Whatever public life Prince Andrew had prior to the Jeffrey Epstein scandal has been all but destroyed, according to one royal expert.
Speaking with People magazine, royal historian Robert Lacey stated that Prince Andrew’s entire public existence has been “wiped out” following his disastrous interview on the BBC in which he attempted to blame his relationship with convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein on his sense of honor.
“His entire public existence has been wiped out by his own behavior,” Lacey told the outlet.
As reported by Fox News, Buckingham Palace has made dramatic efforts to minimize Prince Andrew’s role in public affairs to the point of canceling his 60th birthday and booting him from the palace entirely.
“Just days after the British royal announced he was ‘stepping away’ from public duties for the ‘foreseeable future,’ Andrew was forced to pull out of a trip to Bahrain for an international meeting of his Pitch@Palace organization, which promotes entrepreneurs and new ideas in tech,” reported the outlet. “Andrew’s office is also set to be moved out of Buckingham Palace and center around Pitch rather than his own official royal work.”
Lacey said that the actions taken against Prince Andrew show that “the royals can move very swiftly and very ruthlessly.”
During the interview on the BBC, Prince Andrew raised more than a few eyebrows when he blamed his friendship with Epstein on his “honor,” a move that was largely hailed by media and royal experts as a disaster.
“The problem was the fact that once he had been convicted I stayed with him,” the Duke of York told the BBC’s Emily Maitlis. “That’s the bit I kick myself for on a daily basis because it was not something that was becoming of a member of the Royal Family and we try and uphold the highest standards and practices and I let the side down, simple as that.”
Prince Andrew dug himself an even bigger hole when described Epstein’s home as a “convenient place to stay” despite Epstein being a convicted sex offender.
“There is … I mean I’ve gone through this in my mind so many times,” Andrew said. “At the end of the day, with a benefit of all the hindsight that one could have, it was definitely the wrong thing to do. But at the time I felt it was the honorable and right thing to do and I admit fully that my judgement was probably colored by my tendency to be too honorable, but that’s just the way it is.”
Virginia Roberts Giuffre claimed in a 2015 lawsuit that Epstein recruited her to have sex with his powerful friends when she was just 15 years old, alleging that one of her sexual encounters with Prince Andrew occurred when she was just 17. Prince Andrew has denied those charges.
“I have no recollection of ever meeting this lady, none whatsoever,” said Andrew. “I stayed with him and that’s [something] I kick myself for on a daily basis because it was not something that was becoming of a member of the royal family and we try and uphold the highest standards and practices and I let the side down, simple as that.”