The royal family scandal 60 Minutes should have covered

Everyone was up in arms over 60 Minutes’ tabloid-style take-down of Meghan Markle — but there’s one royals scandal that definitely deserves our attention.

Channel 9’s now-infamous “How Meghan Markle lost her sparkle” segment on 60 Minutes has copped a fierce backlash, with many viewers saying the program should have instead focused on Prince Andrew’s alleged ties to Jeffrey Epstein.

Many have questioned the priorities of the tabloid press in portraying the Duchess as a villain, as Prince Andrew faces mounting scrutiny over his relationship with the disgraced billionaire paedophile.

RELATED: 60 Minutes blasted over damning Meghan Markle segment

How is Meghan Markle the villain of the British Royal Family when Prince Andrew was literally involved in a pedophilic sex trafficking with Jeffrey Epstein?

— ovie soko stan account (@shadeinfull) September 4, 2019

60 Minutes looks to be going after Megan Markle tonight, hasn’t got the guts to go after Prince Andrew ? Lot bigger story (assuming Megan is even a story). The dumbing down continues.

— Peter Morgan (@psimpsonmorgan) September 8, 2019

.#60Minutes could have produced a segment on Prince Andrew's close connections to sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein but no, we got a petty distraction on Meghan Markle

— Chelley Gael (@shellzzz) September 8, 2019

When Prince Andrew became implicated in the Epstein scandal, he retreated from the public eye.

This weekend, he made his first major public appearance in over a month, appearing at a ceremony to mark the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Bruges.

What exactly was his relationship with the late Epstein, and where is the renewed scrutiny coming from?

PRINCE ANDREW’S TIES TO CONVICTED SEX OFFENDER

Last month, several powerful men were implicated after 1200 pages of previously-sealed court documents were made public.

Among them was Prince Andrew, Duke of York, the third child and second son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip. He has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

Court documents have linked Prince Andrew to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

In the court papers, Prince Andrew was accused of groping a young woman’s breast while at Jeffrey Epstein’s Manhattan apartment in 2001. The allegation was made by a woman named Johanna Sjoberg.

According to the document, another of Epstein’s accusers Virginia Giuffre alleged she was forced to have sex with the Prince on three occasions — in London, New York and on a private Caribbean island owned by Epstein — between 1999 and 2002, when she was a minor.

The newly-released documents relate to a defamation case in which Epstein’s self-described “sex slave” Ms Giuffre sued Ms Maxwell. Ms Giuffre had previously claimed Ms Maxwell had helped procure underage girls for Epstein — allegations she branded as “rubbish”.

Prosecutors have not accused Ms Maxwell of any wrongdoing and continue to investigate.

While Prince Andrew has strenuously denied the allegations against him, a photo taken in 2001 shows trio did at least meet.

In the photo, Prince Andrew appears with his arm around Ms Giuffre with Ms Maxwell by her side.

Prince Andrew and a 17-year-old Virgina Roberts pictured at Ghislaine Maxwell's townhouse in Britain in 2001.

Ms Giuffre’s lawyer claimed the picture was taken when Ms Giuffre “was a minor child” and was taken at Ms Maxwell’s house in London.

Prince Andrew’s friendship with Epstein dates back to the 1990s. They met through Epstein’s former girlfriend and alleged madam Ghislaine Maxwell, who introduced the pair while they were dating.

Epstein’s relationship with Prince Andrew lasted many years, and they maintained contact even after the billionaire was charged with child sex offences.

Just one week after Epstein was first arrested in 2008, Prince Andrew reportedly flew on the billionaire’s private jet, according to The Sun.

A source told the newspaper: “It is another example of Prince Andrew’s close ties to the Epstein scandal. Weeks have gone by and yet new allegations are still emerging.”

In 2010, the New York Post published photos of the two men walking in Central Park together, prompting serious criticism of the Prince’s judgment.

Prince Andrew and convicted sex-offender Jeffrey Epstein led this New York Post front page in 2011.

In 2011, Vanity Fair published a story referring to a sworn deposition by Juan Alessi, a former employee at Epstein’s Palm Beach estate, stating that Prince Andrew attended naked pool parties at the billionaire’s mansion, and received massages from various underage girls.

Prince Andrew denied this, telling the magazine he did not know anything about the parties.

A source who knew the men well told Vanity Fair thatPrince Andrew’s main objective in hanging out with Epstein was to get money for his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson.

“Andrew feels responsible for Sarah. There have been newspaper reports that Sarah got £15,000 ($A26,891) from Jeffrey, but I think that Sarah has actually received hundreds of thousands of dollars from him.”

Later that year, it emerged Sarah Ferguson had received money from Epstein to pay off a debt she owed her former assistant.

“I personally, on behalf of myself, deeply regret that Jeffrey Epstein became involved in any way with me,” she told the Evening Standard newspaper in 2011. “I abhor paedophilia and any sexual abuse of children and know that this was a gigantic error of judgment on my behalf. I am just so contrite I cannot say.

“Whenever I can, I will repay the money and will have nothing ever to do with Jeffrey Epstein ever again.”

Sarah Ferguson and Prince Andrew pictured together in 1988.

But arguably the most disturbing evidence came in August this year, when the Mail on Sunday published footage claiming to show the Duke of York inside Epstein’s Manhattan mansion in 2010 — two years after the sex offender’s first conviction.

The Central Park photo was bad enough, but footage of Prince Andrew in the home of a convicted paedophile was even more serious.

A woman is filmed leaving Jeffrey Epstein's Upper East Side mansion after a meeting with Prince Andrew.

WHAT DOES ANDREW SAY ABOUT THE ALLEGATIONS?

Buckingham Palace has repeatedly denied the allegations linking Prince Andrew to Epstein, saying in a statement that “any suggestion of impropriety with underage minors is categorically untrue” and that the documents relate to US proceedings “to which the Duke of York is not a party”.

In August, Prince Andrew released a statement regarding his relationship with Epstein, saying

he was “eager to clarify the facts to avoid further speculation”.

“I met Mr Epstein in 1999. During the time I knew him, I saw him infrequently and probably no more than only once or twice a year. I have stayed in a number of his residences,” the 59-year-old confirmed.

“At no stage during the limited time I spent with him did I see, witness or suspect any behaviour of the sort that subsequently led to his arrest and conviction.”

He said it was a “mistake and an error” to see the convicted sex offender after he left jail in 2010, adding he feels “tremendous sympathy for those affected by his actions and behaviour”.

“This is a difficult time for everyone involved and I am at a loss to be able to understand or explain Mr Epstein’s lifestyle. I deplore the exploitation of any human being and would not condone, participate in, or encourage any such behaviour.”

Prince Andrew has repeatedly denied the allegations.

The death of Epstein, who took his own life in prison in August, means we may never know for sure the full details behind his relationships with other powerful men like Prince Andrew.

But there’s a strong case to be made that it’s of far greater public interest than what some washed-up conservative commentator thinks of Meghan Markle’s outfits.