Criticism mounts after Prince Andrew’s ‘car crash’ television interview
The Duke of York is facing a barrage of criticism following his television interview about the Jeffrey Epstein sex scandal, with the royal accused of a lack of empathy with the victims.
Prince Andrew’s attempt to set the record straight about his relationship with the convicted sex offender – and counter allegations that he slept with one of Epstein’s groomed teenagers – has been widely condemned for its unsympathetic tone and lack of remorse for the friendship.
Green Party co-leader Sian
Berry said the duke’s interview for BBC’S Newsnight on Saturday was not “very empathetic” with the teenage girls preyed on by the disgraced financier.
Commentators are questioning Andrew’s decision to speak in depth for the first time about the allegations and his ten-year friendship with Epstein, with one calling it an “appalling lack of judgment” and another saying his responses lacked conviction.
A legal expert said being a member of the monarchy did not give the duke a get-out clause from being prosecuted in the US, and he was “unwise”
to have given a detailed account of his actions to the media.
Ms Berry, asked about the interview on Sky News’ Sophy Ridge on Sunday programme, said: “The Me Too movement, it’s thrown up so many incidents of women being exploited and abused by men in positions of power and when there are allegations like this they do need answering, no matter who someone is.”
Speaking about the Royal Family’s accountability, she added: “I think they need to be accountable as anybody else. And I think it’s right that he has answered these questions on the interview, although I wasn’t particularly convinced. I think we need to have more from him on this as well.”
She added: “It wasn’t a very empathetic interview, if that’s an OK thing to say, with the victims, and I think he should have been more apologetic.”
During the interview –widely described as a “car crash” – Andrew, questioned by Emily Maitlis, twice stated that his relationship with Epstein, who died in jail while facing sex trafficking charges, had some “seriously beneficial outcomes”, giving him the opportunity to meet people and prepare for a future role as a trade envoy.
The duke denied he slept with Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein’s victims, on three occasions, twice while she was underage, saying one encounter in 2001 did not happen as he spent the day with his daughter Princess Beatrice, taking her to Pizza Express in Woking, Surrey, for a party.
The same alleged sexual liaison, which the American said began with the duke sweating heavily as they danced at London nightclub Tramp, was factually wrong, he said, as he claimed to have had a medical condition at the time which meant he did not sweat.
He also cast doubt on the authenticity of a photograph that appears to show him with his arm around the waist of Mrs Giuffre, when a teenager.
Andrew said: “From the investigations that we’ve done, you can’t prove whether or not that photograph is faked or not because it is a photograph of a photograph of a photograph. So it’s very difficult to be able to prove it but I don’t remember that photograph ever being taken.”
The duke said the whole episode had not been damaging to the Queen, only to himself, and that the wider Royal Family “couldn’t be more supportive”.
He expressed regret at making contact with Epstein in 2010 – flying to New York to say in person that the friendship was over – after the 66-yearold had been released from an 18-month prison term for prostituting minors. But Maitlis highlighted how he spent a number of days at his home and how he was guest of honour at a dinner party which she said celebrated Epstein’s release.
Ingrid Seward, editor-inchief of Majesty magazine, told BBC Radio 4’s World at One programme that, in the wake of the interview, Andrew could find himself out of the core Royal Family, if reports are correct that the monarchy will be slimmed down when the Prince of Wales becomes king. Anna Rothwell, of criminal law firm Corker Binning, said: “His friendship with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein is under investigation by the FBI and he is vulnerable to extradition.
“It is therefore very unwise for the prince to give any account to the media, especially one which so starkly exposes the closeness of his relationship with Epstein, and again betrays yet another appalling lack of judgment.”
“It is very unwise for the prince to give any account to the media, and again betrays yet another appalling lack of judgment.”
ANNA ROTHWELL
Lawyer