A new police investigation into Prince Andrew centres on claims that young women were trafficked to Balmoral Castle, the Royal Family's Highland home near Aberdeen, alongside Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, according to reports.
Fresh Allegations of Trafficking at Royal Estates
The investigation by Police Scotland is in its early stages, and nothing has been proven. Andrew has never been convicted in a court and has always denied any wrongdoing, despite a welter of sleazy and criminal accusations against him, as well as his arrest for misconduct in a public office.
Previous allegations have claimed that Andrew exploited vulnerable young women for sex at royal residences in England, including Buckingham Palace. One alleged victim, in her 20s at the time, said she was given a tour of the palace and a cup of tea before spending the night with Andrew. Former royal protection officer Paul Page backed her assertion, stating that security rules were relaxed to allow Andrew to bring young women into the Palace without their names being recorded in log books.
Balmoral's Special Place in Royal History
The suggestion that Andrew used Balmoral for sexual escapades is more sickening than previous claims because the castle was a precious sanctuary for the late Queen Elizabeth II. It had been in royal hands since 1852, when Queen Victoria and Prince Albert bought it, and it was at Balmoral that Prince Philip proposed to Elizabeth in 1946. She spent her childhood summer holidays there with her sister Princess Margaret and chose to spend her final months at the castle.
Andrew was always said to be the late Queen's favourite, partly because she enjoyed his extrovert, fun-loving nature, which contrasted with the introspection of his elder brother Charles. She admired his heroic record in the Falklands as a Royal Navy pilot and credited his arrival in 1960 as a signal of the rejuvenation of her marriage to Prince Philip. In a letter to a cousin, she wrote: "The baby is adorable. He is going to be spoilt rotten by all of us. I am sure."
Impact on the Monarchy
The new allegations come at a time when the Crown is looking increasingly vulnerable and republicanism is advancing across a polarised political landscape. The image of the Royal Family will take another battering as the investigation unfolds.
The King, who has cancer and is 77, was engaged on a highly sensitive tour of the Caribbean as the Balmoral story broke, where a clamour for slave trade reparations is growing. The monarch has always done his duty, unlike his wayward younger brother, and needs support amid another "sea of troubles."
