The Front Page: Royal winners and losers a year after the Queen’s death

Is Prince Andrew being allowed back into the royal fold? Photo / AP

This week marks a year since the death of Queen Elizabeth II and the ascension of King Charles III to the throne after a lifetime of waiting.

Beyond the disruptive impact of the Queen’s death, the Royal Family has also faced years of inner turmoil on account of the relentless news cycle focused on some members of the family.

For starters, ‘The Firm’ has been rocked by the allegations circling around Prince Andrew, who has at times found himself shunned by the rest of the family.

Despite the gravity of the accusations that continue to plague Andrew, NZ Herald lifestyle editor Jenni Mortimer tells The Front Page podcast that there are signs he’s been allowed back into the fold.

Recent footage showed Andrew being driven to church in Balmoral, sitting alongside the driver, Prince William, while Princess Kate sat in the back.

“Just like all moves the royals make, this was incredibly calculated in a lot of ways,” says Mortimer.

“They know how this is going to appear. You have William, who’s one of the most well-liked Royals … with Andrew. People will wonder: ‘What does he know that we don’t? He trusts him.’ William has got a clean image and being seen with him is saying that Andrew’s back in the fold.”

This ultimately puts Andrew in the category of winners over the past year. The long-running double standard here is that Andrew, despite his transgressions, is often treated better than Harry and Meghan.

That said, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have shown little interest in being brought back into the Royal fold in any capacity.

Harry and Meghan have had something of a mixed year. Mortimer says that, while they’ve had some wins, such as the release of Harry’s memoir Spare, they’ve also suffered big losses such as the dissolution of their podcast partnership with Spotify.

“Interest in Harry and Meghan is starting to definitely decline,” says Mortimer.

“From a strictly analytics point of view, the happy royal stories are the ones that people are gravitating towards. You put Prince Louis on a balcony compared to Harry and Meghan, and Louis is going to do two to three times as much in terms of audience.”

• But is that decline in interest necessarily bad news for Harry and Meghan?
• Will Charles be able to fill the gap left by the Queen?
• And could we see a royal tour to New Zealand in the coming years?

For the full story, listen to the latest episode of The Front Page podcast.

The Front Page is a daily news podcast from the New Zealand Herald, available to listen to every weekday from 5am. It is presented by Damien Venuto, an Auckland-based journalist with a background in business reporting who joined the Herald in 2017.

You can follow the podcast at iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.