Authenticity is a word used a lot in the context of younger generations, with the correct assumption that they value it and reject anything that smells “off”. But brands and organisations often get this very wrong – and the worry for the royal family is that something in King Charles’s move against his brother isn’t sitting quite right with young people.
The release of the statement by Buckingham Palace yesterday – which began with: “His Majesty has today initiated a formal process to remove the Style, Titles and Honours of Prince Andrew. Prince Andrew will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor” – was probably intended to signal the end of a grim saga that has gripped everyone for years, but especially Generation Z and Gen Alpha. These have only ever known Andrew in the context of the tawdry scandal surrounding the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The long friendship between the royal formerly known as Prince Andrew and the now-deceased, notorious sex trafficker has revolted a generation who, rightly, believe that the word of abused women should not be dismissed lightly. The flat denials of ever recalling meeting Virginia Giuffre – with whom Andrew was photographed – and the reported attempts to smear her have felt “off” from the beginning.
Watching the replay of his now-exposed lies to Emily Maitlis in that infamous 2019 interview – where he insisted he had ceased all contact with Epstein – is extraordinary. None more so in the context of a shocking email revealed by the Mail on Sunday, in which Andrew promised to “play more soon!!” with Epstein, after his conviction for child sex trafficking.
Naturally, this has made his continuing position in the royal family, which is supposed to function as the country’s highest dignitaries, utterly untenable. Finally, King Charles has made the sensible decision to formally cut ties with his brother, strip him of every royal title, and evict him and his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, from Royal Lodge.
With little contrition shown by Andrew when he announced he would cease using his Duke of York title two weeks ago – insisting he was doing so because he was putting his “duty to my family and country first”, while “vigorously” denying the accusations – yesterday’s statement from the King could not have been more different. While it acknowledged that the censures were “deemed necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him”, it ended with: “Their Majesties wish to make clear that their thoughts and utmost sympathies have been, and will remain with, the victims and survivors of any and all forms of abuse.”
While royal commentators rushed to applaud the palace’s “unprecedented” and “decisive” action, the younger audience following this scandal was left asking: what took them so long? And, why now? It smells “off”. It is too little, too late.
The royal family, with its ferocious PR machine, appears to have handled this spectacularly badly from the beginning, from Andrew’s reported £12m payoff to Giuffre (a substantial sum for someone Andrew claimed never to have met), to the ludicrous slowness of the King to take any punitive action against his brother for years, and most seriously the total failure, until now, to properly acknowledge the enormous pain of Epstein’s victims, many of whom were children at the time of their abuse. The problem that lies ahead for the remaining, undeniably tarnished-by-association members of the royal family is that this belated action and statement has the ring of inauthenticity and, to put it less delicately, arse-covering for what might be coming next.
If the royal family are anticipating placation and a sort of spiritual reunion with some very angry members of the public, they may be in for a brutal reckoning of their own – particularly from Gen Z.
Maisie, 18, explains: “That statement made me more angry, not less. They know their back is against the wall because everyone knows now about Epstein and Andrew. They haven’t once made any kind of apology or gesture to the victims, and Andrew still hasn’t. It feels like they’re doing it now, not because they care or mean it, but because they might lose their palaces and crowns.”
Henry, 20, agrees: “The thing that’s p****d me off is how Andrew and Fergie have been compared with Harry and Meghan. I don’t even like Harry and Meghan, but Andrew hung out with a paedophile and his wife took money from Epstein. That is not the same as talking about your chakras or cooking fruit on Netflix. They’ve protected Andrew all along, which tells me everything I need to know about the royal family.”
Three years on from Queen Elizabeth II’s death, the bonds that once held us together as a nation feel more fragile than ever. Anger, disharmony and a cost of living crisis have newly focused our attention on inherited wealth, and this has naturally impacted how we view our figureheads.
While Keir Starmer’s ratings are at an all-time low, there is also a deep generational divide in perceptions of the monarchy and its future. According to a YouGov poll, while 77 per cent of over-65s believe the monarchy is “good for Britain”, only 30 per cent of older Gen-Zers (18- to 24-year-olds) agree.
As I wrote recently for The Independent, talk to even younger Gen-Zers and Gen Alphas – those who’ve grown up amid royal scandals and infighting – and the disconnect is even greater. As millions of families in the UK are pushed into poverty, the relevance of the royal family and talk of shooting parties on multimillion-pound estates feels jarringly out of touch. Any positive feeling toward what they can represent is evaporating fast.
