A routine walkabout in rural Essex turned tense this week after King Charles III was publicly heckled over his brother Prince Andrew, underscoring how the disgraced royal continues to intrude on the king's efforts to steer attention toward community work and environmental priorities.
The incident unfolded in Dedham as the king and Queen Camilla greeted residents in the rain. A man in the crowd shouted, "Charles, Charles, have you pressured the police to begin looking into Andrew?" The king did not respond and continued moving along the line of well-wishers.
The interruption, brief but pointed, reflected a persistent public impulse to conflate the monarchy's family ties with institutional responsibility. One local resident, Adrian Sharpe, framed the divide succinctly: "I think it's pointless, as what's done is what Andrew's done; it's not what King Charles has done, is it? He's his own person."
The episode was first reported by RadarOnline, which quoted unnamed palace sources describing the king's reaction in stark terms. "The king was furious that an engagement meant to support local communities and promote his environmental priorities was hijacked yet again by his brother's situation. He is understandably livid over this," one insider said. Another added, "There is deep frustration that Andrew continues to dominate the narrative, just as Charles is trying to keep the focus on work he believes genuinely matters."
The timing has sharpened the discomfort. Charles has been promoting a new nature-focused documentary, Finding Harmony: A King's Vision, produced with The King's Foundation and slated for release on Amazon Prime Video. The project revisits the monarch's decades-long advocacy for conservation and environmental stewardship, themes he has sought to place at the center of his reign.
Yet renewed scrutiny of Andrew has complicated that push. In late January, the BBC reported that newly released U.S. Justice Department material linked to Jeffrey Epstein included photographs that appear to show Andrew "on all fours over a woman lying on the ground," with the context of the images still unclear. The report revived questions that have dogged the royal family since Andrew's 2019 association with Epstein became public.
Days later, the BBC also reported that Andrew had moved out of Royal Lodge earlier than expected and relocated to the Sandringham estate. The move was widely interpreted as an attempt to reduce his public profile amid the latest disclosures.
According to People, Andrew left Royal Lodge on Feb. 2, with claims that staff at Sandringham were reluctant to serve him and that the king would privately fund his brother's accommodation going forward. Buckingham Palace has not publicly detailed the arrangements.
