No way back to public life for Andrew: Prince Charles
Prince Charles believes that even if Virginia Giuffre’s case against Andrew fails, his links to Jeffrey Epstein pose a risk to the royals.
The Duke of York will never return to public life because of the US lawsuit against him alleging sexual abuse, a source close to the Prince of Wales said.
Charles believes that even if Virginia Giuffre’s case against Prince Andrew fails, it is a reminder of the reputational risk to the royal family posed by the duke’s links to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the source said.
Giuffre, who was known as Virginia Roberts, has filed a civil suit seeking unspecified damages at a federal court in New York. She is suing the Queen’s son for allegedly sexually assaulting her when she was a teenager, claiming that she was trafficked by Epstein to have sex with Andrew when she was 17 and a minor under US law.
The case could embroil the duke in a legal battle lasting at least two years, overshadowing the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee next year. The royal family is also braced for the publication of the Duke of Sussex’s memoirs next autumn.
Andrew is at Balmoral with the Queen, accompanied by his ex-wife, Sarah, and is locked in long-distance talks with his lawyers as they draw up their strategy for fighting the suit.
The source said of Charles: “The prince loves his brother and has the ability to have sympathy for the slings and arrows that his brother endures, whatever the reasons may be. His ability to support and feel for those having a tough time is well known.
“However, this will be unwelcome reputational damage to the institution. He has long ago concluded that it is probably an unsolvable problem. This will probably further strengthen in the prince’s mind that a way back for the duke is demonstrably not possible, because the spectre of this [accusation] raises its head with hideous regularity.”
Although the duke stepped back from all 230 of his charity patronages in November 2019, at the time Buckingham Palace indicated that he still hoped to return to a public role at some point. Andrew was said to want this as recently as February this year.
The source said: “This is a reminder that that would be very difficult to achieve.”
In May this year it was reported that almost 50 organisations had quietly or publicly removed Andrew as patron. The palace website still lists dozens of organisations of which he is said to be patron.
He holds nine significant honorary positions in the armed forces, including colonel of the Royal Highland Fusiliers, colonel-in-chief of the Yorkshire Regiment, the Royal Irish Regiment and the Small Arms School Corps, as well as deputy colonel-in-chief of the Royal Lancers. He is also commodore-in-chief of the Fleet Air Arm and admiral of the Sea Cadets and honorary air commodore in the RAF.
The Ministry of Defence declined to comment yesterday (Wednesday).
Representatives of the duke have declined so far to comment on Giuffre’s lawsuit. Buckingham Palace has said that it does not speak for the duke on his personal legal matters.
The lawsuit was filed days before a legal deadline expired. A summons has been sent to Andrew’s Royal Lodge, the grade II listed house in Windsor he shares with his ex-wife. He has been given 21 days to reply, although if he accepts the summons and signs a waiver form he will get more time.
Bradley Simon, an attorney for the New York law firm Windels Marx, said that the duke could fight the case - first by challenging the jurisdiction of the New York court, and later by applying for summary judgment against Giuffre. If both moves fail, he said, “then it will be set down for trial, probably two years from now”. If Andrew refused to have anything to do with the case, a default judgment could be entered against him very quickly. However, if the court awards damages to Giuffre it would then have to track down Andrew’s assets, which Simon said could take years.
David McClure, an expert on royal finances and author of The Queen’s True Worth, asked how Andrew would be able to afford his legal costs.
Giuffre’s lawyer, David Boies, promised evidence corroborating Giuffre’s story and showing that Andrew was aware of Epstein’s crimes. Boies is also expected to present evidence “from other women who saw Prince Andrew with Virginia at [a] New York mansion”. He said Joanna Sjoberg, who says she was brought to Epstein by the socialite Ghislaine Maxwell as a young college student, “testified that she saw Virginia on Prince Andrew’s lap”. He added: “In the same category is testimony that we believe we will be able to get from members of [Epstein’s] household staff.”
He added: “I really don’t understand why [Andrew’s] counsel have not responded. I have never had a case in which you have serious claims against someone and seek to discuss them prior to bringing a lawsuit, when the defendant didn’t at least want to try to convince us not to bring the lawsuit.”
The Times
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