How the King plans to deal with the two albatrosses around the Royal Family’s neck: REBECCA ENGLISH on Charles’ deadline to evict Andrew – and the chances of a reconciliation with Harry

It was a year that ended in much the same way as it started for our Royal Family. The King’s heartening announcement in December that his treatment for cancer would wind down came 12 months after he revealed it would roll into 2025.

Similarly, last year began with a flurry of horrific Andrew headlines and more Harry and Meghan-related drama, just as the year closed with them.

Sandwiched between these two unenviable bookends was a whirlwind of royal activity: five hugely successful state visits in addition to brief but meaningful trips to Auschwitz and Ottawa for the King and Queen, a slow but steady return to royal duties for the Princess of Wales and well-received tours to Estonia and Brazil for William (not forgetting the heir to the throne’s break-out role astride a scooter).

None of which would have been possible, of course, without the often under-the-radar but vastly valuable work of Princess Anne, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and even the elderly Duke of Kent, still clocking up engagements on the eve of his 90th birthday.

2025 was also the year that witnessed a seismic revolution in family relations: the King finally showing he is, when pushed, willing to act decisively against family members whose behaviour damaged the monarchy.

Stripping his brother of his birthright as well as his dukedom came as a huge surprise to some who doubted Charles had the stomach for it, but was widely welcomed by the majority of the British public.

So where does this leave the monarchy as we enter 2026?

Health willing, the King’s diary is more packed than ever, I am told. Having amassed well in excess of 500 public engagements last year, he was the busiest member of the Royal Family during his illness and ongoing treatment. And this year he is, say sources, ‘raring to go’.

A spring tour is already ‘locked in’. And as I first revealed last year, it’s expected to be to the United States, following President Trump’s historic second state visit to the UK last September.

While it will prove deeply controversial in some quarters, there’s no doubt the King’s tour – designed to mark the 250th anniversary of America’s independence from Britain – has come about as a direct result of the Royal Family’s deft handling of the US President on behalf of the Government.

The King will also be travelling to the Caribbean later in the year as Head of the Commonwealth, where the biannual Heads of ­Government Meeting (CHOGM) will be held in Antigua in November. The optics of this are likely to prove tricky given the rising ­number of former colonies now seeking to shake him off as their ceremonial ruler.

But Charles has laid the groundwork for a mature and sensible conversation on the issue, not least by attending the lowering of the Royal Standard in Barbados when the Caribbean nation marked its independence in 2021. Closer to home, there’s a ‘packed’ diary of domestic engagements, including April’s events to mark the 100th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth’s birth.

By contrast, the more uncomfortable spectacle of a ­Public Accounts Committee inquiry looms. Following revelations made last year that Andrew paid a mere ‘peppercorn rent’ for more than 20 years to live in the vast mansion of Royal Lodge, MPs will investigate the workings of the Crown Estate and the leasing of properties to the royals.

As for the Prince and Princess of Wales, they are happily settled in their new home, Forest Lodge in the heart of Windsor, and planning big reveals for the New Year.

In truth, some in royal circles have expressed concern that their decision to bunker down on the King’s estate risks leaving the couple isolated from Monarchy HQ at Buckingham Palace and the wider royal household.

Of course, that may well be exactly what William, 43, had in mind, given his lifelong wariness of the palace machinery.

Indeed, with his and Catherine’s court now firmly established in Berkshire, and staff shuttling between Kensington Palace and both Windsor Castle and nearby Frogmore House, where the couple hold most of their meetings, it is clear that this is truly change for the long-term.

But there is no doubt that it is also a decision very much made with family in mind.

And seeing the delightful Wales children together on Christmas Day at Sandringham, happily and unselfconsciously chatting and charming the crowds after church, you can’t help but think the Prince and Princess have probably done the right thing, particularly with Prince George beginning his secondary education in September, possibly at Eton College, or Marlborough.

Charles with Harry and Meghan during Trooping the Colour in 2018

Maintaining family life could well explain William’s preference for shorter, more ‘impactful’ trips abroad instead of the lengthy royal tours of yesteryear.

He’s got a number of foreign visits pencilled in over the coming months (although not all formal invitations have yet been extended) including the US in July, combining their independence celebrations with the Fifa World Cup. He’s also preparing for his next Earthshot Prize environmental awards, to be held in India later in the year.

A much-talked about trip to Australia has, I understand, been ruled out for this year, as has a solo trip by the Prince to China.

There are no plans for a foreign visit by the Princess of Wales – yet. While there is nothing in the diary, her team are not entirely ruling one out as the ‘upwards trajectory’ in her public work following cancer treatment continues.

She was also buoyed, I understand, by the positive reaction of the business community to her keynote speech on the importance of private enterprise supporting children and families, and plans to use her voice more in this way.

