For decades, the royal Christmas walk to church has been one of those perfectly calibrated Windsor non-events. However, things have changed as King Charles ascended the throne.
This year Charles ensured that the walk was not just newsworthy but explosively so, by making the extraordinary decision to parade the daughters of his disgraced brother Andrew, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, at his side, in full public view, at precisely the moment when their father’s humiliation had once again been freshly underlined in the most toxic possible way via The Daily Beast.
Just a couple of days ago, a tranche of newly released material related to the Jeffrey Epstein case was released, and while none of it changed facts that have been known for years, it did serve to re-cement Andrew’s shame.
It has been noted that among the most jaw-dropping details was a note from Andrew while staying at “Balmoral summer camp” with the royal family to Epstein’s lieutenant, Ghislaine Maxwell, asking her to help him find “inappropriate new friends.”
While it is hard to think of a more disgusting encapsulation of Andrew’s catastrophic lack of judgment, one also struggles to imagine what the king thinks he is doing by showcasing two key members of what is the most shameless, grifting appendage ever fused onto the modern British monarchy.
