According to a new royal biography, the late Queen Elizabeth II steadfastly refused to believe allegations of misconduct against her son, Prince Andrew, despite the mounting scandal surrounding his connections to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Monarch's Unwavering Support
Royal author Hugo Vickers writes in his forthcoming book, Queen Elizabeth II, that the Queen "did not believe he had behaved improperly" even after Andrew's widely criticized 2019 interview on BBC's Newsnight with Emily Maitlis. During that interview, Andrew claimed he was at a Pizza Express in Woking, Surrey, on the day he was alleged to have met Virginia Giuffre.
The Giuffre Allegations and Settlement
Virginia Giuffre had accused Andrew of sexually assaulting her in 2001 when she was 17 years old and a victim of Epstein's trafficking network. Prince Andrew has consistently denied any wrongdoing. The case was eventually settled out of court in New York City in early 2022 for a sum believed to be around £12 million, with reports indicating the Queen may have helped loan part of the settlement funds.
Vickers notes that Andrew's problems caused the Queen "considerable distress" in her final years, and she was "deeply concerned about his future." One idea reportedly developed in the last year of her life was to establish a foundation that Andrew could administer.
Family Distancing and Aftermath
Senior members of the royal family, including then-Prince Charles, had distanced themselves from Andrew following the allegations. After the Queen's death in September 2022—less than three years after the Newsnight interview and just six months after the Giuffre settlement—further releases of Epstein-related documents increased scrutiny on Andrew.
This led King Charles III to strip his brother of his royal titles and military honors last year and evict him from Royal Lodge in Windsor. Buckingham Palace stated at the time: "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."
Continued Royal Position
Despite these actions, Andrew, now 66, remains eighth in line to the throne. He attended his mother's state funeral at Westminster Abbey in September 2022, which attracted approximately 2,000 mourners including world leaders, royals, and NHS staff—an event of a scale not seen in Britain for about seven decades.
Vickers concludes in his book, scheduled for release next month: "It is fortunate that she did not live to witness the denouement," referring to the ongoing fallout from the Epstein files and Andrew's diminished royal status. The author emphasizes that while the crisis caused the Queen significant distress, she would not accept the allegations against her son throughout her life.
