Prince Andrew steps back from royal duties for ‘foreseeable future’
London: The Duke of York is stepping back from royal duties for the “foreseeable future” due to the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.
Prince Andrew said his links with the convicted sex offender became a “major disruption” to the royal family, BBC reported.
In a statement, he said he deeply sympathised with Epstein’s victims and “everyone who has been affected and wants some form of closure”.
It comes as the duke has faced a growing backlash after a BBC interview.
Earlier, a letter written to the Times newspaper by Buckingham Palace cast doubt on when the duke first met Epstein.
The 2011 letter says they met in the early 1990s, not in 1999 as Prince Andrew said in his BBC interview.
BT also became the latest in a series of organisations to distance themselves from Prince Andrew, following the interview.
In a statement, BT said it had been working with iDEA — which helps people develop digital, business and employment skills — since 2017 but “our dealings have been with its executive directors not its patron, the Duke of York”.
“In light of recent developments we are reviewing our relationship with the organisation and hope that we might be able to work further with them, in the event of a change in their patronage,” a spokeswoman said.
In his interview with the BBC’s Newsnight on Saturday, the duke said he met Epstein “met through
his girlfriend back in 1999” — a reference to Ghislaine Maxwell, who had been a friend of Prince Andrew since she was at university.
The 2011 letter was published after the Times reported on the existence of a photo of the prince with 17-year-old Virginia Giuffre, then known as Roberts, who would later testify that she had been forced to have sex with him.
The duke has always denied any form of sexual contact or relationship with her.
The Duke of York said his links with the convicted sex offender Epstein became a ‘major disruption’ to the royal family
He said he deeply sympathised with Epstein’s victims and ‘everyone who has been affected and wants some form of closure’
Financial services company Standard Chartered and KPMG already indicated they will review ties with his charities Businesses and universities in the UK have already announced they will no longer associate themselves with the Prince or his charities