ETTD. Everything Trump Touches Dies. Could that wind up being the end of the UK’s Monarchy, at least as we know it? There have been cracks in the institution for some time. Queen Elizabeth was beloved enough that they were contained but in her final years whispers about ‘What’s Next?” became more persistent. As Prince of Wales, heir to the throne Charles had hardly covered himself in glory. Scandals, including from Charles himself had rocked the foundations of the House of Windsor. Prince Andrew has long been a problem, and that was before the full measure of his involvement with Epstein came to light. Now, with allegations of Trump and King Charles cutting a “Dirty Double Secret Deal’ regarding Andrew what had been a growing crack in the Monarchy could turn into a fissure.
If the term Dirty Double Secret Deal gives you Animal House flashbacks (Dean Wormer’s Double Secret Probation) it’s appropriate. Well at least if you don’t expect any comedy to ensue. We’re talking about sleazy, real life doing the wrong thing for the wrong reasons and there’s not a damned thing funny to be found in this sordid mess. However there are allegations reported by Inquistr the ‘Man Who Would Be King’ (Trump) reached a disgusting but (they hope) mutually beneficial agreement to limit damage to each from Epstein fallout. Citing information RadarOnline has put out on both sides of the Atlantic Trump and the King discussed their mutual Epstein problem and a solution:
According to the outlet, the alleged pact involved the royal family offering Trump public backing. At the same time, Trump, in return, would ensure Prince Andrew wasn’t forced to testify before the U.S. Congress about his ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
Reportedly, it took place in September 2025, during Trump’s second official visit to Windsor Castle. The timing was no accident: both men were under significant pressure related to the Epstein scandal.
There’s been tons of coverage of Trump’s Esptein problem here in the U.S. (Abroad too) Epstein is a political La Brea Tar Pit. No matter how big or strong animals couldn’t escape once they stepped into the mire. Trump has tried and tried but it seems the more he fights the deeper he sinks into the tar. It’s possible that this guy who has survived so many scandals that would have ended anyone else won’t be able to escape this one. On the other side of the pond King Charles I think knows exactly how Trump feels. He too is stuck in this political tar pit and he has less chance of escaping than Trump does.
The difference is the United States Presidency is attained via elections. The UK Monarchy is determined by heredity, and while Royalty can be conferred via marriage most of the time those who marry into the Monarchy already have a connection to it. As I said earlier the Monarchy ‘has issues’ these days and has had them for a while. The Royal family is insanely rich, but much of the maintenance of the trappings of the Monarchy are borne by the taxpayers over there.
It’s not like King Charles hasn’t had his supporters over time, but the fact is he’s never had the admiration his mom did. For damned sure he has never had tens of millions of cult members who would time and again show up at rallies by the tens of thousands yelling undying support like we used to regularly see with Trump. Frankly, Prince William like his father doesn’t give vibes of ever being as beloved as Queen Elizabeth was. Or even as popular with the working classes as Harry was before William went to work on tearing down his reputation out of jealousy/spite.
The thing is, both Charles and William recognized well before the Queen died changes were going to be needed. The “Royal Family” “Business’ would need to be streamlined. It was too bloated and costing too much and their Subjects had long been grumbling about how much THEY were kicking in when the Windsors had such vast, old-school wealth. By the time he became King, Charles knew his reign would be relatively short. He’d be a transitional King. He wasn’t beloved like his mom and never would be. Camilla, the love of his life would never be accepted by the masses at all. Charles’ cold treatment of Diana ensured THAT.
Charles could also see that his son William wasn’t exactly a compelling figure. He was ‘hipper’ as one might expect from his generation but hardly a ‘star.’ He did marry a lovely (inside and out) woman who does in fact project a combination of grace and glamour that will serve her and the UK well when the time comes. Like Harry she’ll be more popular than William but she’s the mother of his kids and he can’t get away with doing to her what he did to his brother. Especially not after what his father did to his own mom Diana.
