Prince Andrew should give up any hope about returning to royal duties or rehabilitating his reputation, following Wednesday’s release of Jeffrey Epstein-related court documents, which allege that he took part in an “underage orgy” with a teen girl on the sex offender’s Caribbean island and groped the breasts of one of Epstein’s alleged victims, royal experts said in an interview Thursday.
The experts spoke to the Daily Mail after King Charles III’s younger brother was among the high-profile figures named in the newly unsealed court documents because of their association with the multimillionaire financier, who died by suicide in 2019 after being arrested on sex trafficking charges.
SANDRINGHAM, NORFOLK – DECEMBER 25: Prince Andrew, Duke of York and Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh leave the Christmas Morning Service at Sandringham Church on December 25, 2023 in Sandringham, Norfolk. (Photo by Stephen Pond/Getty Images)
For the most part, the allegations against the Duke of York have been previously made public, but the release of these new documents are likely to remind the British public of his years of scandalous, self-indulgent behavior and revive pressure on Charles to keep his disgraced brother as far as possible from the center of power in the British monarchy.
Royal expert Phil Dampier told the Daily Mail that the Epstein files are “the final nail in the coffin” for Andrew’s reputation. Prince William, in particular, will want to make sure his uncle does not return to the royal fold, Dampier said.
“The big danger for him is that another woman could make specific allegations against him and want a day in court or a pay off as well,” Dampier said.
Royal biographer Tom Bower told the Daily Mail that the royal family needs to “bury and forget” Andrew, especially since they can never know if “more bombs will be dropped.” Commentator Richard Fitzwilliams agreed that any rehabilitation of Andrew’s image is an “impossible task.”
Prince Andrew, Virginia Giuffre and Ghislaine Maxwell.(Florida Southern District Court)
One of the court filings alleges that a victim known as Jane Doe #3 was “forced to have sexual relations with this prince when she was a minor in three separate geographical locations.”
Jane Doe #3 is believed to be Virginia Giuffre, Epstein’s most outspoken victim, The Telegraph reported. The documents released Wednesday stem from Giuffre’s lawsuit against Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s British socialite ex-girlfriend and his convicted co-conspirator, the Miami Herald said. Giuffre also filed a sex abuse lawsuit against Andrew and received a reported $15 million settlement from him in March 2022.
The first location where Jane Doe #3 allegedly had sex with Andrew was identified in the documents as London, specifically Maxwell’s apartment, where Giuffre was famously photographed with Andrew’s arm around her waist, as Maxwell looked on. Other locations identified in the documents were Epstein’s townhouse in New York and Epstein’s private island in the U.S. Virgin Islands. With regard to Epstein’s private island, Jane Doe #3 said the sexual encounter took place during “an orgy with numerous other under-aged girls.”
According to the documents, Epstein also told Jane Doe #3 to “give the prince whatever he demanded” and required her “to report back to him on the details of the sexual abuse.” The documents additionally said that Maxwell “facilitated” Andrew’s “acts of sexual abuse by acting as a ‘madame’ for Epstein, thereby assisting in internationally trafficking Jane Doe #3 (and numerous other young girls) for sexual purposes.”
Maxwell reportedly became friends with Andrew in the early 1980s and introduced him to Epstein. She and Andrew became fixtures in the New York and London social scenes in the late 1990s and early 2000s, following his 1996 divorce from Sarah Ferguson, Insider reported. According to a 2019 Daily Beast report, Andrew relied on Maxwell to introduce him to young women in London and to even bring them to meet him at Buckingham Palace. Maxwell was convicted in 2021 for her role in Epstein’s sex trafficking operation and sentenced to 20 years in federal prison.
There was some thought that Charles might ease Andrew back into the royal fold, following the 2022 death of their mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II. Several weeks ago, Charles allowed his brother to join the public parade of royals attending the family’s traditional Christmas Day service on the Sandringham Estate. Andrew was seen standing near his brother, Prince Edward, and walking with his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, and his daughter, Princess Beatrice and her husband.
Britain’s Prince Andrew, Duke of York (L), Sarah, Duchess of York (2L) Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi (3L) and Britain’s Princess Beatrice of York (4L) arrive for the Royal Family’s traditional Christmas Day service at St Mary Magdalene Church on the Sandringham Estate in eastern England, on December 25, 2023. (Photo by Adrian DENNIS / AFP) (Photo by ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images)
But Dampier told the Daily Mail that Charles only allowed Andrew to join his family at the service because he “felt sorry” for him.
Andrew has paid a steep price for being friends with Epstein, even after he claimed he cut ties with him in 2010. He also has denied allegations that he sexually abused Virginia Giuffre or anyone else. The scandal over his relationship with Epstein began to gain momentum after Epstein’s 2019 death and after the duke’s disastrous interview with the BBC. In that interview, Andrew tried to justify his friendship with the financier, offered bizarre explanations for why Giuffre’s allegations were false and failed to acknowledge the suffering of any of Epstein’s victims.
US financier Jeffrey Epstein appears in a photograph taken for the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services’ sex offender registry March 28, 2017 and obtained by Reuters July 10, 2019.(Reuters via CNN)
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Despite his denials, Andrew reached his settlement Giuffre, a few months ahead of his mother’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations. The scandal also prompted the queen to insist that her son step back from royal duties and give up his royal patronages and military titles and stop using the High Royal Highness title in any official capacity.
In addition to being accused of “acts of sexual abuse,” Andrew also has been accused in the newly released documents of calling Epstein weekly, being a guest on the financier’s private island, which was nicknamed the “Island of Sin,” and of groping another woman who worked for Epstein.
Johanna Sjoberg was a college student in Florida who was recruited by Maxwell to work for Epstein at his Palm Beach estate, initially to answer calls, get drinks for guests and “do the job of a butler.” But she also said she was soon tasked with giving Epstein massages and was invited to accompany him, Giuffre and others on a trip to New York City in the spring of 2001. On their way to New York City, they notably stopped off at the Atlantic City casino of former President Donald Trump, another one-time friend of Epstein’s.
Once at Epstein’s New York City townhouse, Sjoberg said they met Andrew, the documents said. Maxwell invited Sjoberg and Giuffre to sit with Andrew on a living room couch and be photographed with him and a puppet of his likeness from “Spitting Image,” a satirical British TV comedy show. Sjoberg said someone put the puppet on Giuffre’s lap, while she sat on Andrew’s lap. “They put the puppet’s hand on Virginia’s breast, and Andrew put his hand on my breast, and they took a photo,” Sjoberg said.
Buckingham Palace declined to comment on the allegations against Andrew in the newly released documents because they only speak for working royals, the Daily Mail said.
While Dampier said “it’s important to remember” that Andrew was never been found guilty of any crimes and denies them, the author said the revelations in the court documents will “do nothing to help (his) hopes for a return to royal duties.”
“That was always very unlikely anyway but this could be then final nail in the coffin of his reputation,” Dampier said. “I can’t ever see him setting foot in the USA again. …There is seemingly no end in sight for him and therefore I can’t see him making a comeback.”
