The queen said Prince Andrew’s route to redemption was charity work “as a way back into public life.”
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The Queen’s plan to rehabilitate à la Andrew Profumo: Monarch’ suggested the disgraced Duke of York could turn to ‘low-key’ charity work as a route back to public life
The Queen suggested that Prince Andrew take up charity work as a “route back to public life”, sources have revealed.
The duke’s friends claimed that the late monarch believed his son could follow a “Profumo-style” path to redemption through discreet good works.
This was a reference to disgraced minister John Profumo, who took up charity work after being forced to resign from government in the 1960s over his affair with Christine Keeler.
Although the idea of Andrew undertaking volunteer work has been raised publicly before, it is the first suggestion that Queen Elizabeth endorsed the idea.
The queen suggested that Prince Andrew take up charity work as a “route back to public life”, the sources revealed.
Friends of the Duke of York (pictured driving at Windsor Castle) claimed the late monarch believed his son could follow a “Profumo-style” path to redemption.
“Andrew’s mother suggested that a charitable cause was the way forward,” a source told The Independent.
“Other family members agreed and saw it as their only form of rehabilitation.”
The prince is not believed to have taken on any charitable role in recent years.
His critics have questioned whether organizations would want to get involved with him following the Epstein scandal and his settlement with Virginia Giuffre, a known victim of the American pedophile, who also accused the prince of sexual assault.
He vehemently denied the allegation and stressed that there was no admission of liability as part of his multi-million dollar settlement.
Despite publicly stripping her supposed favorite son of his patronages and forbidding him from officially using his title of Her Royal Highness, the Queen was known to be sympathetic to his situation.
It was reported that he helped the duke pay off the settlement before he died.
Andrew is now said to be considering his legal options after Ms Giuffre dropped a similar sexual abuse case against high-profile US lawyer Alan Dershowitz, saying she may have been wrong to accuse him.
Critics have questioned whether organizations would want to engage with Prince Andrew in the wake of the Epstein scandal and his settlement with Virginia Giuffre (pictured together in 2001, with Ghislaine Maxwell)
Although the idea of Andrew undertaking volunteer work has been raised publicly before, it is the first suggestion that Queen Elizabeth II endorsed the idea.
Friends say Andrew is a lonely figure at Royal Lodge, the Windsor home he shares with his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson.
He is said to be hopeful of returning to royal duties if he is able to annul the US deal, but the Mail revealed at the weekend that this was deemed a “wishful thinking” at Buckingham Palace regardless of the outcome. .
Meanwhile, the queen consort took her first engagement as a new colonel of the Grenadier Guards. She replaced her brother-in-law Andrew of hers after he was stripped of her public duties.
Yesterday Camilla, 75, visited the battalion at Lille Barracks in Aldershot, Hampshire.
She presented medals to ten soldiers, who had been chosen for their exceptional service in Iraq last year, as well as two who were honored for their long service.