Prince William wants Prince Andrew to 'vanish from public view'
Prince William wanted to "cut loose" Prince Andrew from royal duties a long time ago, it has been reported.
The Daily Mail claimed that the Duke of Cambridge would prefer his uncle to "vanish from public view" as part of his vision for a more slimmed-down modern monarchy.
The newspaper's royal editor, Rebecca English, spoke to a number of William's friends and confidantes ahead of the prince's 40th birthday on Tuesday.
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One royal adviser told English that William wishes to build on the decades of work done by the Queen but take it into the modern era.
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Part of William's desire to slim down the monarchy - a policy also favoured by his father, Prince Charles - would appear to be to ostracise Andrew.
The Duke of York has been rarely seen in public since the fallout from his relationship with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
In February, Andrew paid an undisclosed sum to Virginia Giuffre after agreeing to settle a sexual abuse lawsuit in the US out of court.
She had sued the prince over allegations he sexually abused her more than two decades ago when she was 17 after Epstein trafficked her to England.
Andrew has consistently denied any wrongdoing
There have been reports that Andrew has been lobbying the Queen to let him return to public duties.
But sources who spoke to the Daily Mail have indicated that William is firmly against the idea.
A friend told the newspaper: "He [William] feels very strongly about this and if it had been up to him he would have pushed for things to have happened a lot faster than they did.
"People are simply not going to be happy with silence any more. The Queen's approach has worked very well for her during a more deferential age, with different forms of communication."
A former royal adviser said: "But what William is working out is how to take the best of what his grandmother has done and make it relevant today.
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"And he believes the monarchy needs to better explain its own thinking, particularly in terms of its place in the world."
A friend told the Daily Mail that William "has strong views on the Duke of York and believes his insistence in trying to cling on to a public role is highly dangerous for the institution".
They added: "He would have cut him loose a long time ago if it had been up to him. He understands that when it comes to mother and son the situation is complicated, but honestly I think he just wishes he would vanish from public view."
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