After a new lawsuit against his brother, sources are now sharing Prince Charles’ response to Prince Andrew’s Jeffrey Epstein scandal. According to an insider who spoke to the Times of London, the Prince of Wales does not see Andrew’s position among the royal family recovering any time soon.
Though Prince Charles, 72, “loves his brother and has the ability to have sympathy for the slings and arrows that his brother endures,” a source for the Times says the heir to the British throne “long ago concluded that it is probably an unsolvable problem.” And it may remain so in the near future, as the Duke of York is back under investigation over allegations of sexual abuse.
Prince Andrew, 61, has faced mounting scrutiny in recent years due to his relationship with convicted sex trafficker, Jeffrey Epstein, and accusations by Virginia Roberts Giuffre, a victim of Epstein’s sex trafficking ring. Giuffre claims she was sexually assaulted multiple times by Prince Andrew in London and on a private Caribbean island owned by Epstein, who died in prison in August 2019. Renewed interest in these allegations was sparked on Monday, August 9, after Giuffre filed a lawsuit against Andrew in the state of New York.
According to a close source to Charles, the lawsuit and its ensuing investigation “will be unwelcome reputational damage to the institution” of the monarchy, and “will probably further strengthen in the prince’s mind that a way back for the duke is demonstrably not possible, because the specter of this [accusation] raises its head with hideous regularity.”
The Duke of York previously announced his plan to step back from public duties in 2019, shortly after addressing his relationship with Epstein and Giuffre’s allegations in an interview with the BBC. “It has become clear to me over the last few days that the circumstances relating to my former association with Jeffrey Epstein has become a major disruption to my family’s work and the valuable work going on in the many organisations and charities that I am proud to support,” Andrew said in a statement at the time. “Therefore, I have asked Her Majesty if I may step back from public duties for the foreseeable future, and she has given her permission.”
The disgraced duke added, “I continue to unequivocally regret my ill-judged association with Jeffrey Epstein. His suicide has left many unanswered questions, particularly for his victims, and I deeply sympathise with everyone who has been affected and wants some form of closure. I can only hope that, in time, they will be able to rebuild their lives. Of course, I am willing to help any appropriate law enforcement agency with their investigations, if required.”
Indeed, Andrew will have to make good on his promise to cooperate with law enforcement following Giuffre’s lawsuit. In a statement to People following her lawsuit, Giuffre said, “As the suit lays out in detail, I was trafficked to him and sexually abused by him.” She continued, “I am holding Prince Andrew accountable for what he did to me. The powerful and rich are not exempt from being held responsible for their actions. I hope that other victims will see that it is possible not to live in silence and fear, but to reclaim one’s life by speaking out and demanding justice.”
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