That brings me back to the Andrew problem King Charles and William too have. No matter what Charles has done, stripping Andrew of titles, kicking him out of his longtime home and banishing him into exile at Sandringham it hasn’t been enough. The way I see it kicking Andrew out of the country entirely might be the only thing that does the trick. Some walled off small estate in Bermuda perhaps, with a Royal Guard to practically speaking keep him there under what would be functionally house arrest.
What King Charles does NOT want is Andrew being seen in public, much less in either the House of Commons taking it in the shorts from MPs or worse testifying before the House and Senate over here. Enter Donald Trump. And the ‘Dirty Double Deal.’ It’s easy to believe an agreement would be reached. The last thing King Charles needs is the uproar that would erupt not just in the often vicious tabloids over there, but even among the aristocracy. Including the ‘mandarins’, the products of those exclusive schools who produce the leaders of the civil service and actually make the UK function. Andrew is a giant embarrassment. No tears would be shed if he keeled over dead before this day is over.
Here’s where it gets really interesting though. Trump has always been smitten with British Royalty. That’s the life HE has always dreamed of. Ironically when Charles and Diana split Trump actually thought HE had a shot with her. “I can be a Royal!” he thought in his delusions of grandeur. Brain Bleach alert: Trump and Epstein actually had a bet on which one of them “would get to f**k Diana!” I know. Eeeeewwww. Still, as the linked article goes into Trump has tried to use rubbing shoulders with the British Royals would convey an air of respectability to HIM. The thinking I assume on Trump’s part has been if he can point to clips of him with the Royals he can claim ‘See how great a guy I am? Everyone loves THESE people and they accept me as their equal so you should treat me like you’d treat them’ or some such nonsense.
Alas, the Royal family has an even worse Epstein problem than Trump does. Trump’s brother, nor did any of his relatives sexually abuse underage teens provide by Epstein and Maxwell. However, someone high up in the Royal family did! I can’t help but wonder sometimes if Charles hasn’t wished that instead of his son Harry doing so, Andrew had deployed to Afghanistan and stood into danger. AND came home packed in ice in a steel coffin. Ok, that’s mean but still since it would have forestalled all the problems King Charles and the Royal family now have it’s not as crazy a thought as it seems.
What matters right freaking now is that it’s been apparent for a while now that Trump and King Charles have had a mutual Epstein problem. One they’ve both tried (hard) and failed to put behind them. So again, when the two got together back in September (remember how things were heating up with the discharge petition?) the allegation they reached a deal that would be mutually beneficial is quite credible:
Trump faced growing pressure to release all Epstein files. Meanwhile, King Charles felt tense. He wanted to protect the monarchy’s reputation. This was tough after years of anger about Andrew’s connection to the convicted s– offender. An insider told the outlet that Trump saw great value in linking himself with the British royal family. One person claimed that being next to the King makes him “untouchable.”
One source said, “He believes that no matter how bad the scandals are at home, standing next to the King gives him an aura of respectability that washes away the dirt. It’s not about diplomacy for him—it’s about image and survival.” But for Trump, the deal wasn’t about formality or diplomacy. It was about surviving his image. To him, the stakes were personal and formal; to the King, deep, personal, and institutional.
Keep in mind that King Charles is both old and quite ill. The old part isn’t so much a thing since longevity is a family trait with the Windsors. However is illness and that it’s serious is pretty well know despite the Palace trying to keep a lid on just how bad off the King is. Clearly he’s not well. If, as many think he passes away much sooner rather than later this whole mess will become William’s to deal with. It’s a huge problem for the Royals. There are a LOT of changes taking place and King Charles wants his son to have a ‘clear deck’, at least to the extent possible when his time to rule comes. Personally I believe the King think William won’t be up to the task of keeping Andrew locked away in a 21st century version of the Tower of London.
It’s also easy to see Trump trying to bully a much younger King than Charles. Hell, he probably looks at William and sees a guy who is more polished than his own son but is still intellectually, politically and diplomatically as much of a loser as Junior. I don’t see William putting up with THAT and it could lead to a split. Andrew would be emboldened by a weakened William and all bets would be off.
