‘No way back’ to public life for Andrew after ‘underage orgy’ claims
Fresh sex abuse allegations against Prince Andrew are widely suspected to have dashed his hopes of a comeback.
Newly unsealed US court documents contain claims the Duke of York took part in an orgy with underage girls on Jeffrey Epstein’s private island in the Caribbean.
Longstanding allegations that he groped a woman’s breasts and sexually assaulted Virginia Giuffre when she was 17 have also been aired again by the release of the filings, which are from a 2017 court case.
The King has reportedly decided to double down on efforts to freeze Andrew out of the royal family’s public face.
A decision was made under Queen Elizabeth II that her younger son would be barred from any official roles.
Reports suggest that, after ascending to the throne, Charles tried to push ahead with plans to evict Andrew from the 10-bedroom Royal Lodge in Windsor.
Andrew – who vehemently denies all allegations of wrongdoing – is said to have refused requests from his older brother to move into Frogmore Cottage, where Prince Harry and Meghan Markle lived before moving to the US.
While the 63-year-old played a public role in Charles’ coronation last year, such appearances could now become even rarer or non-existent.
According to the Daily Mail, royal insiders say the new Epstein papers will ‘crystallise’ Charles’ resolve to move Andrew out of the picture.
A source told the newspaper: ‘When it comes to any public role for his brother, there is no way back.
‘There has always been an agreement that Andrew would be permitted to attend private and family events, as is his right. But not public or official ones. That has not changed.’
Andrew’s name comes up more than 70 times in the first tranche of documents released so far, along with dozens of other high-profile associates.
One of Epstein’s accusers claims the paedophile billionaire told her to ‘give the prince whatever he demanded’ when he visited his island, Little Saint James.
The documents allege she was ‘forced to have sexual relations with this prince when she was a minor in three separate geographical locations’.
She was then allegedly asked to ‘report back to him on details of the sexual abuse’.
Andrew settled a US civil case brought by Ms Giuffre for £12 million in 2022.
Another accuser, Johanna Sjoberg, said the Duke put his hand on her breast for a photo in 2001.
Ms Giuffre was said to be present, and it was claimed that a Spitting Image puppet of Andrew was also involved. He has previously denied these claims.
The court case which produced the newly unsealed documents saw Ms Giuffre sue Ghislaine Maxwell, a friend of Andrew and Epstein who trafficked girls for the late billionaire, for defamation.
The case was settled in Giuffre’s favour, although this does not mean all the allegations in the documents were proven or corroborated.
Epstein died in 2019 while in prison awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
Ghislaine Maxwell, 62, is in a US jail serving a 20-year sentence imposed in 2021.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.