And both she and William are keen to continue to find ways to engage with the public and allow them more of a glimpse into their lives and personalities: consider Catherine’s deeply personal video messages on her cancer journey.

William has also spoken recently about ‘Change – with a capital C’ and being less ‘royal – with a small ‘r’, although he has been frustratingly light on detail.

While this is true, and we have seen evidence of this in the work he has done at the Duchy of Cornwall, including turning over property belonging to the £1.1billion estate to the homeless – sources insist he does not want to change for change’s sake.

‘The thing to remember is that a) [the Waleses] are quite conservative and b) they are traditionalists, so the idea that there will be no Trooping the Colour or Coronation [when William becomes king] is never going to be the case. They see the power of what the institution does,’ says one insider.

‘Will he question the way things are done and potentially look at doing things differently, in a more modern way? Yes, in the same way he has done with the Duchy.

‘But while there has been a lot of talk – including from him – about change for the future, it’s important to remember who they are and how they think about things.’

This year will also, as I revealed last January, see the couple award their first long-awaited Royal Warrants, the official mark of service to senior royals that is considered a gold standard for business.

However, I understand that this has taken rather longer than anticipated to sort because of the complicated process of the way the warrants work.

To the couple’s frustration, they have to first re-commission warrants previously issued by Charles and Camilla as Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall before they can name their own.

I suspect this is one of those things that both William and Catherine would rather like to modernise but until then those fashion houses eagerly awaiting the Princess’s lucrative imprimatur may have to wait just a little longer.

So what about the two proverbial albatrosses around the Royal Family’s neck: Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Prince Harry?

Will 2026 see the former Duke of York cast once and for all into familial Siberia, while his nephew is brought in from the cold?

I am told the plan is that Andrew will be ‘out’ of Royal Lodge by Easter, when the Royal Family traditionally gather on the Windsor estate, helpfully avoiding another potentially tricky encounter.

Whether he has a home to move into is another question.

While I understand Marsh Farm at Sandringham, which was recently mooted as a possibility, is destined to be his new home, it is considered ‘quite small’ and needs a ‘lot of work doing on it’ to make it habitable and secure.

And this has raised questions over whether this work can be completed by the deadline.

This suggests the extraordinary prospect that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, who remains eighth in line to the throne, could actually find himself homeless for a short period of time next spring. ‘The plan is that he will not be at Royal Lodge by Easter. But might there need to be an interim measure [as regards moving to Norfolk]? Possibly,’ a source nods.

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor at Katharine, Duchess of Kent’s Requiem Mass service at Westminster Cathedral in September last year

I’m assured he will not be going to live abroad, as has been speculated, but it seems as if his eviction from his Windsor mansion night not be the clean and quick break that was originally hoped.

There is also frustration that Andrew seems determined not to keep his head down despite his disgrace – choosing to start riding again where photographers are inevitably waiting and even going out in his car on Christmas Day. ‘It’s difficult to know if he is being deliberately provocative, utterly pig-headed or just plain stupid,’ an insider says. ‘Knowing Andrew, it could be any one of the three. But he seems unable to keep his head down. He really is a man with a habit of making terribly bad decisions.’

As for Harry and Meghan, while the palace likes to feign insouciance about their activities nowadays, many in royal circles are, naturally, fascinated about the seeming meltdown of their business and philanthropic concerns in the US – not least because it may have a direct effect on whether they try to come back to the UK with their tails between their legs.

As this paper reports today, Harry’s return is likely as his camp believe they have won the right to police protection while here.

But I am told that efforts by the Sussexes’ (rapidly dwindling) PR team to suggest a father-son reconciliation is approaching, appear to be somewhat wide of the mark.

My sources say that while the King would never wish his younger son ill and has been ‘pained’ by the circumstances around their estrangement, he also remains extremely ‘wary’ of welcoming him back, given events of the past few years.

Much has been made of their meeting at Clarence House in September, the first between them for 19 months. And while people are reluctant to comment on the ­circumstances – knowing how hysterical the Sussexes can be about (wrongly) perceived palace briefings and leaks – the impression I get is that the King felt slightly railroaded into it.

In truth, he knew that if he refused to meet Harry then this would inevitably have been ‘weaponised’ against him at some point in the future. Better to meet and then retreat instead.

For what it is worth, Harry has dismissed reports that he felt like an ‘official visitor’ when he met the King as a media-led ‘invention’ designed to ‘sabotage’ reconciliation between father and son.

However most in royal circles are firmly of the belief that for any meaningful rapprochement to be made, the Prince owes his father – and his family – an apology for the way he has behaved.

And given this is unlikely to be forthcoming, the gulf between Harry and the Windsors remains.

All in all, 2026 is already shaping up to be a vintage one for ­royal-watchers.