Why King Charles Favors Prince Andrew Over Harry, According to Experts

When King Charles took over the throne from his mother, Queen Elizabeth, after her death, he inherited two of her biggest problems: Prince Harry and Prince Andrew. His younger brother, recently forced to step down from his duties as a working member of the royal family due to his shocking scandal, wanted back in the royal graces, while his younger son and wife were set to launch a huge smear campaign against the family in the form of a Netflix series and bombshell tell-all. According to insiders, after a year on the throne, Charles has picked a favorite between the two, and it happens to be Prince Andrew. 

Tom Sykes, royal correspondent, writes for The Daily Beast that King Charles proved his allegiance with the simple decision to provide his brother with security while taking away Harry and Meghan's publicly funded security after their Megxit. 

Sykes points to Harry's memoir, Spare when he writes that he reassured his wife, Meghan Markle, that even if they left their roles as working royals, they would still be protected. 

After Meghan expressed fears, Harry wrote that he told her it would never happen. "Never. Not in this climate of hate. Not after what happened to my mother. Also, not in the wake of my Uncle Andrew." 

Harry added that his uncle is "embroiled in a shameful scandal, accused of the sexual assault of a young woman and no one had so much suggested that he lose his security. Whatever grievances people had against us, sex crimes weren't on the list."

In the end, Harry and Meghan did lose their security, while Prince Andrew kept his. 

"The differing treatment meted out to Andrew and Harry in respect of their security arrangements seems, with the benefit of hindsight, a foreshadowing of what has since become a routine habit of the new king," writes Sykes. 

Sykes continues, "namely giving Andrew notably better treatment than Harry, despite his brother's out-of-court settlement for a reputed $14 million with Virginia Giuffre over underage sex abuse allegations."

Sykes also points out that Harry and Meghan lost their home, Frogmore Cottage, while Prince Andrew is still allowed to live in Royal Lodge. 

Other examples of favoritism, according to Sykes, include that Andrew was allowed to wear his uniform to the coronation and Andrew being driven to church at Balmoral by William. 

The Daily Mail's pseudonymous Ephraim Hardcastle column also maintains that the king has reorganized members of the family into new categories: "Senior Royals, Working Royals, Non-Working Royals and Others."

While Andrew, Harry, and Meghan are all in the same "Others" category, Andrew still gets "preferential treatment" over the Sussexes, they point out. "[Andrew] was allowed to join Edward at the service… while Harry, on the same day, struggled to get permission to pay his respects at her tomb there," they said. 

A friend of Andrew's added to The Daily Beast that Andrew believes he is favored. "If you were Charles, would you rather have a problem that looks like Harry and Meghan or a problem that looks like Andrew? Andrew has taken his punishment, withdrawn from public life and done whatever has been asked of him. He knows he has damaged the monarchy. So have Harry and Meghan."

"The difference is [Andrew] deeply regrets it and it was not intentional, whereas Harry and Meghan deliberately set out to cause as much damage to Charles and Camilla as they could to sell books and TV shows. That's an entirely different matter. Disloyalty is far and away the No. 1 crime in that family," the friend added. 

"The extent to which the king has publicly made it clear Andrew is still part of the family has caught some people by surprise. But ultimately, he has the interests of the monarchy at heart, and that means a united family, whatever its problems. Hopefully that message is getting through to Harry and Meghan," a family friend added to The Daily Beast. 

"It's the oldest question in politics: would you rather have the troublemakers inside the tent pissing out or outside the tent pissing in? Harry is very much outside the tent pissing in and it's a problem. Andrew is inside the tent pissing out, and that suits Charles better," a former Buckingham Palace staffer said. 

The royal historian Andrew Lownie added to The Daily Beast: "Harry is a loose cannon and Meghan even more so. They both have more books coming. The strategy, I believe, is to keep in with him and to marginalize her, which is exactly what they did with Wallis and the Duke of Windsor."

"Andrew has been loyal to a certain extent. He's made some implicit threats, and things have been floated about books and TV interviews, but ultimately he is a loyalist. Andrew is less of a problem than Harry. He may become more of a problem, especially when my book comes out, because I think there will be things in there that will rock the boat. But he's not been rude about Camilla. He's not set out to destabilize the monarchy. He hasn't spilled secrets," he added. 

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Why the apparent rehabilitation of Andrew? "I think some of them feel sorry for him. He says the accusations against him are false, and there are suggestions that some of the family believe him," Lownie said, adding that Camilla may have had a significant role in urging Charles to reconcile with his brother.