HRH The Prince Andrew 1960-1982

Inspired by the "Charles Dies" thread...

"This is the BBC in London broadcasting to The Commonwealth. In the last few minutes Buckingham Palace has announced that His Royal Highness The Prince Andrew is missing and presumed dead in the South Atlantic after the Sea King helicopter which he was piloting suffered an engine failure and crashed into the sea while carrying out a mission in support of the British Task Force yesterday, May 2nd 1982. Despite an extensive search no trace has been found of the Sea King or it's crew..."

What impact would this have had on public opinion and on the Royal Family? Instead of growing into a boorish oaf with a ghastly ex-wife and a number of extremely dodgy friends Andrew is frozen in time as a dashing young war hero. How would his brothers have reacted? Would Edward have subsequently flunked out of the Royal Marines or perhaps he would have wanted to emulate the example set by his brother and been more determined to have a military career? What impact on Charles, bearing in mind that this was just a few weeks before William was born, could he have become more determined to make his marriage to Diana a success?

The outcome of the war would have been unaffected by this, but one interesting possibility is to how Thatcher could have been affected, apparently she was worried at the prospect of Andrew being killed or captured in the Falklands that she wanted him moved to a non-combat role but the Queen insisted that he be treated as any other serviceman.

Any thoughts?
 
William possibly gets named Andrew in his honour, which guarantees a King Andrew.

EDIT: Damn, beaten to it by NoOneFamous.
 
Thatcher would be seen in a bad light for a period of time- after all, a member of the Royal Family got killed in combat.

The Royal Family would try and show Andrew as a hero who knew the risks, like NoOneFamous said. He'd be solidified into British history as a young hero who gave his life for his country.
 
Thatcher would be seen in a bad light for a period of time- after all, a member of the Royal Family got killed in combat.

The Royal Family would try and show Andrew as a hero who knew the risks, like NoOneFamous said. He'd be solidified into British history as a young hero who gave his life for his country.

Especially as the war would probably never have happened had her government been paying more attention to developments in Argentina and wasn't proposing massive cuts in the Royal Navy. I can see her being very guilt ridden and remorseful that these failings resulted in the death of a Royal, that could have had a big impact on her style of government in the coming years.
 
Especially as the war would probably never have happened had her government been paying more attention to developments in Argentina and wasn't proposing massive cuts in the Royal Navy. I can see her being very guilt ridden and remorseful that these failings resulted in the death of a Royal, that could have had a big impact on her style of government in the coming years.

Agreed.

This may sound stupid but if there's a big enough impact on Thatcher, is there a possibility for her government to fall?
 
William possibly gets named Andrew in his honour, which guarantees a King Andrew.

not likely, its the Albert precedent, King Edward VII because Edward VII rather than Albert I because he wanted no one to out rank his Father, so I view that as likely, while the Prince William in TL would be the Prince Andrew, he'd likely rule under a different name out of respect
 
not likely, its the Albert precedent, King Edward VII because Edward VII rather than Albert I because he wanted no one to out rank his Father, so I view that as likely, while the Prince William in TL would be the Prince Andrew, he'd likely rule under a different name out of respect

Edward VII chose not to rule as King Albert (you don't get to be Albert I until there's an Albert II to differentiate yourself from) because he felt it would devalue his father's name. I don't think that TTL's Prince William ruling as King Andrew would be seen as devaluing his deceased uncle's name, but a tribute, so I think he would reign as King Andrew.
 
Agreed.

This may sound stupid but if there's a big enough impact on Thatcher, is there a possibility for her government to fall?

I think it's unlikely- the Opposition was so hardline in 1983 that Thatcher herself was generally seen as the moderate, centrist option for the electorate. She won't win a landslide though, it'll probably be a similarly sized majority to 1979.
 
Agreed.

This may sound stupid but if there's a big enough impact on Thatcher, is there a possibility for her government to fall?

If the public outcry is strong enough or if she feels that personally responsible then Thatcher's resignation after the war is quite possible, she doesn't strike me as the sort who would quit in the middle of a war. The Tories had a majority of about 40 seats at that time so the Government would be able to serve it's full term most likely with Howe as PM.
 
Yes, Thatcher is going to take personal and political responsiblity for the entire Falklands War because of one more death, as distinct from her reaction to the hundreds of British servicepeople that died historically. :rolleyes: (because of course there's only an emotional impact from the loss of life when a royal dies)

Incidentally, the government was pressing for Andrew to be assigned to a non-operational role for the conflict. It was the royals who said he should be flying. If this would weigh heavily on anyone, it wouldn't weigh heavily on Thatcher, but the Queen.
 
This could well be the PR coup the Royals and HMG are looking for. Suddenly they have a dashing young war hero who tragically lost his life on active service. I can only good coming from this for both Buck house and No.10.
 
Top