emily Maitlis interview. The Head of State allowed the palace to be the setting where a paedophile’s actions were described by the 8th in line to the throne as ‘unbecoming’.
“The Queen agreed to the Maitlis interview late Monday/Tuesday. BBC Newsnight were given the green light just as Prince Charles was flying out of the country on an official visit. If he’d been here, would the ‘shadow king’ have stopped it?
“The Maitlis interview is just the latest indication of a malaise afflicting the Royal Household that also manifest itself when the Queen was badly let down by her advisers over Boris Johnson’s failed prorogation of Parliament.
“Will the Queen be let down again and exposed again if we have a hung parliament?
“Will Prince Charles have the courage to do what he should do – and tell Prince Andrew to retire from public life on the basis his judgement has been called into question one too many times? Their mother won’t – Andrew is one of her blind spots.”
The Duke of York has faced widespread criticism from the public following his extraordinary interview on Newsnight in which he said he did not regret his friendship with convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
In a poll of Royal Central readers, a significant majority of respondents say that the Duke of York should step back from royal duties following his calamitous interview with BBC Newsnight.
Of the 533 people polled, 83% say Prince Andrew should no longer carry out official engagements on behalf of The Queen.
Just 17% of respondents say he should carry on working at his current rate.
