EXCLUSIVE: King Charles' Secret Damage Control Tactic — How He's 'Secretly Protecting and Nurturing' Shamed Younger Brother Andrew While Publicly Slamming the Disgraced Ex-Duke
King Charles still wants to make sure his younger brother doesn't crumble amid the drama.
Dec. 6 2025, Published 3:00 p.m. ET
King Charles is secretly shielding and counseling Andrew Windsor behind palace walls even as he maintains a strict public distance from his disgraced younger brother, according to sources who tell RadarOnline.com the monarch has adopted a two-tiered strategy of visible rejection and private support.
The approach comes as Buckingham Palace braces for the release of further U.S. government files connected to Jeffrey Epstein. Andrew, who has always denied wrongdoing in his friendship with the serial sex predator, was previously listed as a passenger on Epstein's jet, and documents noted a person named "Andrew" receiving massages funded by $200 checks.
Why King Charles Is 'Shielding' Andrew
Charles is said to be trying to 'protect' his younger brother behind closed doors.
With Congressional Democrats preparing fresh scrutiny of Andrew's past links and his refusal to testify in front of them about his link to his old pedophile friend, the palace faces renewed pressure over whether the monarchy can withstand another round of controversy involving the King's brother.
One palace insider claimed: "Charles knows he cannot appear to be defending Andrew in public, but privately he is doing what he can to stop him from falling apart. For the King, it is a matter of containing the fallout without turning his back on his own brother."
Another adviser said: "He feels Andrew still needs some guardrails and stability, even if the outward stance has to be one of separation."
King Charles' 'Quiet Support' of Younger Brother
Charles and Andrew's 'brotherly connection' has made the situation even worse.
Despite stripping Andrew of his titles, honors, and position in the line-up of working royals, Charles has quietly ensured he remains housed on the King's private Sandringham estate after his upcoming move from Royal Lodge. Andrew's biography and images have vanished from the Royal Family's website, and his office no longer operates under any palace domain.
Yet sources say this public severing masks a more delicate private arrangement.
One senior palace figure claimed, "Charles feels he has a duty to keep Andrew within a kind of quiet safety net. It is the brotherly connection that makes the whole situation so difficult. It is an incredibly delicate balance for the King. The intense scrutiny surrounding Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor turns every choice into a minefield.
"The royal family as an institution has drawn the firmest line imaginable between Andrew and itself. Publicly, he is treated as a private citizen, but privately, he is still being supported by Charles, in both counseling and financial matters."
Andrew's connection to pedophile Jeffrey Epstein ended his royal standing.
Friends of Andrew's insist his cooperation with palace wishes for him to stay silent amid his title-stripping has remained steady. One predicted, "He is unlikely to break cover and go rogue with a TV interview or memoir book deal as he would rather quietly take handouts from Charles in exchange for his silence."
Andrew's daughters, Princess Beatrice, 37, and Princess Eugenie, 35, continue to be welcomed at family events despite not carrying out royal duties.
But Andrew's shrinking status now leaves him open to parliamentary scrutiny. British ministers may legally question aspects of his past roles, including his time as the UK's Special Representative for International Trade and Investment.
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Andrew has been stripped of all of his royal titles and honors.
A parliamentary official recently confirmed because the shamed ex-duke is no longer treated as a member of the Royal Family "for the purpose of the rule against casting reflections," questions about his conduct are permissible when tied to government matters.
Andrew has been given his marching orders from the $40million Royal Lodge, with Charles urging him to leave by Christmas.
Insiders say the shamed ex-royal is spending his last weeks there "ranting" to himself along its corridors, and staying holed up in a TV room playing war game Call of Duty.
