Royal insiders say it’s not if but when King Charles will remove his younger brother from the line of succession.
According to royal expert Phil Dampier, a senior courtier recently visited the former prince at his temporary home on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk to explain how his future outside the royal family will unfold.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Canadian Premier Mark Carney have also both said they would support such a move.
The Woman’s Day columnist has also been told that Prince William is actively exploring plans to remove his estranged brother and his children from the line as well, which would prompt a “constitutional earthquake”.
While King Charles still believes there’s a way back for his prodigal son, William apparently wants to start his reign in a couple of years with a “clean slate”.
“Change is on my agenda — change for good,” the Prince of Wales has allegedly promised behind the scenes.
A source close to William and Kate told Phil that Andrew’s removal has opened up the possibility of removing other members of the family from the line of succession.
“Until recently removing people seemed almost impossible but if Andrew loses his place why not Harry?” they said. “William will never forgive Harry for smearing Kate as a racist and he wants nothing to do with him.
“He thinks it’s ridiculous that someone who has voluntarily left the royal family and gone to live abroad, bringing up his kids with American accents, is so high up the pecking order.”
The source said with how things stand now, if something was to happen to William and his family, Harry and Meghan would be King and Queen.
“It really doesn’t bear thinking about, so he is taking advice from top experts and legal minds as to the way forward and he might seriously consider the nuclear option,” they said. “He might not invite him to his Coronation and he might try to remove him from the succession.”
If Andrew, Harry, and his children, are taken out of the line of succession, Princess Beatrice (currently ninth) would be next in line, if something was to happen to William, Kate and their children.
However, there are questions lingering over Beatrice and Eugenie’s place in the line of succession as well.
While plots are being hatched behind the scenes, the public rivalry between William and Harry continues.
Prince William and Kate are more popular than ever, as walkabouts in London and Wales recently showed, and Harry and Meghan are about to embark on a visit to Australia, and may reunite with the King at the Invictus Games.
