When King Charles stripped Prince Andrew of his titles and announced he would be removed from Royal Lodge, Buckingham Palace said the “censures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him”. Four months and more than three million documents later, Charles must surely feel vindicated in his tough approach. For while there is nothing to suggest the king nor any other senior royals knew then what was to come in the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files, what has emerged has been truly shocking.
The position of Prince Andrew, and that of his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, appears even more grave, and the shadow cast over the royal family and institution even darker. Nothing in the documents recently disgorged by the US Department of Justice shows legal wrongdoing on the part of the former prince, but they raise questions over his judgment at a time when he was a working royal and UK trade envoy. Recently released undated images appear to show him crouching on all fours over an unidentified clothed woman and touching her abdomen at Epstein’s New York City mansion.
His unequivocal assertion that he broke off his friendship with Epstein in New York in December 2010 is challenged. After that trip, he appears to have written to Epstein: “It was great to spend time with my US family. Looking forward to joining you all again soon.” In January 2011, he appears to thank Epstein for sorting out a financial problem for his ex-wife. One particularly grubby allegation, contained in a 2011 legal document, is that Epstein and the then prince asked an exotic dancer for a threesome at the financier’s Florida home in “early 2006”. Lawyers also claimed the party included girls “as young as 14 years old” who were “dressed provocatively”.
In tandem, Thames Valley police, which covers Windsor, are assessing claims made by a US lawyer that a second woman was sent to the UK by Epstein for a sexual encounter with Prince Andrew. It allegedly occurred at his residence, Royal Lodge, in 2010. The force said on Tuesday: “We take any reports of sexual crimes extremely seriously and encourage anyone with information to come forward.” These are untested allegations to which Prince Andrew has yet to respond. The only senior royal to have commented so far is the Duke of Edinburgh, who said: “I think it’s all really important, always, to remember the victims and who are the victims in all this.”
As for the former Duchess of York, also now titleless, the emails suggest a relationship with Epstein in which she often appears to have been in need of money – including £20,000 for rent on one occasion. She called him her “pillar”. With government pressure mounting on the former prince to testify to the US Congress, royal sources can only indicate that it is “ultimately a matter for Prince Andrew and his conscience”.
