Prince Andrew has been struggling immensely to understand his standing in the court of public opinion as well as in the eyes of his nephew Prince William.
All this has led him towards making a blunder that former BBC Royal correspondent Jennie Bond considers to be a ‘sticking’ point for the heir.
In speaking with The Mirror Ms Bond said, “William finds his uncle an embarrassment to the monarchy. I think it was an illustration of the fact that when William has made up his mind about something, he sticks to it.”
“And that is by no means a bad thing,” she quickly reiterated. “It would be hypocritical of him to pretend all is well when there is clearly tension between himself and Andrew.”
Especially when the Prince of Wales clearly looked uninterested in conversing with his uncle during the Duchess of Kent’s funeral.
For those unversed, the entire moment was captured in video, and shows the Duke of York call on the heir multiple times to engage in banter, with a smile on his face.
However, throughout it all Prince William was seen with a solemn expression, and this has led the expert to add, “William looked intensely uncomfortable as Andrew tried to make conversation. It was a supremely awkward moment in what was a very solemn occasion.”
She also added, “I think the body language proved that William is the top dog in this relationship: a future King who outranks his uncle. Andrew has demonstrated time and again that he is bizarrely oblivious to how toxic he now is.”
Even more so “it was crass of him to try to get some banter going - especially at such a sad occasion and when the cameras were quite clearly on him and William,” Ms Bond added. “Andrew's big brother and his other siblings tolerate him, but William is a different generation with a different outlook.”
Near the end the expert even added, “I can understand that Andrew wanted to attend the funeral, but once again he demonstrated that he has very little appreciation of how the public – and many of his family – feel about him and the damage he's done to the monarchy.”
“He could have stood quietly at the back of the group, away from the cameras and the senior members of the Royal family, such as William. Instead, he chose to position himself right next to his nephew.”
“It was further proof, if proof were needed, that the Duke of York simply doesn't understand the strength of public opinion against him.”