Andrew refused to pledge support for abuse victims
Laura Elston, Jordan Reynolds and Ellie Crabbe |
Andrew Mountbatten Windsor routinely refused to sign off statements that supported survivors of abuse, it has been claimed.
The King’s brother was stripped of his prince and Duke of York titles by the monarch over his links to pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein on Thursday.
Charles and the Queen publicly shared their “thoughts and utmost sympathies” with “the victims and survivors of any and all forms of abuse” as part of the announcement.
A friend of the King and Camilla told The Sunday Times that references to victims were removed from all previous statements drafted by courtiers and issued by Buckingham Palace since Andrew’s disastrous Newsnight interview in 2019.
Any such communication had required Andrew’s sign-off, the paper said.
The former prince denies sexually assaulting the late Virginia Giuffre, who alleged this happened on three occasions, including when she was 17, after being trafficked by Epstein.
The friend told the paper the King had “lost patience” and his statement announcing the removal of Andrew’s prince and Duke of York titles was “no longer a statement by committee, it’s a statement from the King”.
They added there had long been a sense from the royal family that “voices of the victims needed to be heard in these pronouncements, because they feature so heavily in this saga” and because it affects the credibility of the Queen and the Duchess of Edinburgh’s work campaigning against sexual abuse.
Another friend said the King and Queen were aware of the public’s opinion of Andrew, adding: “They have felt the public anger and they have acted”.
In 2019, Andrew announced he was stepping back from public life in the wake of his Newsnight interview, saying in a statement that Epstein’s suicide left many unanswered questions for “his victims, and I deeply sympathise with everyone who has been affected and wants some form of closure”.
But the 2022 Palace statement on the loss of his military affiliations and royal patronages, and Andrew’s last one on October 17, in which he pledged to stop using his Duke of York title, made no mention of abuse survivors.
Meanwhile, pressure is building on Andrew to give evidence before a powerful US Congressional committee.
Members of the House Oversight Committee have called for the former prince to reveal what he knew about the actions of Epstein.
Democrat Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi told BBC Newsnight that he wants Andrew to give evidence before Congress, saying: “I would go so far as to subpoena him”.
Congressman Suhas Subramanyam told BBC Radio 4’s Today program: “I think this would be a great way for Andrew to clear his name”.
“It would be great way for us to continue our pursuit of justice for the victims, and frankly, Andrew’s name has come up many times from the victims, and so he clearly has knowledge of what happened, and we just want him to come forward and tell us what he knows.”
Lawyer Spencer Kuvin, who represents some of Epstein’s victims, also urged Andrew to testify.
“He could testify about other potential co-conspirators that he saw that may have been present at the mansions here in the States that were doing inappropriate activities,” he told BBC News.
Media focus on Royal Lodge is continuing, with Andrew preparing to quit the 30-room home in Windsor by moving to a new home on the King’s private Sandringham estate in Norfolk in the new year.
Andrew is set to get a six-figure payout and an annual payment as part of his “relocation settlement” after being forced out.
The former prince will receive the one-off payment to cover his move, followed by the regular stipend to prevent him from “overspending in his new life as a commoner”, The Guardian newspaper reported.
The annual payment will be worth several times his Stg20,000 ($A40,000)-a-year Navy pension and it’s understood the King will use private funds to cover the cost.
Andrew will, however, be denied most of his Stg558,000 ($A1.1 million) compensation from the Crown Estate after agreeing to leave the mansion, but a royal source told The Telegraph there is “a lot of work that needs doing” with the cost of repairs affecting the amount.
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