And what should worry King Charles – and Prince William, as next in line to the throne – is that holding those in power to account is something Gen Z has become increasingly adept at. Within the past month, youth-led protests have contributed to the dissolution of a government in Madagascar and helped topple another in Nepal. We’ve seen glimpses of this anger in the UK too – from climate marches to campus protests over Gaza. If I were in the palace right now, I would be concerned that it is only a matter of time before that anger moves closer to home.
In my recent survey of 2,000 11- to 18-year-olds across the socioeconomic spectrum, only 27 per cent viewed the royals “very positively”, while 39 per cent viewed them negatively. As Eliza Filby writes in Inheritocracy: It’s Time to Talk about the Bank of Mum and Dad: “For anyone under 45, it’s not what you’re earning or learning – it’s your access (or not) to the Bank of Mum and Dad that defines your opportunity.”
Gen Z and Gen Alpha know this all too well. They talk endlessly about “unearned privilege” and many see the royals as its ultimate embodiment – or, as Gus, 15, puts it, “the ultimate nepo babies”.
The highly publicised rift between Prince William and Prince Harry has also shaped this cohort’s views. Growing up in a hyper-online, tribal world, they see it in terms of sides – Team William or Team Harry, Team Kate or Team Meghan. This toxic narrative reinforces their perception of the monarchy as fractured and fractious – hardly an image of stability and unity that the rest of us should look up to.
While royal commentators frame King Charles’s statement as “unprecedented”, younger generations expect much more – transparency, accountability, and perhaps even a path back for Harry. The soap opera-style split between William and Harry is not seen as entertaining by younger generations; it just makes both “sides” look petty and small. They surmise: if they cannot even heal their own family, how will they heal the country?
Many perceive Harry as genuinely interested in young people’s lives. In September 2025, he announced a personal donation of £1.1m to BBC Children in Need, a significant portion of which will support programmes tackling youth violence and poverty in Nottingham – a cause he has quietly supported for years.
Kaia, 16, says: “They talk loads about connection and kindness, and William spoke about being a new generation of king, but I don’t believe it. All I see is fighting, nastiness towards each other and panic: now lots of people are thinking, do we need them? I’ve been so shocked by the Epstein case and it’s going to take a lot to see them differently.”
Currently, the mishandled Epstein-Andrew saga has the ring of The Thick of It – but with more tiaras. It raises the question of how the royal family moves forward if they want to salvage their reputation with a younger cohort. After all, it is this generation that ultimately holds the monarchy’s future in their hands: it survives by consent, not divine right.
However, all is not lost. My survey also found that 51 per cent of Gen Alpha still want to maintain the monarchy, compared with 31 per cent who favour abolition. But there’s a caveat: they want major reform, authentic change that shows they care about the people they are meant to serve. Millions believe the relationship has long been transactional, not protective, especially when it comes to shielding an ex-prince for decades.
So what could the royal family do to rehabilitate its image and forge a path ahead? A popular answer from Gen Z and Gen Alpha was to make a concerted effort to tell the public the whole truth about the Epstein saga, with only victims’ identities protected.
Seth, 19, says: “I’d gain a huge amount of respect for the royal family if maybe William stepped in and put out everything they know. You know they have the power to do that. To me, that would be the only thing that would make me believe they were actually trying to make it right with those girls after all the mess.”
Young people also see the royal family as missing an empathy chip, particularly amid extreme hardship. With a disgraceful 31 per cent of children in the UK now living in poverty, public salivating over eye-watering wardrobes or taxpayer-funded estate upgrades feels tone-deaf.
India, 15, sums it up: “My mum loves the royal family, and we argue about it. I don’t know how she can love them so much when we can’t make ends meet and my parents worry about money all the time.”
And that’s the bottom line. The royal family has always faced a younger generation asking, “What’s the point of you?” But today’s youngsters are growing up in an atmosphere where traditional structures are constantly being challenged. They are demanding accountability. If the monarchy is to survive this next chapter, it must rewrite its story to speak to a cohort that feels abandoned by those in charge and the institutions around them.
For this generation, it will take far more than an “unprecedented” palace statement to win the argument.
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