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Prince William might not be sitting on the throne anytime soon, but the downfall of his uncle, Prince Andrew, has made a clear path for him in many ways. For years, Prince William and his father, Prince Charles have grumbled at how massive the British Royal Family has gotten.

However, it’s widely known that Prince Andrew is Queen Elizabeth’s favorite which is why he was able to maintain his working royal status as well as his convoluted relationship with his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson. While the Duke and Duchess of York have made headlines constantly over the years while clamoring for more visibility –Queen Elizabeth has protected her son.

At present, all of the drama in Prince Andrew’s past has caught up with him. In the wake of the suicide of sex offender and financier Jeffer Epstein — the prince’s relationship and dealings with him are being scrutinized. The fall out has been so massive that Prince Andrew has stepped away from his royal duties. It appears that Prince William had a major hand in pushing his uncle into the background.

Inside Prince Andrew’s downfall

Prince Andrew had been close friends with Jeffrey Epstein for 20 years. Their friendship continued even after Epstein was convicted of soliciting a minor for sex. When the financier committed suicide this past summer, the duke tried to distance himself. However, that only served to raise more questions.

One of Epstein’s alleged victims, Virginia Roberts, accused the prince of abusing her too. In an effort to clear his name — the prince gave an ill-fated interview with BBC Newsnight where he declared he did not regret his friendship with Epstein. It was the final nail in the coffin. Just two days later, Prince Andrew relinquished his royal duties and stepped away from the spotlight.

“It must have been incredibly hard for the queen, his mother — Andrew is widely regarded to be her favorite son — but she recognized that there was a huge amount of damage being done to the monarchy,” Royal expert Kate Nicholl told Entertainment Tonight. “He had no option, the queen had no option, but for Andrew to step back from royal duties.”

Prince William played a major role in ousting Prince Andrew from royal life

Prince Andrew’s ousting as a senior member of the British Royal Family has cost him a great deal. In his announcement that he would be stepping away from his royal duties, the prince said, “the circumstances relating to my former association with Jeffrey Epstein has become a major disruption to my family’s work.”

Since then Prince Andrew has been ousted from Buckingham Palace, dropped from his patronages, and his 60th birthday soiree has been canceled. Apparently, Prince William and Prince Charles are pleased with the actions that have been taken against the Duke of York. In fact, Prince William was intimately involved in talks with his father, and Queen Elizabeth when it came to ousting his uncle.

“William thinks the right thing happened,” a source told The London Times. “William is becoming more and more involved in decisions about the institution [monarchy] and he’s not a huge fan of his uncle Andrew.”

Prince William may be taking over many of Prince Andrew’s royal duties

Since Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice are not full-time royals — and the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Cambridge are looking to trim the royal family, they will be spreading Prince Andrew’s vacant patronages amongst the remaining senior royals.

“You might see William, Kate, Harry and Meghan involved in this,” Daily Mirror’s royal editor Russell Myers explained on Pod Save the Queen. “They will be lumbered with a lot more work, you’d imagine. [Andrew} was a patron of 230-odd charities, it is an awful lot.”

Wow.

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