That’s why I suggest that the UK’s Monarchy might come down with ETTD syndrome and the institution Trump counts the most for a tissue thin veneer of credibility and class would no longer be able to provide it. Because it will have been destroyed and by none othre than Trump himself.
Friends, I know everyone begs you for money. I promise, among all those asking for spare change, we are the smallest and the hardest working. We’re a group of old, disabled people, except for one writer in his mid-50s. The rest of us are in our sixties and seventies, and this is a labor of love. All we’re asking for is the chance to keep telling the truth about Trump and help ensure democracy survives. If you can help, please do. Thank you. Ursula
If Drumpf ever thought that getting with Diana would give him any shot at “I can be a Royal,” “delusional” doesn’t even begin to cover it. Diana was only able to keep LIMITED aspects of her pre-divorce status as “Princess” and even that much was ONLY because she was the mother of the future King and his brother (obviously, everyone assumed that Wills would become King but there was always the potential that Harry could wind up as King, so the phrasing of “future King and his brother”) and the Palace had no way of completely stripping her royal status given that connection but, at the same time, Diana was no longer an “official” royal (were she still to be alive when William becomes King, she technically couldn’t be styled as “the Queen Mother,” as Elizabeth II’s own mother had been, as she’d never been a queen; possibly a title of “the King’s Mother” would be created but it would likely depend on her own marital status at the time). But, Diana agreed to the stipulations that removed the majority of her ceremonial royal status (both William and Harry’s marriage ceremonies would’ve been very interesting with her attending) while the Palace took a lot of heat from the public who felt the Family had betrayed or, at the very least, conspired against Diana. And she was the only member of the Royals who, at the time, was TRULY beloved by the people as a whole (even most of the staunchest anti-monarchists tended to rank Diana far and above any of the other Royals–with only William and Harry anywhere close, largely because they were just children and, by all accounts, Diana was trying to raise them with far more egalitarianism than they would’ve gotten with the standard “royal” upbringing).
I do think William is going to be (and *is* currently) more beloved than his father, especially as it seems as most of the changes the Family is making are being led (or deeply influenced) by William.
Once William was married with at least one child of his own Harry’s “Spare” description of himself didn’t even apply anymore. The two brothers were as I understand it very close for a long time. However with William being groomed to one day be King it’s easy to see how some distance developed. William had to really buckle down and essentially conduct himself like he would one day have to as Prince of Wales and then King. Harry on the other hand got to be a bit more freewheeling. Yes, he still had to obey a LOT of rules but the fact is when he got ‘out there’ a bit at times it was tolerated. The public it seems mostly loved it and while some of the stodgy old farts in the old Palace Guard got all bent out of shape in the modern era many could see how it actually benefited the image of the Royal family.
Willim I think grew resentful that he couldn’t ‘get away with things’ now and then like his brother could. Had that been all the two would probably be on if not great or even good terms at least okay with each other. It’s even possible the two might have become even closer than when growing up with Harry bucking up his older brother and figuring out how the two of them could somehow escape for some joint adventures together – just the two of them.
Both followed the tradition of serving in the military. Sandhurst followed by a sting on active duty. However Harry insisted on becoming a chopper pilot and even being deployed to the war zone. His deployment was all very hush-hush and he was not just ‘in country’ with his unit but deployed into actual harm’s way where he acquitted himself well. Basically, unlike his older brother (and a lot of American politicians) he didn’t just ‘punch his ticket’ but truly served. That I truly believe grated on William and I’ll always wonder if William wasn’t the one behind the “outing” of Harry being at war. Harry was already far more popular. Being outed of course led to Harry having to be called home as after his presence became known he’d have every gomer commander and even crazy rank & file types pulling out all the stops to capture or kill him. That would have caused everyone in his unit to be under a hugely increased level of danger.
Still, Harry earned some medals for his actions in combat that William of course never got. You know how many of us guys can be about such things. I offer as proof William being the driving force behind NOT allowing Harry to appear in uniform when the Queen died. Granted, a lot of bridges had been burned by then due to Harry’s marriage and the problems of integrating his wife, an AMERICAN into the Royal life. And yes, there is racism in the UK and surely in the Royal family as well. Not all of them but even one with a little pull could engineer a truly hostile environment so the ugly break happened.
