William will cast Andrew 'into the wilderness', royal expert claims

Prince William wants his uncle, Prince Andrew, out of the royal fold at 'the first opportunity' when he becomes King, according to a royal expert.

The Prince of Wales, 43, had a visibly frosty exchange with his uncle, Prince Andrew, 65, at the Duchess of Kent's funeral on Tuesday, and it was evident that the heir did not want to be seen talking to the disgraced royal.

The Duke of York, who was given a prominent position in the front row at Westminster Cathedral, appeared to break into laughter after sharing a joke with his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, 65, while leaving the private service.

Meanwhile, Prince William appeared visibly uncomfortable and embarrassed on the sombre occasion.

Andrew no longer carries out official duties for the monarchy after stepping down six years ago amid the furore over his friendship with paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein and his connection to an alleged Chinese spy who served as a close advisor on his business ventures.

Following the string of controversies, royal expert Tom Bower told the Daily Mail that the Duke will be 'cast into the wilderness' when William ascends to the throne.

He said: 'I have no doubt that William and Kate are determined at their first opportunity to force Andrew to permanently leave public life and never appear at any future royal event. 

Bower, who wrote the Sunday Times bestseller, Revenge: Meghan, Harry and the War Between the Windsors, added, 'When William becomes King, Andrew will be cast into the wilderness.'

Tom continued: To William's horror, Andrew never stops pretending that he should be accepted without criticism.

'In reality, William has good reason to fear that Andrew's disgraceful behaviour will seriously damage the Crown and his own future as the King.

'[William] is aware that the monarchy relies on the people's support, and he has seen how his father King Charles has failed to limit Andrew's public appearances and persuade him to downsize from his huge mansion [Royal Lodge] to Frogmore Cottages.'

Other royal experts previously claimed that William may be able to strip the disgraced Duke of York of his titles.

Prince Andrew's scandalous and faux pas-ridden life - from the scores of alleged sexual conquests to his boorish and vulgar character - was outlined in extracts from a new book serialised in the Mail in August.

Andrew Lownie's The Rise and Fall of the House of York recounts the duke’s apparent infidelity and suggests that he abused his Foreign Office role to boost his own wealth on taxpayer-funded trips.

The excruciating revelations have prompted fresh questions over whether the duke should retain his titles - but his brother, King Charles III, is unlikely to deviate from his mother's famous stance of 'never complain, never explain'.

Queen Elizabeth was - famously - resolutely silent on all matters concerning her family in public.

However, royal historian Christopher Wilson previously told The Telegraph he believes that the policy could be dropped when the time comes for Charles's son to take the throne.

William, he said, would be less worried about the short-term headline scandal that could unfold in seeking to strip Andrew's titles than the ongoing long-term damage to the Firm wreaked by allowing him to remain on the books.

In addition, the mechanism allowing William to revoke his uncle's titles could be easy to introduce via Parliament.

It could finally mean Andrew's existing unofficial severance is formalised after years of scandal after embarrassing scandal.

He remains devastatingly unpopular. Just nine percent of people polled by YouGov in the second quarter of 2025 have a favourable view of him.

Mr Wilson, also a royal biographer, told the Telegraph of Elizabeth II's 'never complain, never explain' stance: 'I think to a large extent Charles has adhered to that as a safe policy – the moment you start tearing the family apart, where does it stop?

'With William it will be a different approach – he has hard-nosed ideas about how the Royal family needs to appear in the frenzied social media world we now inhabit, and I think will be ruthless.'

Charles is thought to have sought to address the 'Andrew question' early in his reign - but his cancer diagnosis saw his priorities change. 

During the festive season, the Duke and Sarah Ferguson - who is better known as 'Fergie' - decided to voluntarily miss the annual Sandringham celebrations for a close-knit celebration at Royal Lodge, where they both live, with the Waleses in attendance.

At Easter, Andrew and Fergie attended the annual Sunday service with the rest of the Royal Family, while Kate and William were notably absent, opting to spend it in Norfolk instead. 

The Easter service came five days before Virginia Giuffre, who had accused the paedophile Jeffrey Epstein and sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell of trafficking her to the Duke of York, died by suicide.

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Ms Giuffre alleged that the Duke had forced her into sex - and the so-called 'Epstein files' detailed how a woman thought to be her had been compelled into taking part in 'an orgy with numerous other underaged girls'.

Andrew settled with Ms Giuffre out of court for an undisclosed sum, thought to be around £12million, with his late mother thought to have contributed to the payment. 

The settlement came with no admission of liability.

In August this year, it was also found that two thirds of Britons support stripping Prince Andrew of his remaining royal titles. 

According to YouGov polling, 67 per cent of the population would back a move by the Royal Family to remove any remaining vestiges of his former position.

The most well known title held by the late Queen's second son is the Duke of York, a title given to him on his wedding day to Sarah Ferguson in 1986.

According to tradition, however, he was also given the titles of Earl of Inverness and Baron Killyleagh, relating to Scotland and Northern Ireland, although they are rarely used.

All three regions have seen local campaigns demanding the titles be disassociated from the prince, who remains overshadowed by a web of private and public scandals including his association with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.