Andrew Mountbatten Windsor has been stripped, again, of his various Royal titles. He has finally been moved out of Royal Lodge in Windsor to a slightly less grand mansion on the Sandringham Estate. Here he will live rent free, at the King’s expense, and the King will also pay him an annual stipend, reported to be £100,000 a year plus. Andrew remains eighth in line of succession to the throne.
If it looks like a further exercise in damage limitation by the Royal Firm that’s because it is.
However as revelations from the Epstein files continue to appear and the Met Police have got involved how far it is possible to limit the damage is an important question
Not for nothing was the slogan of the US founding fathers, No Kings
Getting rid of Kings is a great British tradition dating back to 1649…
Clacton most deprived area of the UK. Farage- what can an MP do about it? Jaywick part of Nigel Farage’s Clacton constituency is the most deprived area of the UK according to the latest statistics. Despite Reform claiming that they will break the mould of UK politics Farage has told the Press Association that he can’t do much about it. He does claim to have boosted the local tourist trade, good news for the local seagull population looking for chips but probably no help to the residents of Jaywick
Clacton MP Nigel Farage, whose parliamentary constituency includes Jaywick, told the PA news agency he was “obviously sad that things aren’t improving more quickly”.
He said he believed he had “definitely helped” tourism in the area, with “having a high-profile MP helping to put Clacton on the map”. But he added: “I’m doing what I can, but there’s a limit to what one person can do.”
Morgan McSweeney beats JD Vance in Scary Beard of Halloween Vote
The Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers, which campaigns against irrational prejudice against the hirsute, has said that in the poll for the Scary Beard of Halloween 2025 Morgan McSweeney beat last year’s winner JD Vance for the Scary Beard of Halloween title
McSweeney got 47.4% of the votes in an on-line poll compared to 42.1% for JD Vance
The title, awarded each year on October 31st, takes a wry look at Halloween festivities by identifying the scariest beard in the public eye. The winner is likely to win by the narrowest crack of a squeaky floorboard.
After two Spooky Rounds of voting four scary beards went to the Crypt Kicker final vote
The BLF does not generally believe that beards are scary a view promoted by generations of beard haters or Pogonophobes.
It is accepted though that on a dark moonless night as a beard looms through the gloom, nerves may rise a little as to what lies behind the beard.
BLF Organiser Keith Flett said of course none of the beards on the shortlist is genuinely scary. But come Halloween things can look a little different…We wonder whether both Morgan McSweeney and JD Vance view winning the title as the accolade of their political year
In summary it demands that Charles sorts out Andrew (Sarah Ferguson can sort herself out) and does so at nil public expense.
The implication is that the Royals affairs should not be paid for by the public and that has an impact on the role of the Royals in public life.
One wouldn’t expect the Times, which still publishes the official minutaie of Royal goings on, to demand an end to the Royals but it does suggest a significantly diminished presence and role. The tectonic plates of the British ruling class may be shifting a little
Scary Beard of Halloween. The Final Crypt Kicker round. Morgan McSweeney v JD Vance
The Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers, which campaigns against irrational prejudice against the hirsute, has said that the poll for the Scary Beard of Halloween 2025 has reached the Crypt Kicker Finl.
The title, awarded each year on October 31st, takes a wry look at Halloween festivities by identifying the scariest beard in the public eye. The winner is likely to win by the narrowest crack of a squeaky floorboard.
After two Spooky Rounds of voting four scary beards are in the Crypt Kicker final vote
The BLF does not generally believe that beards are scary a view promoted by generations of beard haters or Pogonophobes.
It is accepted though that on a dark moonless night as a beard looms through the gloom, nerves may rise a little as to what lies behind the beard.
BLF Organiser Keith Flett said of course none of the beards on the shortlist is genuinely scary. But come Halloween things can look a little different…
Jeremy Corbyn’s virtual appearance as the Wizard of Ozlington in a Christmas panto in his Islington Constituency is not his first acting appearance.
He participated in a balloon debate with the late historian Dorothy Thompson at a Marylebone School. Thompson played Queen Victoria while Corbyn played Karl Marx.
Jacobin (7th Feb 2024) carried the following account
Dorothy Thompson [socialist historian and campaigner, author of The Dignity of Chartism among other works, and Edward’s wife] I also knew quite well. Dorothy and I had a very interesting relationship; we used to go to a secondary school in Marleybone, Quintin Kynaston School, which had an annual “balloon debate” where you had to go into “the balloon” playing a particular character, and then would vote on who would be “thrown out” and who would “survive” to the end.
I was there being Karl Marx, and Dorothy was there playing Queen Victoria. She was absolutely brilliant at being Queen Victoria and managed to create a sort of almost feminist narrative around Queen Victoria’s life. At one point we got into a sort of repartee, and she was saying: “Mr Marx, you don’t even want my head to be on my shoulders,” and I was just saying: “Your Majesty — no, I’m not calling you ‘Your Majesty,’ you’re just a person; you’re Mrs Saxe-Coburg-Gotha!” It became a big joke, the whole thing, and we got on really well. She was actually brilliant at bringing out Queen Victoria in the role of the monarch during all the social movements of the nineteenth century; she would say things like: “I suppose, Mr Marx, you support the Chartists?
Prince Andrew as trade & investment envoy 2001-2011 & his demands
Blair and Mandelson appointed Prince Andrew as a trade envoy in 2001 against the advice of the then Prince Charles who warned that he would just use the role as an opportunity to play golf and chase women.
Andrew Lownie who has written a book on Andrew and Sarah Ferguson notes a list of demands Andrew had when meeting the Sultan in Brunei
Many people struggle to afford a place to live and some don’t have anywhere at all. Meanwhile the issue of the Royal Residences in Windsor continues to make the news.
The most significant is Windsor Castle. It has 1,000 rooms, 52 bedrooms and is estimated to be worth £500m
Next is Royal Lodge. This is currently occupied by Prince Andrew and his former wife Sarah Ferguson. It has a mere 30 rooms and 7 bedrooms and is worth £30m. Andrew is not paying rent
Frogmore Cottage. Briefly occupied by Harry and Megan it has five bedrooms and is currently vacant. Its worth £3m. It is reportedly one option for Andrew if he leaves Royal Lodge
Adelaide Cottage near Frogmore and worth c£1.7m may house Sarah Ferguson is she also leaves Royal Lodge. Apparently the five bedrooms at Frogmore mean it’s not big enough to share with Andrew.
Forest Lodge, is set to be the future home of the Prince and Princess of Wales. A 328 year old Grade 11 listed building it has eight bedrooms and is worth c£16m, if they move out of Adelaide Cottage to make way for Sarah Ferguson
Lee Anderson has let Reform down when it comes to private education. I’m one of the 88% who went to a State comprehensive school (in North London) and the experience made a positive impact on me for the rest of my life.
Going up to the next class is a term used in the History of Education to refer to social mobility. A chart showing which Universities MP went to (if any) would complete the picture here
