Editorial: Royals need to get serious on sex abuse claims

The palace needs to stop treating Prince Andrew’s saga as an inconvenient public relations problem rather than what it really is: Serious allegations of sexual abuse, writes The Editor

Prince Andrew was not required to do much as a royal when he was born in February 1960 as the second in line to the British throne.

His brother Charles was the heir, he was the spare, and all that was expected of him, broadly, was to attend public functions, do a stint in the military and stay out of trouble.

Yet this 61-year-old has managed to get himself into a situation where it now seems quite possible he will be dragged into a courtroom in a country his ancestor King George III once ruled over (as a colony) and be forced to answer questions on whether he sexually abused a 17-year-old.

Prince Andrew is now the defendant in a lawsuit filed by Virginia Giuffre in New York State over sexual abuse claims as well as a person of interest in the investigation into the affairs of convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

A US judge denied Prince Andrew's plea to dismiss a sexual assault lawsuit brought against the British royal, paving the way for the case to proceed, a court filing showed. Picture: Steve Parsons/POOL/AFP

The Prince has repeatedly denied allegations that he sexually abused Virginia Giuffre when she was underage and being trafficked by Epstein.

Yet he has made repeated attempts to avoid confronting the allegations made against him.

Public pressure forced him to accept an interview in November 2019 with journalist Emily Maitlis – an exercise which did nothing to improve his standing in the public eye or dispel doubts about his innocence.

And his attempt to hide behind a $500,000 settlement made between Giuffre and Epstein in Florida in 2009 to end legal proceedings, shot down by a Manhattan judge last week, only made him look more desperate.

As a result of this development the Prince in the last few days was stripped of his royal titles and public questions have arisen as to whether he should pay for his own security detail rather than rely on the British taxpayer to foot the bill.

The recent developments don’t make Prince Andrew any more guilty today than he was a month ago, but they do mirror a trend.

And that is of the palace only reacting to developments in the crisis, treating it as if it were another royal scandal such as accusations of adultery or a young prince dressing up in a Nazi uniform at a party.

Prince Andrew should be actively working with investigators to sort out exactly what damage was done to young women by Epstein who in 2019 was arrested on multiple charges related to sex trafficking and later died by suicide in jail.

The palace needs to stop acting like this incident is public relations problem. Picture: Stefan Wermuth - WPA Pool/Getty Images

And “The Firm”, as the royals dub themselves, should show the public in both actions and words that its members are interested in the pursuit of the actual truth, rather than simply managing the fallout and trying to minimise the damage to the monarchy.

The entire sordid and tawdry affair must be agonising for his mother, Elizabeth II, who is still mourning the loss of her husband and will soon be aged 96.

Royal births have whittled away Prince Andrew’s position in the royal lineage to the point he is now placed 9th.

And that, at least, might be seen as one small blessing by both the Royal Family and the wider Commonwealth.

But more important is that the palace stop treating this as an inconvenient public relations problem rather than what it really is: Serious allegations of sexual abuse by one of its own.

Originally published as Editorial: Royals need to get serious on sex abuse claims