The Prince Andrew conundrum

Prince Philip’s memorial service yesterday was an affecting occasion. The hymns, including Guide Me O Thou Great Redeemer and Britten’s Te Deum In C were well chosen, and the Dean of Windsor’s well-judged sermon acknowledged both the Duke of Edinburgh’s sincere but never pious religious faith and his energetic, at times abrasive personality. The Dean suggested, rightly, that the Duke would never have wanted to be remembered as a plaster saint. After the low-key Covid-necessitated funeral service of last year, it was a public reminder that the royal family can still command both dignity and respect. So why, then, have today’s headlines been so dreadful?

The answer, naturally, is because of the presence of Prince Andrew, who led his 95-year-old mother into the service. The shaming of the not-so-grand Duke of York had seemed complete earlier this year when he agreed to a humiliating pay-out to settle the civil suit brought against him by Virginia Giuffre on claims of sexual assault – claims which, despite the payment, he accepts no liability for.