Prince Andrew “deeply regrets” the damage he has inflicted on the Royal Family but it was “not intentional”, according to an inside source.
They pointed out that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle had, on the other hand, sought to attack the monarchy through public interviews, their documentary series and Harry’s memoir Spare.
Both the Sussexes and the Duke of York have stepped down as working royals, however while Harry and Meghan have moved to the US and lost their security detail and their UK home, Frogmore Cottage, the same has not happened to Andrew.
The Duke still lives at his Windsor property, Royal Lodge, despite being accused of sexually assaulting Virginia Giuffre when she was 17, allegations he has always strongly denied.
They ultimately reached a settlement out of court last year, with no admission of guilt on Prince Andrew’s part.
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A friend of the Duke told The Daily Beast: “If you were Charles, would you rather have a problem that looks like Harry and Meghan or a problem that looks like Andrew?
“Andrew has taken his punishment, withdrawn from public life and done whatever has been asked of him. He knows he has damaged the monarchy. So have Harry and Meghan.
“The difference is [Andrew] deeply regrets it and it was not intentional, whereas Harry and Meghan deliberately set out to cause as much damage to Charles and Camilla as they could to sell books and TV shows. That’s an entirely different matter.”
In his autobiography Spare, Harry explained his anger at learning that he and Meghan would be losing their security, after initially believing it would “never happen” due to the fate that befell his mother, Princess Diana.
He felt a different rule was applied to him than had been to his uncle, noting that Andrew was “embroiled in a shameful scandal, accused of the sexual assault of a young woman and no one had so much suggested that he lose his security.
“Whatever grievances people had against us, sex crimes weren’t on the list.”
