Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor issued a desperate plea to Prince William during a tense conversation at the Duchess of Kent’s funeral, a lip reader has claimed.
Expert analysts have offered insights on a string of recent royal moments, including the gathering at Westminster Cathedral last September.
All the senior royals were attending, including Andrew and his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, who both came to pay tribute to the wife of his late mother’s cousin, who died aged 92.
The former prince had a famously tense encounter with the Prince and Princess of Wales on the steps of the church after the service as they waited for their cars.
Now, in a Channel 5 TV series, forensic lip reader Nicola Hickling has claimed the ex-Duke of York used the moment to plead for his nephew’s forgiveness.
Andrew apparently asks William, who was joined by his wife Kate: ‘I’ve learnt from what I’ve done, but before I forget, and if I can, I’d like to ask you if you can forgive?’
It came amid continued controversy over his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, which led to his titles being stripped the following month and him being booted out of his home at Royal Lodge.
Andrew was subsequently arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office, over claims he gave sensitive information to the paedophile while acting as UK trade envoy from 2001 to 2011.
He was released under investigation and has not been charged. Andrew has strenuously denied any wrongdoing in connection with Epstein.
It followed the release of the Epstein Files by the US Department of Justice in January, containing three million documents related to the convicted sex offender.
Andrew’s seemingly desperate plea came after he greeted the Prince and Princess of Wales at the funeral, saying: ‘Good afternoon, William and Catherine, how are you?’
Kate replies, ‘Good, thank you’, with lip reader Ms Hickling explaining: ‘At this point, William looks a little bit uneasy, before saying to Andrew, “What can I do for you?”
The former prince says, ‘We’re really closed in together’, before William gives what Ms Hickling called a ‘simple response’, of just, ‘Yes’.
According to the programme, after Andrew gives his plea, to which he gets no reply, and leaves the couple, Kate says: ‘He seemed very sorry.’
William replies, ‘Do you think I deserved that? Is that what you mean?’, before the princess repeats, ‘He seemed very sorry’.
The funeral was one of Andrew and Sarah Ferguson’s last official public appearances for the Royal Family before the scandal over their links to Epstein exploded.
Of course, this could all be utter tripe, but regardless of what was actually said, Williams’ face said it all.
But it doesn’t actually matter what was said – people will read about it, believe it and then it becomes the truth. Let’s face it, though, the Royal Family aren’t the sharpest knives in the drawer in general, and how dense would they have to be to have these kinds of conversations in public with the press watching?
Deaf people are reliant on lip reading, so I absolutely hate those who use this to pass on what is essentially a private chat of other people. In other words, this is just eavesdropping, and it is disgraceful.
Were these experts lip readers or Schmuck readers? Whatever they are, I can see another Netflix coming up following the series ‘The Crown.’ What are they going to call this one? ‘The Hebephile’.
The only thing that Andrew is sorry about is that he got caught.
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