Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is suspected of being a security risk, the royal expert Andrew Lownie claims.
This suspicion, he says, led the royal family to agree to sacrifice him for the institution's sake if push comes to shove.
“The plan [of the palace], I think, at the moment, is to throw Andrew to the wolves," the royal author tells The Guardian, adding the palace efforts are in overdrive to portray the ex-prince's scandals as narrowly as possible.
“Keep it to the sexual side everyone understands that bit and certainly do not go anywhere near the national security scandal,” he shares.
Meanwhile, the security risk accusation stems from Andrew's openness to greed, which, the expert alleges, made him susceptible to getting manipulated by foreign spies.
Likewise to Lownie's claim, Rob Shuter, another royal expert, shares a similar take.
In his reporting on his Substack, he shares the royal family believes it's in their interest that Andrew would get behind bars because if he did not, "he’ll feel vindicated and untouchable."
“That makes him more emboldened, more reckless, and far more dangerous to the institution," the expert shares, citing an insider.
In turn, if Andrew gets in jail, his scandals will no longer touch the sanctity of the royal family, says Shuter.
“Prison contains the chaos,” a source shares. “It forces a hard stop. The family can regroup without constantly bracing for the next humiliation.”
Andrew, meanwhile, is under investigation for several cases, one of which — suspicion of misusing his UK trade envoy office — had him arrested. Though he was later released after questioning.