When Prince Charles married Camilla Parker-Bowles in 2005, it was understood that once Prince Charles ascended to the throne, Camilla's title would be Princess Consort. Then, in February of this year, Queen Elizabeth announced in an unprecedented statement that it was her "sincere wish" to call Camilla Queen Consort.

However, according to a new book by veteran royal biographer Christopher Andersen, there was more to the statement than meets the eye, and according to Us Weekly magazine, Prince Andreu was involved in the deal.

"Recall that Prince Andrew was involved in the Jeffrey Epstein [incident]," said Andersen, whose new book, "The King: The Life of Charles III" (opens in a new tab), will be released on November 8. Prince Charles, with the backing of Prince William, was instrumental in getting Andrew more or less ousted from the family."

(You may not remember, but how could you forget?) Andrew was accused of sexual assault and ultimately stripped of his royal patronage and military titles in January 2022, months after his accuser, Virginia Giuffre, sued him. The following month, Andrew settled with financial support from his mother, Us Weekly reported).

Her late Majesty "was willing to dip her hand into her personal pocket" to pay the settlement, Andersen said, noting that Andrew was the late queen's favorite.

"So Charles was going to be the heir, and this was also money that would ultimately come to Charles," Andersen says. Prince Charles could have objected," says the royal expert, "but instead he used the moment to broker a deal that favored Camilla, the love of his life.

"And sort of implicitly, this was the trade-off," Andersen says. 'And that announcement was made: ...... It was very sudden. She had been against Camilla becoming queen for decades, so it was like a complete flip-flop, and I think it shocked a lot of people."

*Mindblowing*