Andrew

Most of the sins attributed to Prince Andrew seem to involve him getting rich people to pay off his ex-wife’s debts. For myself I don’t know if I find it very quaint or very curious.

But the press seem to be calling for him to be sacked, forgetting that his role is not a formal one.

The bottom line is this: businessmen can go on their export trips without Prince Andrew if they like. I myself have been on hundreds of business trips without even seeing him: it is quite possible and he is not forced on you by the government or the Royal Family.

The reason he does what he does is that some of our exports have to go to places where they hold royalty in high esteem (and incidentally where they put up with vastly more serious royal peccadilloes than Andrew could even dream of). If Andrew’s presence helps to secure the contract (and with it British jobs and earnings) the exporters will take him.

If he is working for business, then business should decide if he stays or goes.

His other job, that of being a Prince, is one he can’t be sacked from.

Sarah Ferguson

I have always been a bit of a fan of Sarah Ferguson. She was treated badly by the Royal Family and never did any of the kiss and tell stuff – although I am sure there was plenty to tell. And she has tried to earn money in whatever way she could, which is commendable.

The latest scandal in what seems to have been an over-eventful few years has shown her in a poor light. It seems she saw an opportunity at a time awhen she needed money and jumped at it. Ferguson is not bright, although brighter than her friend the late Princess of Wales who said she had wanted to be an air hostess but wasn’t brainy enough.

There is much tabloid murmuring about damage done to the Royal Family and Prince Andrew’s business role. As regards the Royal Family, they have ploughed on through far worse than this and it will soon be forgotten.

As regards Prince Andrew, most people think he is pretty lucky to have any kind of business role at all. The irony is that Andrew is the easiest royal to meet – you just say you want to import some goods from Britain. If you wave a golfclub in the air you get him for the whole day.