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Edinburgh Live
Edinburgh Live
Entertainment
Bev Lyons

Tensions with Princes Charles and how Andrew will settle his mammoth legal bill

The often fraught relationship between Prince Charles and brother Andrew has been well-documented down the years, with the siblings having a number of reported run-ins.

Despite their blood bond, the two brothers had altogether different upbringings, Charles groomed to be the future king as the heir, Andrew allowed freer rein as the spare.

But on one issue at least, the pair appear to have set their differences aside as the Record reports Charles is said to be helping Andrew deliver the cash after settling the civil sex abuse case with accuser Virginia Giuffre.

READ MORE - Mum branded 'petty' for refusing to buy colleague a Marks and Spencer meal deal

The monarch-in-waiting is letting his brother borrow £7 million as the Queen also helps out privately, according to The Sun.

An insider told the paper the family plan to "take a little from here and a little from there" while Prince Andrew plans to reimburse his mum and brother in two months when he sells his ski chalet in Verbier, Switzerland.

The two brothers have had a rocky rapport through the years and are very different.

Charles was born in 1948 and his desire to slim down the Monarchy has provided tension between the two royals.

Andrew, who was born in 1960, had a different upbringing because he was not raised to be the next King.

Author Katie Nicholl who covers royal life told the documentary: "There is a real tension between Charles and Andrew. Andrew has a very different relationship with his mother and the Queen was much more hands-on."

Former butler to Princess Diana Paul Burrell also said: "Andrew has always been the Queen's favourite son and he has never done anything wrong in her eyes."

And journalist Penny Junor said: "I think the Queen has always had a bit of a blind spot when it comes to Prince Andrew."

Andrew and Charles both wed their now ex-wives in the 1980s - Princess Diana and Sarah Ferguson.

Diana and Sarah became friends after joining The Firm, and were seen at Ascot and Wimbledon as well as going skiing holidays together.

Charles and Andrew had "more companionship between them at that stage in their life than perhaps at any other," says royal expert Katie Nicholl, however both were divorced by 1996.

As heir to the throne, Charles has spent his entire life preparing for the day he takes to the throne to become King.

Charles plans for a slimmed-down monarchy consisting of seven senior royals doesn’t include Prince Andrew or his daughters Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie.

In 2011 Beatrice and Eugenie had their 24-hour taxpayer-funded security taken away.

And according to one expert, Charles had to intervene with regards to funding for Beatrice and Eugenie's security after his younger niece notched up huge security costs of more than £100,000 of taxpayers' money in her gap year around the world.

Royal author Angela Levin told programme 'Beatrice and Eugenie: Pampered Princesses?' that Charles said the expenditure was unnecessary which apparently left Andrew furious.

In 2012 The Queen celebrated her Diamond Jubilee with a royal appearance on Buckingham Palace balcony but only senior royals like the Duchess of Cornwall, Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge appeared leaving Andrew dismayed at Charle's decision.

Royal expert Richard Kay told the Daily Mail in a column in 2012: "For Andrew, according to one close figure, being excluded from the balcony scene was a sudden and totally unexpected demotion from front-rank to peripheral royal. It was ‘like a dagger to his heart and he hasn’t got over it’.

"But this was a dramatic statement of intent by Charles, who long ago decided that when he is king the Royal Family would be ‘slimmed down’.

"But as a friend of the Duke of York says: ‘The speed and suddenness with which Charles has acted has taken Andrew’s breath away. It’s dreadfully high-handed.’"

Last year, Virginia Giuffre began the process of suing Andrew in a civil case in New York for alleged sexually assault when she was a teenager. Andrew vehemently denies all allegations.

Buckingham Palace in the meantime declared that Andrew would not undertake any public duties and that his military associations and royal patronages had been returned to the Queen.

Charles and his son William were said to have helped decide upon this route with royal expert Robert Jobson explaining they had no other choice.

He explained to the Mirror: “Prince Andrew will be devastated at the way he has been cut adrift by the royal family.

"But the Queen, Prince Charles and Prince William - the main players in this shocking move - will feel they had no choice.”

Charles was asked by a reporter about this but didn't answer.

Since the news that Andrew and Virginia Giuffre had come to an out-of-court deal the case has not proceeded to trial,

Insiders claim Charles and the Queen put "substantial pressure" on Andrew to settle the case so it did not cast a shadow on the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.

Andrew is said to have been under “intense pressure from the very top” to strike a deal.

Charles and William were summoned to meet The Queen at Windsor Castle minutes after Andrew broke the news.

An insider said: “It was made absolutely crystal clear to Andrew he has to sort this mess out.

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