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The slow-motion fall of Andrew Mounbatten Windsor from the late Queen's cossetted and favoured son, to disgraced former duke, has thrown the treatment of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle into sharp relief. In a bombshell statement, Buckingham Palace responded to ever-increasing public outcry over allegations of sexual assault against Andrew, which he categorically denies, and his long-term friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. They announced that King Charles had begun the legal process of formally stripping his younger brother of his royal titles and that Andrew would be moving out of his home at Royal Lodge. Andrew had already announced he would voluntarily give up the use of his titles, but the King has taken things a step further by removing them officially. It is understood that Andrew will be leaving Royal Lodge, where he held a 75-year "iron-clad" lease, so he could not be forced out, for a home on the monarch's private estate of Sandringham. But it has been six years since Andrew stepped back as a working royal. It took until early 2022 for his royal patronages, honorary military positions, and police security to be stripped from him - which occurred when his accuser, Virginia Giuffre, launched a civil case against him in the US. It was announced at the time that Andrew would be facing the legal action as a "private citizen," and he settled with his accuser out of court, reportedly for millions, though the settlement did not include an admission of guilt. In contrast, when Harry and Meghan decided they could no longer continue as working royals, their taxpayer-funded security was unceremoniously taken away. In 2023, after the publication of Harry's bombshell memoir Spare lifted the lid on the Duke of Sussex's perception of the internal dysfunction inside the House of Windsor, he and Meghan were evicted from their UK home of Frogmore Cottage. This was despite having reportedly paid ahead for rent, and repaid the cost of renovations from the property that had been funded by the Sovereign Grant when they were still working royals. Royal expert and commentator, Afua Acheampong-Hagan, told the Mirror exclusively that in her opinion, "more protection" had been offered to Andrew over the years than to Harry and Meghan, who had "done nothing." "If you look at the [palace] language," the expert said, "talking about mental health, I feel like [Andrew] has been so protected. He's been so looked after, so mollycoddled. "[They've basically said] 'here's another big old beautiful house you can live in, we'll make sure you're okay'. It's even coming out of King Charles's purse, his pocket, paying for Sandringham. "Then, when you look at Harry and Meghan, they were completely excommunicated. Even for Harry to have a conversation with his dad is like running the Hunger Games. I think that the way that they have been treated is pretty diabolical, to be honest. "But we know why, right? Because Harry decided to marry a woman of colour who was American, who was divorced, who was a little bit older than him, was an actress." The expert continued, "Look how protected Andrew is, the Queen's favourite son. [The same level of protection was] definitely not [extended to Meghan] when she suffered with her mental health." Meghan publicly admitted that she was having difficulties behind closed doors in an ITV documentary about a tour she and Harry had undertaken to Southern Africa in 2019. She opened up candidly about the intense spotlight that came with royal life, saying: "Especially as a woman, it's really - it's a lot. So you add this on top of just trying to be a new Mum and trying to be a newlywed." She added, "Thank you for asking, because not many people will have asked if I'm OK. But it's a very real thing to be going through behind the scenes." Later, in her bombshell sit-down interview with Oprah Winfrey, she admitted that she had even suffered from suicidal thoughts. Harry himself pointed out in his memoir Spare that one of the reasons he initially assured Meghan there was no way their police security would be taken away from them was his errant uncle Andrew. "Despite being involved in an embarrassing scandal, accused of having sexually abused a young woman, nobody had suggested removing his security. People may have a lot of grievances towards us, but sexual offences weren't one of them," Harry wrote.
