Prince William is afraid there could be a “s*** load” of bad press against Prince Andrew to come.
A friend of William says the 41-year-old is “dismayed” by King Charles’s “leniency” toward his brother, who was allowed to join the family on their Christmas Day church outing last month.
Last week, unsealed court documents from 2015 show Jeffrey Epstein accuser Sarah Ransome claimed the disgraced financier kept sex tapes of Prince Andrew. There is no suggestion of wrongdoing by the Duke and Ms Ransome retracted her claim two years later.
But it emerged as part of a trove of files in a defamation lawsuit filed by Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who alleged she was trafficked to Prince Andrew when she was 17.
It comes two years after Giuffre sued Andrew and the case was settled out of court, with Queen Elizabeth II stripping her son of his military titles and patronages. The settlement was not an admission of guilt by Andrew who always denied the allegation.
READ MORE: Seven in 10 want Andrew out of royal line as ‘mountain of Epstein files’ linger
William’s friend told The Daily Beast that he fears there may be a “s*** load” of bad press about his uncle to come.
“That’s why William was so dismayed by the leniency shown to him at Christmas. He is utterly bemused by his father’s strategy,” the friend said.
A former courtier also told the outlet that the King’s strategy is confusing.
They said: “William and his father agreed, in 2022, that Andrew should be kicked out of the Royal Family. Having ripped off the plaster, you have to question his judgment in walking to church with Andrew at Christmas, especially when they knew the Epstein affair was all going to be raked up again a few days later.”
Last month, reports surfaced that King Charles threw Prince Andrew out of Buckingham Palace, with the disgraced royal no longer able to receive correspondence or have an office at the address.
Since then, the Epstein revelations seem to have cemented his status as an outcast.
A friend of the King has said that it’s been firmly decided that Prince Andrew is “no longer a working royal,” and that he was only allowed to talk to church on Christmas because it was a family event.
