Prince Charles 'hopping mad' over Prince Andrew's hope for 'future role' in Royal Family

Prince Charles was dismayed when he heard that Prince Andrew believed he had a 'future role' in the British monarchy, according to a royal insider. 

• Prince Charles was 'hopping mad' after he heard that Prince Andrew thought he had a 'future role' in the Royal Family, a royal insider has revealed. 
• The Prince of Wales reportedly does not believe that his younger brother, who has been stripped of his royal privileges over sex abuse allegations, will ever return as a working member of the British monarchy. 
• In other royal news, Prince William's baby joke about Kate Middleton sends royal fans into overdrive.
  

Prince Charles was 'hopping mad' over claims that Prince Andrew would resume his job as a working royal, an insider has revealed. 

The Duke of York was reportedly told by a 'source close to him' last year that he has a 'future role' in the Royal Family, even after being forced to step down because of his ongoing sex abuse scandal. 

Prince Andrew has been accused by Virginia Giuffre, one of the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein's sex trafficking ring, of committing 'sexual assault and battery' against her when she was a minor. The Australian-American campaigner, who is now suing the 61-year-old in a US civil case, has insisted that she will hold him 'accountable for what he did to me.' 

The Duke has vehemently denied Giuffre's allegations, but their impact on the Royal Family's reputation has been unquestionably damaging. 

Last Thursday, the Queen stripped Prince Andrew of his military titles and royal patronages, and confirmed that he would be defending his case as a private citizen. It's understood that the father-of-two, who was informed of the decision in a 90-minute meeting with Her Majesty at Windsor Castle, has accepted that "it was the right thing to do."

Prince Andrew's Twitter and Youtube have since been deleted, while his Instagram page has been set to private. The Royal Family's website administrators have also scaled down his profile, removing his list of military honors and referring to his duties in the past tense. These recent developments have only solidified the consensus that the disgraced Duke will never reclaim his former status, regardless of the outcome of his case. 

“Everyone in the Royal Family has been of the view he couldn’t come back, except Prince Andrew, who did a litmus test with us last year when a source close to him said ‘he thinks he has a future role’," Sunday Times Royal Editor Roya Nikkhah said on the Royal Beat this week. 

"I went to the Prince of Wales with that and suffice to say the Prince of Wales was hopping mad, because Andrew said he had family support to come back, and he did not have family support to come back to public life.” 

Andrew, who is the second youngest of the Queen's children, is currently residing at the Royal Lodge with his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson. It's believed that his legal battle is consuming much of his time now, as he prepares for the possibility of a trial in New York in autumn 2022. 

"While Prince Andrew might have fewer formal responsibilities today than yesterday, I would expect him to be taking on this litigation as his full-time job," media lawyer Melville-Brown told Insider. 

In the meantime, it's understood that Kensington Palace is determined to keep Prince William as far away from the matter as possible. The Duke of Cambridge, who has never addressed the scandal publicly, is reportedly desperate to distance himself from his paternal uncle. 

"He [William] is fighting for his future, and he is fighting for his children’s future as well," the Mirror's royal editor, Russell Meyers, said. "All of this has been a PR disaster.”