Disgraced Andrew may face more legal woes: UK biographer / Photo: Jordan Pettitt - POOL/AFP
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Disgraced Andrew may face more legal woes: UK biographer
Scandal-hit Prince Andrew could face more legal woes, his biographer Andrew Lownie told AFP Monday, as the British royal family braced for the publication of a posthumous memoir of damaging revelations written by his accuser Virginia Giuffre.
Some lawmakers called for the UK government to formally strip Andrew of his titles, following years of damaging allegations about his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Andrew, 65, who has denied any wrongdoing, agreed to pay Giuffre millions of dollars in 2022 to end her civil sexual assault case against him.
But the revelations have not stopped and, under pressure from his brother King Charles III, Andrew said on Friday he was renouncing his title of Duke of York.
Charles's oldest son and heir to the throne, Prince William, was consulted about the decision.
Lownie said William planned to banish his uncle even further from royal life when he becomes king, possibly even barring him from his coronation.
A day before Giuffre's book "Nobody's Girl" comes out, Lownie said things could get worse for Andrew.
"I do think that if the Met (Metropolitan Police) had properly investigated these sex trafficking allegations, he would have been charged and I hope they will now do so," he said.
Lownie, whose book "Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York" was published in August, said there was a "strong case against the prince because of malfeasance in public office" linked to his time as a special trade envoy.
He described Andrew as being "on the ropes", adding that there were grounds for an inquiry by the National Crime Agency, which investigates organised crime and human trafficking among other offences.
- 'More days of pain' -
Andrew gave up his position as trade envoy in 2011 after a string of controversies.
He stepped back from official royal duties in 2019 and gave up his HRH title, his appearances limited to family occasions such as Christmas Day. That door has now been shut to him and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson.
Giuffre, who died by suicide in April, reportedly says in her book she was trafficked by Epstein and forced to have sex with Andrew three times, including when she was 17.
The third time was at what she describes as an "orgy" on Epstein's island
"Epstein, Andy, and approximately eight other young girls and I had sex together," she reportedly says, adding that all the other girls appeared to be under the age of 18 and did not speak much English.
Epstein died by suicide in a New York jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on charges of trafficking underage girls for sex.
Andrew, a long-time friend of Epstein, has denied ever meeting Giuffre. But the BBC reported royal sources as saying Buckingham Palace was preparing for "more days of pain ahead".
Andrew's scandals have proved a huge embarrassment to the royal family. Giuffre's memoir is to be published on the eve of a high-profile visit to the Vatican by Charles, who is due to end centuries of tradition and pray with Pope Leo XIV.
A number of MPs said parliament should act to strip the "duke" title from late Queen Elizabeth II's second son.
- No questions -
Rachael Maskell, MP for the northern English city of York from which Andrew's title comes, has proposed a bill that would allow the king or a parliamentary committee to take it away.
Some politicians also want Andrew to lose the title of prince, which he gets automatically as a monarch's son.
George Foulkes, who sits in the House of Lords, has written to both the Lords and the lower House of Commons to ask for a review of the convention that prevents questions about the royal family in parliament.
Lownie said Andrew "lost his protector" when Elizabeth died in 2022 and that the king should have been "far more ruthless" and acted sooner.
When William comes to the throne, he said, Andrew was likely to face a bleak future.
"I don't think William is going to have much time for him. I mean there are already rumours that he won't be invited to the coronation. He'll certainly be stripped of his being a prince."
Andrew, once feted as a handsome war hero who flew helicopters for the Royal Air Force during the 1982 Falklands conflict, was the queen's favourite son.
"People complained about him for years and nothing was done. I think also she (Elizabeth) just had a complete blind spot about him," Lownie said.
"William certainly doesn't. I think Charles is realising the reputational damage to his own reign."
H.Anand--MT
