{"id":136619,"date":"2019-11-18T01:49:40","date_gmt":"2019-11-18T01:49:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/debate\/article-7695935\/BEL-MOONEY-heart-breaks-Queen-Prince-Andrews-TV-interview.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ito=1490&ns_campaign=1490"},"modified":"2019-11-18T01:49:40","modified_gmt":"2019-11-18T01:49:40","slug":"bel-mooney-my-heart-breaks-for-the-queen-after-prince-andrews-tv-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/wardoon.net\/so\/bel-mooney-my-heart-breaks-for-the-queen-after-prince-andrews-tv-interview\/","title":{"rendered":"BEL MOONEY: My heart breaks for the Queen after Prince Andrew’s TV interview\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

Of course it was inevitable that I would watch the Emily Maitlis interview with Prince Andrew wearing my advice columnist\u2019s hat. How could I not?<\/p>\n

To be honest, even though the advance publicity had made my heart sink, I still wanted him to be convincing, to be sympathetic, to offer a mitigating chink through which the compassionate heart could squeeze . . . and (possibly) forgive him.<\/p>\n

But he did not. On the contrary, it was as if a mocking sadist had handed the Queen\u2019s beloved (some even say favourite) son a shovel and ordered him to dig away at a huge hole, into which he would quickly topple \u2014 still protesting that he knew nothing, recognised nobody, was never there, had no idea about that photograph, could be faulted only for being \u2018too honourable\u2019.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"It<\/div>\n

\"It<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

It was as if a mocking sadist had handed the Queen\u2019s beloved (some even say favourite) son a shovel and ordered him to dig away at a huge hole, into which he would quickly topple, writes BEL MOONEY. Pictured: The Queen leaving The Royal Chapel of All Saints at Windsor Great Park this morning<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Endless bat-squeaks of blustering self-pity within the darkness of an unbelievably befuddled mind.<\/p>\n

What on earth possessed him to give the interview?<\/p>\n

He said that he\u2019d been in talks with Newsnight for months about a way of highlighting his charitable work \u2014 so was his motivation a form of vanity?<\/p>\n

Did he think he would come across as a fundamentally decent, misunderstood guy who just briefly got in with the wrong crowd, but that\u2019s all over now, so let\u2019s focus on his good works?<\/p>\n

It astonishes me that it hasn\u2019t dawned on this man of nearly 60 that TV is a pitiless medium \u2014 showing up every blink, every squirm, every sudden tensing of a foot.<\/p>\n

It astonishes me that he has no understanding . . . full stop.<\/p>\n

Yet this is a man who is still loved, admired and defended by his ex-wife. This is a loving and beloved father of two daughters \u2014 young women who must be full of utter misery today.<\/p>\n

I make no apology for feeling full of compassion for Beatrice and Eugenie, as well as respect for Sarah Ferguson\u2019s loyalty to the father of her girls.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"As<\/div>\n

\"As<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

As a passionate monarchist, I care deeply about what happens to the whole Royal Family, and it breaks my heart to think of what the Queen has to endure now, writes BEL MOONEY<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

If we cannot exercise the very empathy that Andrew failed to show for Jeffrey Epstein\u2019s exploited victims during the interview, then surely harm is doubled?<\/p>\n

So let others articulate all the angry disbelief I certainly felt when watching that car-crash interview. The point is, my later reflections have been more full of sorrow than rage.<\/p>\n

Pity for the flawed man at the mercy of Maitlis\u2019s cool intelligence?<\/p>\n

No \u2014 because I cannot believe that somebody who has enjoyed such privilege could have no inkling of how his \u2018non-sweat\u2019 claim and his pizza party alibi (\u2018I remember it because it was weird for me to go to Woking\u2019) would sound.<\/p>\n

And not noticing the \u2018staff\u2019 at Epstein\u2019s house (which quite possibly included very young girls). There can be no excuse for such arrogance and ignorance.<\/p>\n

I do, however, feel sad for his family. Andrew\u2019s brothers and sister may well be muttering: \u2018He\u2019s a bloody fool\u2019 \u2014 but what of his mother?<\/p>\n

As a passionate monarchist, I care deeply about what happens to the whole Royal Family, and it breaks my heart to think of what the Queen has to endure now \u2014 especially after the recent adverse publicity directed at the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Twelve years of writing my Saturday advice column for the Mail has exposed me to the full range of human stupidity, weakness, shame, anger and grief.<\/p>\n

I regularly receive problem letters from mothers whose sons (or daughters) \u2014 the ones they loved so much as children and for whom they cherished such hopes \u2014 have badly let them down.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\"Of<\/div>\n

\"Of<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\"The<\/div>\n

\"The<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Of course it was inevitable that I would watch the Emily Maitlis (left) interview with Prince Andrew (right) wearing my advice columnist\u2019s hat. How could I not? writes BEL MOONEY<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

They ask how they can balance shame with forgiveness. They wonder how long you can go on supporting someone who has brought disgrace on the family \u2014 through crime or drugs, for example.<\/p>\n

Or they express the intense irritation that calls into question the unconditional love of parenthood. They ask me \u2014 sometimes piteously, sometimes resentfully \u2014 whether it could have been their fault. What went wrong?<\/p>\n

Such painfully mixed-up feelings are common within families. And the Windsors are a family.<\/p>\n

I happen to think it essential to remember that pain has nothing to do with privilege and that humiliation is just as horrible when experienced on a gilded chair.<\/p>\n

You may not agree. You may wish to see Prince Andrew rolling along in a tumbril, closely followed by all his relatives. But I don\u2019t.<\/p>\n

I wish he had spared us that interview. But, most of all, I wish he had had the common sense and grace to spare the people who, I am sure \u2014 for all his many faults \u2014 he loves.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Of course it was inevitable that I would watch the Emily Maitlis interview with Prince Andrew wearing my advice columnist\u2019s hat. How could I not? To be honest, even though the advance publicity had made my heart sink, I still wanted him to be convincing, to be sympathetic, to offer a mitigating chink through which […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":136620,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_10221280388112155_325455220908133":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-136619","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-english-news"],"yoast_head":"\nBEL MOONEY: My heart breaks for the Queen after Prince Andrew's TV interview\u00a0 - Wardoon<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/wardoon.net\/so\/bel-mooney-my-heart-breaks-for-the-queen-after-prince-andrews-tv-interview\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BEL MOONEY: My heart breaks for the Queen after Prince Andrew's TV interview\u00a0 - Wardoon\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Of course it was inevitable that I would watch the Emily Maitlis interview with Prince Andrew wearing my advice columnist\u2019s hat. 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