Part of William no doubt looks forward to one day being King. Yet for all that comes with that one has to give up a great deal. Even someone born to royalty and the loftiest of expectations can have ‘the grass is greener over there’ thoughts at times. I’d be willing to bet part of William envies that Harry doesn’t have to live with all the rules HE has to follow. Still, as a veteran myself it really got to me when the Queen died. There is no reason, NONE that the new King Charles couldn’t have issued a waiver to again allow Harry to don his uniform like the rest of the family including Princess Anne. Except credible reporting says William pitched a fit over it. THAT is some Trumpian level of pettiness and vindictiveness.
Charles it’s said would really like to engineer a reconcilliation between his sons. I’ve read recently some exploratory talks have been held to allow Harry to return home at least on some sort of partial basis. Supposedly Kate has urged William to reach out and make peace and would like to have Meagan back around. Not being a Brit I don’t know if that would be possible. The Royal PR operation put a LOT of effort into dirtying up her, and Harry too. Even if the wounds could be sewn up and healed some serious ass ugly scars would be visible. For the rest of all their lives.
I think you’re correct that William is the driving force behind the effort to ‘downsize’ the Royal family and its operations. He sees the writing on the wall and knows a time will come when the amount the family gets from taxpayers to fund the Monarchy will be cut by a great deal. Sure, Buckingham Palace and a perhaps a couple of other Royal locations will continue to be subsidized and expenses for many functions carried out by Royals will be paid by the public. However not as much when it comes to expenses for appearances or donations to various causes that are ‘pass throughs.’ The Windsors are going to have to pick up more of the tab themselves. Hence getting a head start while Charles is still alive and King.
However change will come. It can be gradual and not as bad as William and other Royals fear. However Andrew is like an unstable old unexploded WWII bomb. He could blow it all up, or additional revelations could cause his Epstein connection to explode and a lot of what exists of the Monarchy will be in the blast radius. Charles can’t bring himself to throw his brother into the legal wood chipper which would be the smart thing to do. At least in my opinion. A period of ugliness followed by some true admiration from the public, both in the UK and other countries for allowing the kind of justice pedophiles deserve even for a Royal.
Charles won’t do it. And it could cost the Windsors greatly over time. Andrew has fought Charles tooth and nail with every privilege lost. If Charles dies in the next year or two as I said I just don’t see him sitting back and letting William, new King or not proverbially lock him in the attic. He’ll come out swinging. It will be ugly and if were weren’t talking about child sexual abuse and rape entertaining as hell to watch the Monarchy come tumbling down.
What worries me however is that the UK is still a major player on the world stage. An imploding Monarchy (or blown up, take your pick) would have repercussions starting with Partliament. What might it mean for the House of Lords? Also, what might it mean for the “magic circle” I referenced in my post? It’s hard to believe but the UK doesn’t have an actual Constitution, but rather a series of agreements and understandings on how to manage the functions of the country. All that would have to be redone, on the fly and in one hell of a hurry, complete with unforeseen unintended consequences. Yes, some could turn out well but some will not.
And it’s all because the Royal family had chosen to help a prominent member who’s a fucking pedophile escape accountablity, true justice for his despicable actions.
It’s interesting reading an American’s perception of what the British public think of their own Royal Family.
And how wrong it can be.
Charles and Camilla are widely liked and appreciated by most Britons and Dianna’s later behavior, (leading up to the drunken, careless, manner of her death), did much to weaken her appeal. Though this issue with Epstein can cause great damage, the monarchy, itself, is not threatened. Andrew is seen as a fallen figure, (remember he WAS a war hero), brought down by almost Shakespearean hubris, and their is much sympathy of Charles being lumbered with such a flawed person as his brother. I also strongly suspect that the British people aren’t as puritanically judgemental as their American cousins. This tolerance and civility might be part of the reason that actual physical violence plays such a small part in British politics now as compared to less well run countries.