Prince William and Kate Middleton Are in Danger of Losing Their ‘Most Popular Royal Couple’ Status With ‘Poisonous Association’ to Prince Andrew — Commentator
Royal carpool has Prince William and Kate Middleton coming under fire. After being seen with disgraced Prince Andrew during the royal family’s end-of-summer stay at Balmoral Castle, one commentator says the “appalling misjudgment” could damage the Prince and Princess of Wales’s reputation.
William and Kate drove to and from Craithe Kirk church with Andrew on August 27
The Duke of York, 63, joined William and Kate on their way to Crathie Kirk on Aug. 27, 2023. The church is a short drive from Balmoral Castle, the late Queen Elizabeth II‘s Scottish residence frequented by royals every summer.
Photographers snapped images of Andrew, a non-working royal due to a 2019 Newsnight interview and connection to Jeffrey Epstein, in the passenger seat with William behind the wheel and Kate in the backseat. Following the service, Kate rode up front with William while Andrew sat in the back.
Meanwhile, William’s father, King Charles III, and stepmother, Queen Camilla, drove to church separately. As did the king’s other siblings. Prince Edward and Princess Anne joined their respective partners, Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, and Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence.
Maintaining William and Kate’s ‘appeal’ dubbed ‘far more important’ than Andrew’s reputation
Discussing the Prince and Princess of Wales’s carpool moment with Andrew on The Royal Report podcast, host Jack Royston remarked how the car ride could impact their popularity.
“I think this is an appalling misjudgment from William at a time when he and Kate really are the epicenter of royal popularity,” Royston said on the Aug. 30 episode titled “Prince Andrew: The Royal Scandal That Will Not Go Away.”
“They are the most popular royals alongside Princess Anne,” he continued. “So why let the toxic, toxic reputation of someone like Prince Andrew taint the most popular royal couple? It’s a poisonous association to have, and it’s not going to do the royals any favors.”
“The time has long passed for the royal family to realize how toxic Andrew is,” Royston said. What’s “far more important than whatever self-indulgent project Andrew is on” is “preserving William and Kate’s appeal to the public.”
“This is definitely a time for the royals to see with clarity what’s important and what isn’t,” he added. “And William and Kate’s reputation is far more important than Prince Andrew’s.”
William has his ‘own problems’ without being seen with Andrew
Royston continued, saying the optics of being seen with Andrew were “terrible for William and Kate. Plus, he pointed out to listeners, William’s not without “problems” of his own.
“William’s got his own problems,” Royston said before referring to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s 2021 tell-all interview. “He’s had multiple race scandals over the past few years since Oprah. He’s been called up on things he said, whether it was about war seeming unnatural in Europe, or whether it was about the impact of human population in Africa on the climate.”
“There have been a number of things that he was picked up on,” the podcast host continued. “And, you know, this is a time when privilege has gone fast out of fashion, not just in Britain but across the democratic world.”
Before being seen with William and Kate on the way to church, the coronation in May 2023 marked the last public event Andrew attended alongside the pair.
