bitchy | Prince William & Kate were on vacation just six miles away when Andrew was arrested

Prince William arranged for some things to drop this week, giving the impression that he was keeping busy and not on vacation. There was a pretaped Earthshot announcement, and a prerecorded BBC Radio interview, which was apparently done weeks ago (according to the rumors). Make no mistake, William and Kate have both been on vacation this week as the royal sh-t hit the fan. They were also on vacation last fall when King Charles finally removed Prince Andrew’s titles after weeks of dithering and equivocating, and William and Kate tried to piggyback on Charles’s decision and pretend like they had a say in it. This week, William and Kate were only six miles away when William’s uncle was arrested at Wood Farm.

Prince William and Kate were reportedly on the Sandringham estate with their kids for the half-term break when cops arrested Andrew in a dawn raid. The Prince and Princess of Wales’ Anmer Hall home is just six miles from Wood Farm, where Andrew was arrested yesterday.

The humiliated ex-prince was taken into Aylsham police station, 55 minutes away, after being taken into custody on suspicion of misconduct in a public office.

Andrew spent his 66th birthday being questioned by cops while Kate and Wills enjoyed the half-term break nearby, according to reports. Andrew was released under investigation later the same evening after cops had searched his home.

The King, who was not told of the arrest in advance, released a statement saying “the law must take its course.”

The Prince and Princess of Wales are understood to support King Charles‘ remarks. The King expressed his “deepest concern” over the arrest of his brother in a written statement.

[From The Sun]

The funniest part about all of this is that William’s crisis management is continuously trying to convince everyone that William needs to be co-monarch and William is decisive and he’ll be the one to actually clean up all of these royal messes. And yet in crisis after crisis for the monarchy, the whole-ass heir to the throne is in the wind, too lazy to show up, on vacation and refusing to participate in anything resembling “crunch talks” or “emergency meetings” or even just regular old discussions about how the monarchy should proceed.

Incidentally, there’s been no advance gossip this week about whether BAFTA President Bill will actually show up for this year’s BAFTAs, which are on Sunday. He hasn’t turned up for any of the pre-BAFTA events this week, because obviously, he’s on vacation. Bill and Cathy skipped the BAFTAs last year because they were on vacation in Mustique. Will they skip again this year? Or will the awards show be their first post-Andrew-arrest public appearance? Historically, they hate to do *anything* during their kids’ school breaks, so it will be interesting if they show up.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Kensington Palace, Cover Images.