Queen Elizabeth Lacks 'Strong Central Control’ Over Meghan Markle, Prince Harry, Prince Andrew

Following Prince Andrew’s controversial interview with Emily Maitliss, one royal expert believes Queen Elizabeth has lost control of the royal family.

The Duke of York’s connection to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has only added to the bad press circulating about the royal family. Eyes were already on the royals after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle slammed the media and decided to sue British tabloids for violating their privacy.

According to BBC royal correspondent Nicholas Witchell, the series of events suggest Queen Elizabeth has lost control of Buckingham Palace. The commentator believes Prince Andrew’s interview was done without the queen’s permission.

“They would have advised, if their advice was sought, not to do it. The Queen was informed, but she is 93 years old now, and she is not exercising the strong control she had if she ever did. There is now a lack of strong central control,” he explained.

“We have had two episodes within just a couple of months, of senior members of the royal family doing it their way. We had Prince Harry with his rant against the tabloid media, which was absolutely against the advice of his communications officials who were in despair over it.”

Witchell claimed the Duke of York’s decision to talk about Epstein backfired and is hurting the royal family’s image.

“We have a similar situation now. The mainstream advisors of the Queen at the Palace were not a part of this Prince Andrew debate. Her second son comes along, says I’ve thought about this terribly hard, I really want to do it.

“And the Queen would say, are you sure? Andrew discussed this with his closest advisors, with his daughters, but he himself decided it was something he wanted to do. He will have hoped that it drew a line under it - but looking at this morning’s headlines, there are still significant question marks over whether this was a wise move.”

Although Witchell believes Prince Andrew made a mistake by addressing his connection to Epstein, Queen Elizabeth has not shown any signs that suggest she disapproves of her son’s decision to discuss the controversy.