Pressure increases on Prince Andrew as he steps down from official duties

British Royal Prince Andrew faces no let-up in press scrutiny of his ties to the late sex abuser Jeffrey Epstein.

Queen Elizabeth’s third child has temporarily stepped down from official royal duties after a controversial interview he gave to British broadcaster, the BBC.

The prince said he had travelled on Epstein’s jet and stayed with him at his private island, as well as his homes in the US states of Florida and New York, but denied having sexual relations with victims of Epstein’s trafficking ring.

Despite a widely circulated photograph, Andrew said he did not recall having posed in an image with one of his accusers, Virginia Giuffre, who claimed the royal had slept with her when she was 17 at a residence in London in 2001. The home in question belonged to Ghislaine Maxwell, a mutual friend of both Epstein and Andrew.

On the night Giuffre claims that the incident happened, the prince says he was at a children’s party at a pizza restaurant.

Epstein admitted a charge of soliciting an underage person for prostitution in 2008 and Andrew is believed to have resumed his friendship with the multimillionaire investment banker shortly after his release in 2010, even staying at his home in New York.

Facing new charges for trafficking hundreds of women and possession of illicit images of minors, Epstein hung himself in jail in August 2019.

When asked by the interviewer about why he had decided to stay at the house of a convicted sex offender, the prince said “It was a convenient place to stay” and that while he now thinks it was the wrong thing to do, at the time he felt his decision was informed by his tendency to be “too honourable”.

His demeanour and comments during the interview have sparked a backlash online, with many asking what Andrew was hiding.

On Twitter, veteran British journalist John Sweeney wrote: “It's possible, I'm told, that Ghislaine Maxwell is talking to the FBI. If she flips, she might give them #PrinceAndrew. That could explain his extraordinary performance on the #PrinceAndrew interview. He was getting in his denial first.”

Demand for answers

Gloria Allred, a representative for Epstein’s victims, said they had found Prince Andrew’s comments during the interview “upsetting”.

“He did not show very much feeling, sympathy, empathy, for the victims in (the interview),” she told the same BBC strand, which conducted the initial interview with Andrew.

The prince she said, should contact US investigators “without conditions and without delay.''

Another lawyer representing victims, Lisa Bloom, called on Andrew to hand over logs and any records pertaining to his relationship with Epstein to US officials.

Andrew’s connection to Epstein and the controversy stemming from it has also shone a light on other questionable instances of his behaviour.

Former Labour Party Minister Jacqui Smith accused the royal of using racist slurs targeting Arabs during a state visit by the Saudi king.

While not specifying the slur in question, she said it involved ‘camels’ and was “as worse as you can imagine.”