Prince Andrew has reportedly received King Charles’s “full support” after astonishing allegations claimed that Andrew participated in an “underaged orgy” at the island home of Jeffrey Epstein, sources claim.
These are allegations which Andrew has always denied.
And friends of Prince Andrew have claimed the King has “gone to great lengths not just to include Andrew but to show he is part of the family” since his mother died.
Prince Andrew has been linked to Jeffrey Epstein’s notorious underaged sex parties. Epstein, the financier and paedophile killed himself in 2019 while facing child sex charges.
Critics of Andrew claim recently released court documents from the 2015 lawsuit against Epstein’s co-conspirator, Ghislane Maxwell, could be a hammer blow to Andrew’s efforts to restore his reputation.
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But, one friend of Andrew claims the statements made about Andrew’s involvement are “completely unsubstantiated and unfounded”.
He reportedly told the Daily Beast: “The fact that they were made as part of a court case doesn’t change that basic fact. The King and Queen will be well aware of this. They made it very clear over Christmas that Andrew had their full support and wild, unproven allegations about orgies won’t change that. He has been totally loyal to the Crown throughout this whole thing and that counts for everything.”
When asked if he thinks Andrew would be excluded from his social group, the friend said: “Absolutely not. He will still be a prized guest at some of the best shoots in the country.”
A former Buckingham Palace courtier believes Andrew would have “roughly known” what was in the court documents, and would have told his brother over Christmas.
“One thing the palace doesn’t like is surprises, and I don’t get the sense that anyone is reeling from shock at the palace today. I’m sure Andrew’s team and Charles’ team knew what was coming,” they told The Daily Beast.
Asked if they believed the king would continue to stand by his brother, the courtier said: “He doesn’t really have any choice. It would look much worse to suddenly ditch him all over again.”
The courtier said, however, that the allegations were undoubtedly damaging to Andrew and the reputation of the Royal Family. They said: “This is not a good day for them, and you have to wonder whether the policy of bringing Andrew back into the fold was the right one. Charles would be better off today if he had cut him loose.”
Meanwhile another friend of King Charles’ told The Daily Beast: “The King has been very magnanimous towards Andrew since his mother died, and has gone to great lengths not just to include Andrew but to show he is part of the family. That is not going to change.”
Asked if the new allegations contained in the Epstein unseal documents made against Andrew would impact his chances of one day returning to royal duties, the friend of the king said: “No, because there has never been any question of him returning to royal duties. Charles has been very clear about that.”
The newly unsealed documents claim Epstein told one of his alleged sex slaves, known as Jane Doe 3, to “give the Prince whatever he demanded”.
She claimed she was ordered to have intercourse with Prince Andrew during an orgy on Epstein’s private island, Little Saint James, in the US Virgin Islands.
A 2014 court filing alleges Jane Doe 3 was “forced to have sexual relations [by Epstein] with this Prince when she was a minor in three separate geographical locations”.
She alleged these happened “in London (at Ghislaine Maxwell’s apartment), in New York, and on Epstein’s private island in the US Virgin Islands (in an orgy with numerous other under-aged girls)”.Jane Doe 3 claimed Ghislaine Maxwell “facilitated Prince Andrew’s acts of sexual abuse by acting as a ‘madame’ for Epstein'”.
These are not fresh claims against Andrew, and the documents being unsealed are part of a 2015 lawsuit filed against Ghislaine Maxwell by Virginia Giuffre.
In one document, a woman named Johanna Sjoberg alleged the Duke of York touched her breast while sitting on a sofa inside Epstein’s apartment in 2001.
The allegation was made by Ms Sjoberg in testimony given in May 2016. Although Ms Sjoberg never brought any civil claim against Andrew.
Prince Andrew has strenuously denied all allegations. Buckingham Palace previously said the allegations are “categorically untrue”.
