The Duke of York has been granted permission by the Queen to “step back from public duties” to deal with the media fallout over his past relationship with the late sex predator Jeffrey Epstein.
In a public statement on Wednesday, Prince Andrew said it had “become clear” to him that his association with Epstein has become a “major disruption” to his family’s work and that he needed to step away from public duties “for the foreseeable future.”
The statement comes after Prince Andrew sat down with BBC Newsnight for what turned into a train wreck interview which sparked hundreds of humiliating memes and prompted the Duke’s PR man — who reportedly advised him against doing the interview — to quit.
Prince Andrew said in the statement that he “unequivocally regrets his ill-judged association” with Epstein. He also acknowledged the sex pest’s victims after criticism that he showed a lack of sympathy in the BBC interview. The Duke said Epstein’s apparent suicide had left “many unanswered questions.”
“I deeply sympathise with everyone who has been affected and wants some form of closure,” he said, adding that he is “willing to help any appropriate law enforcement agency” with investigations, if required. The Duke’s BBC interview had also prompted calls for him to make himself available to the FBI for questioning.
Previously, Prince Andrew said he had “no recollection” of ever meeting accuser Virginia Giuffre, who claims she was forced into sex with him between 1999 and 2002 during a period when accused sex trafficker Epstein was keeping her as a “slave.”
He maintains no memory of meeting Giuffre despite the existence of a photograph showing him with his arm around her bare waist. The Duke was mocked mercilessly online for recalling “weirdly distinctly” that he took his daughter to Pizza Express on the exact day Giuffre claims they had sex.
He was also mocked for pointing to a mysterious medical condition, since resolved, that prevented him from sweating at the time after Giuffre said she recalled that he was sweating profusely while the two were together.
British media reports on Wednesday claimed that Andrew “wants to do another interview” to put things right after the last one, but so far, no new interview seems to be planned.
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