The late Queen Elizabeth II reportedly did not believe the allegations of sexual misconduct against her son, Prince Andrew, according to a new book by royal author Hugo Vickers. Despite Andrew's controversial Newsnight interview and the settlement of a civil case brought by Virginia Giuffre, the Queen remained unconvinced of his wrongdoing.
Giuffre had claimed that Andrew sexually assaulted her in 2001 when she was 17 and a victim of Jeffrey Epstein's trafficking network. Andrew consistently denied the allegations, but the case was settled out of court in 2022 for an estimated £12 million, with the Queen reportedly contributing to the settlement.
In his forthcoming book, Queen Elizabeth II, Vickers writes: 'Despite his car-crash interview on Newsnight, and other apparent revelations, the Queen did not believe he had behaved improperly. It is fortunate that she did not live to witness the denouement.' The Queen died in September 2022, six months after the settlement.
Following the Queen's death, King Charles stripped Andrew of his royal titles and honours and evicted him from Royal Lodge. Buckingham Palace stated that Charles recognised the crisis caused his mother 'considerable distress,' but she never accepted the allegations. Andrew remains eighth in line to the throne.
