Despite the media’s obsession with Duke and Duchess of Sussex, the Duke of York’s scandal is far from over
If you turn on the news, there are only two royals that are drawing the nation’s attention.
Harry and Meghan’s interview with Oprah has dominated the media agenda, and has even been described by the Daily Mirror as the “Worst Royal Crisis In 85 Years”.
But the whole affair has left many people wondering: what about Prince Andrew?
Unless you were living under a rock in 2019, Prince Andrew’s disturbing friendship with financier, paedophile and sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein hit the press – with his visits to Epstein’s notorious island, where much of the sex offending and paedophilia occurred, under fire.
Epstein killed himself in 2019 while awaiting trial.
As pressure grew on Andrew to explain himself, he consented to an interview with Newsnight‘s Emily Maitlis.
The interview quickly became a car crash – where he bizarrely used a Pizza Express in Woking, and physically not being able to sweat, as defences against serious allegations of paedophilia and rape.
He said he had no recollection of meeting Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein’s victims, who claims she had sex with Andrew – despite there being photographic evidence of them together.
In 2020, the Home Office recommended a “major downgrade of security” for the Prince – however he was allowed to keep his £300,000-a-year security.
Strange, given Meghan and Harry claim in their interview with Oprah that Archie was refused security.
In 2019, Prince Andrew told Newsnight: “Of course, I am willing to help any appropriate law enforcement agency with their investigations.”
However, that does not seem to have materialised.
In January 2020, US Attorney Geoffrey Berman stated that Prince Andrew was not cooperating with the FBI’s further investigation of the case – despite promising to do so in the Maitlis interview.
“To date, Prince Andrew has provided zero cooperation,” said the prosecutor.
In May 2020, the Prince resigned from his public roles a Royal Family member – and in June 2020, Andrew became a person of interest in a criminal investigation in the United States.
Around that time, the Prince cancelled a trip to Spain – allegedly over fears he would be arrested and extradited to the United States.
In November 2020, American attorney, Lisa Bloom – who represents six victims of the scandal – described the Prince’s lack of cooperation as “outrageous”.
“How outrageous that it’s been a year since Prince Andrew publicly promised to cooperate with law enforcement investigating all those who enabled Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual assaults on hundreds of women and girls,” she said.
“We implore Prince Andrew to submit to an interview with the FBI investigation of Ghislaine Maxwell and other accused co-conspirators, to tell what he knows, to turn over documents and evidence, and to instruct his staff to do so as well.”
Maxwell, who was closely associated with Epstein, faces trial this summer over alleged complicity in his paedophilia and sex trafficking.
She has been charged with enticement of minors and sex trafficking of underage girls in the US.
And the plot thickens.
In an exclusive in The Mirror in January 2021, a story surfaced about the pilot that allegedly flew Epstein and Andrew to the island.
David Rodgers claims that he flew the Prince to it at least ten times on Epstein’s private jet – including an occasion with Giuffre and Epstein onboard.
Strange, then, that the palace have launched an investigation into the bullying allegations by anonymous former Buckingham Palace staff against the Duchess of Sussex – but not the Queen’s son.
And if you’re wondering if the Palace are going to do anything about Andrew, there are reports that he’s not been invited to his dad’s 100th birthday this year – so there’s that…
But what about Harry and Meghan, right?
