by The Laird o’Thistle
August 17 2009
In about six months from now, the Duke of York will be turning fifty. I can testify that it is a watershed age, a time for reflection and retooling as one enters the latter phase of middle age. So this month I thought I would look into the life of a prince who, at present, seems to suffer a lot of bad press and often seems the least happy and most unfulfilled of Britain’s royal family.
Prince Andrew is the elder son of Queen Elizabeth II’s “second” family, consisting of himself and Prince Edward, born nearly a decade after the Princess Royal and some eight years after the Queen came to the throne. He bears the name of his paternal grandfather, Prince Andrew of Greece, with whom he shares a reputation for being something of a playboy enjoying the company of the female sex. It seems rather handy that the name Andrew also comes from a saint that both Greece and Scotland hail as their patron. He was created Duke of York at the time of his marriage to Sarah Ferguson in 1986, a title previously held by his grandfather and great-grandfather, both of whom became King. That destiny seems likely to evade him, however, since he is currently fourth in line to the throne after the Prince of Wales and Princes William and Harry. When William eventually marries, the Duke of York will tick inevitably lower down the order as new royal children appear on the scene. Should Parliament ever actually get around to changing the laws of succession, it is possible that Andrew and his daughters will even get shifted behind the Princess Royal and her two children… though I would suspect that such legislation is more likely to be prospective than retrospective, affecting only those born subsequent to its passage.
Like his father and Prince Charles, Prince Andrew was educated at Gordonstoun in Scotland, also spending a term abroad in Canada. Skipping university, Andrew went directly into the Royal Navy. He famously served in the Falklands in 1982 and continued as a career naval officer until 2001. The one major casualty of his military service, according to the Duchess of York, was the breakdown of their marriage caused by long periods of separation while he was on active duty. Since leaving the navy the Duke of York has succeeded the Duke of Kent as the U.K’s Special Representative for International Trade and Investment, a position that has brought ongoing criticism and concern in the media in regards to the Duke’s expenses and also in relation to some controversial associations.
As is widely noted, the Duke seems to have perhaps the happiest and most devoted relationship with his ex-wife of any divorced man on earth. More than just maintaining a positive relationship with their daughters, the Duke and the Duchess of York have persisted in caring deeply for one another over the years, apparently with no really serious prospects of marriage to a new partner having come along for either of them. Since the Duke’s move to his grandmother’s old home, The Royal Lodge near Windsor Castle, the Duchess of York has acquired neighboring Dolphin House. And every so often speculation is renewed as to whether the Duke and Duchess might eventually remarry. (Personally, I think it would be grand! I’ve always liked the Duchess, even when her actions were best, and most charitably, characterized as utterly idiotic.)
I was struck when the documentary series “Monarchy: The Royal Family at Work” came out in 2007 that the section on Prince Andrew did not seem to show a man who was really enjoying life. The Duke of York appeared to be working hard in his role, but unhappy, and rather “tetchy” about the criticisms directed at him. Even his humor and laughter had an edge to it. The prince is somewhat notorious for being the most status-conscious of the siblings and, unlike the Earl of Wessex with his children, the Duke of York puts high stock in his daughters’ holding onto their titles as princesses and as royal highnesses. But status is different than the role, and unlike his siblings, Prince Andrew does not appear to have found a role or niche that really works for him at this stage in life.
When one thinks of the Prince of Wales many things come immediately to mind… the Prince’s Trust, architecture, the environment, organic farming and gardening, spirituality, painting, and so on. Such are the passions that occupy his time while carrying out his role of waiting to be king. Similarly with the Princess Royal one thinks of Save the Children, and her prodigious schedules of visits to charities and regiments, and also HRH’s equestrian interests. The Earl of Wessex has found himself a niche in carrying forward the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme, and ongoing interests in youth and the performing arts. Having at least attempted to go his own way in business and television production, the Earl has settled in to “supporting” the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh more and more during their later years. For each of these three, there is a set of projects and interests that seem to engage them personally and a certain sense of peace with the role they’ve carved out for themselves in life.
Thinking of Prince Andrew there is his too well known personal interest in golf, and his interest in photography, and in “the ladies.” At one point in “Monarchy”, the Queen notes Andrew’s ongoing keen interest in helicopters as she chats with Gordon Brown about a visit her son had just paid to Iraq. But, aside from that…? From what I read and see there’s no evident personal passion or interest in international trade for the Duke of York. That, it seems, is more of just “a job” that requires lots of tedious time away from home, and which doesn’t even accrue much in the way of appreciation from the British public. (Truth to tell, I wouldn’t wonder if he was at just a wee bit depressed!) It makes one wonder if there isn’t a different role that this prince might find more personally satisfying, and that would at the same time raise his stock in public esteem?
There is a corresponding spillover from the Duke to his daughters in all of this. Both have received some significant flak from the media over privilege-related issues like Beatrice’s student digs (in St. James’ Palace), and the expense and misadventures of Eugenie’s “royal” security detail during her gap year travels abroad. Whether such criticisms are somewhat unwarranted in these security-conscious days, or not, one wonders how it might be different for “Lady” Beatrice Mountbatten-Windsor and “Lady” Eugenie Mountbatten-Windsor as they move through their university careers and on into young adulthood? Might they have a greater opportunity at achieving a more “normal” life… like Peter and Zara Phillips, and the children of Princess Margaret?
It is perhaps the worst fate of the dynastic universe to be the second son of a monarch. For unless your elder brother dies off young, or abdicates the throne with no offspring to succeed, you spend your whole life as the ever-more-redundant “spare.” And without a sufficiently engaging (albeit appropriate) career path of one’s own it can mean a lifetime spent in limbo. That, I fear, is the unenviable current status of HRH Andrew Albert Christian Edward Mountbatten-Windsor, Duke of York, Earl of Inverness, Baron Killyleagh, KG, KCVO. So, maybe it is time for a good old-fashioned mid-life crisis?
In any event, I wish HRH well. Long life, health and happiness to him and his.
Yours aye,
Ken Cuthbertson