There was once bad blood between brothers Prince Charles and Prince Andrew, and their mother, Queen Elizabeth II, had to intervene.
At the moment, the world is focused on the bitter feud between Prince William and Prince Harry, but according to Richard Kay, there was real drama taking place with other members of the royal family.
The fight between the Queen’s sons took place over money and entitlement. Prince Charles, known for trying to cut down spending in the monarchy, was frustrated with the disturbing amount of money being spent on security to protect Andrew’s daughters — Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie.
According to a new documentary, the sisters took a gap year where they had fun traveling the world and racked a security bill of £100,000 or $130,264.
Although Beatrice and Eugenie paid for their own hotel rooms while visiting India, America, Thailand, and South Africa, the British taxpayers were asked to handle the exorbitant bill for their security details.
Famous royal expert Kay appeared in the documentary, Beatrice and Eugenie: Pampered Princesses?, where he explained: “She was sort of flitting from country to country as most middle-class young people do who take gap years. But, of course, she was accompanied by police bodyguards. That meant that we the taxpayers were paying for policemen to accompany her to the fleshpots of the world.”
Prince Charles infuriated his brother when he decided that the princesses did not need to have such costly security arrangements.
Prince Andrew, who wanted his daughters to enjoy all the perks of being born into royalty, wrote a letter to the Queen requesting that the benefits be restored to the princesses.
Journalist and royal commentator Angela Levin also appeared in the documentary to explain: “Prince Charles decided that as they were not likely to be very senior royals, that this was too much for the public to pay, so he stopped that. Prince Andrew was so angry that he wrote a note to the Queen. He said he wanted them to be considered as proper royals. He did not want the protection officers to leave them.”
It is a known fact that the Queen cannot say no to her baby boy, but she surprised many by denying his request.
Levin added: “Usually the Queen gave into him. She had just a huge soft spot for him. He could usually persuade her to his way. But this time, she refused.”
In a past interview, former Chief Superintendent with the Metropolitan Police and leading expert of police policy and procedures Dai Davies revealed that the government and the police serve and protect the British Royal Family at an unprecedented level.
