The arrest of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has made one thing clear: the royal family didn’t agree on how to handle his Jeffrey Epstein issues.
While Queen Elizabeth II long treated her reported favorite son with kid gloves, King Charles III went along with his mother’s wishes. Still, there was someone else who had little patience for the former Prince Andrew’s ongoing scandals — Prince William.
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Royal expert Craig Prescott told The Washington Post that Charles gave a firm statement to the press about the arrest; it was William who “would have gone much further, much earlier.”
In October 2025, it was reportedly the Prince of Wales who was the “real architect” for his uncle losing his royal titles. “William made it clear this couldn’t drag on any longer,” a palace insider told Rob Shuter’s Substack, Naughty But Nice. “He told his father that if Andrew didn’t go quietly, the family’s image would never recover.”
Prince Andrew
William didn’t want to be anywhere near Andrew because any association with him created bad optics for the royal family. The future king was allegedly “boiling with anger” after his uncle sat near him at the funeral of the late Katharine, the Duchess of Kent, in September 2025, per the Daily Beast.
At that point, the Prince of Wales was done with his father’s “weak” position on Andrew and Epstein.
“William always said, ‘Just cut Andrew off completely. It’s not appropriate to have an alleged sex offender breaking bread with the royal family.’ Charles was so desperate to be seen as embodying the spirit of Christian forgiveness that he let Andrew back in,” a source explained to the media outlet.
William, along with wife Kate Middleton, drew a line in the sand about Andrew for good.
“Together, William and Kate are said to have drawn up what aides privately call the final line: no royal role, no funding, and no future public appearances for Andrew,” an insider told Closer in October 2025. “It’s the firmest position yet and one that could finally banish the Yorks from the royal inner circle for good.”
William doesn’t want Andrew and Sarah Ferguson’s controversies to linger when it’s his time on the throne.
“They need to clean the stables before William takes on the role,” royal author Andrew Lownie summed up to The Washington Post. “He doesn’t want to inherit this.”
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Before you go, click here all the biggest royal scandals in the past 50 years.
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