Queen’s four-word remark about former Prince Andrew throughout Epstein scandal
The late Queen Elizabeth II was said to have made a rare comment about her son, the Duke of York, during the height of the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, according to a royal biographer
The late Queen Elizabeth II’s unwavering loyalty to her son Andrew Mountbatten Windsor was laid bare in a revealing four-word remark made during the height of the Jeffrey Epstein controversy.
The disgraced royal, whose links to the convicted paedophile financier led to his downfall, saw his military titles and Royal patronages stripped away by his mother on January 13, 2022, after facing intense criticism over a civil sexual assault lawsuit filed in America by Virginia Giuffre. Ms Giuffre claimed the former Duke of York sexually assaulted her when she was 17.
Andrew later reached a settlement without admitting any wrongdoing, and he has consistently refuted all allegations.
Royal biographer Robert Jobson reveals that the monarch confided to a close aide that her sentiments towards Andrew hadn’t wavered, despite his ties to Epstein and mounting pressure from Palace insiders to distance the Royal Family from the Duke of York, according to the Express, reports the Mirror.
Jobson’s latest work, The Windsor Legacy, which is being published in instalments by the Daily Mail, claims that Andrew’s association with Epstein and Maxwell “did nothing to dim the late Queen’s view of her second son.”
She remained “fiercely loyal to Andrew” throughout the Epstein affair and “shielded him as Palace insiders continued to push for his exile.”
The Queen reportedly made her backing crystal clear behind closed doors, telling a trusted confidant: “You have to remember, he is my son.”
Those touching words reflected the profound maternal affection the Queen harboured for Andrew, even as his connections with the convicted paedophile plunged the Royal Family into crisis.
Ghislaine Maxwell, 63, daughter of the late media tycoon Robert Maxwell, is presently serving a 20-year jail term in the United States for sex trafficking. She and Epstein, who died in 2019 aged 66, were frequent visitors to Royal estates throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Images have surfaced showing the duo at ease in Balmoral, thought to have been captured in 1999. During his now-notorious 2019 BBC Newsnight interview with Emily Maitlis, Andrew brushed aside suggestions that their presence held any particular importance.
When questioned about whether he had invited the pair to a gathering at Sandringham, he replied curtly: “It was a shooting weekend… a straightforward shooting weekend.”
The disgraced Royal also maintained that he and Epstein were “not very good friends,” despite having lodged at one another’s residences on multiple occasions. Andrew contended that Epstein only ever attended Sandringham as Maxwell’s “plus one.”
On Thursday, 30 October, the King took the momentous step of officially removing his brother’s Prince and Duke of York titles and HRH status, essentially bringing his public role to an end. Andrew is poised to leave the Royal Lodge imminently, relocating to a clandestine property nestled within the King’s Sandringham estate in Norfolk.
The King will personally foot the bill for the accommodation and also offer financial backing to his brother.
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