Explainer-Britain’s Andrew and the sex scandal that cost his royal titles, privileges

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LONDON (Reuters) -Britain’s King Charles stripped younger brother Andrew of his title of prince and ordered him out of his royal home over renewed scrutiny after the release of a posthumous memoir by one of the most prominent accusers of late U.S. sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The book by Virginia Giuffre detailed new allegations about the 65-year-old Andrew, who is the second son of the late Queen Elizabeth and has always denied accusations made by Giuffre before her death by suicide in April. 

The decision by the king, which was announced on October 30 and endorsed by heir-to-the-throne Prince William, was one of the most dramatic moves against a member of the royal family in modern British history.

Here are details about Andrew’s case and its implications.

WHAT ARE GIUFFRE’S ALLEGATIONS ABOUT ANDREW?

In her memoir “Nobody’s Girl”, Giuffre wrote that when she was a teenager she had been forced to have sex with Andrew, the eighth-in-line to the British throne, on three occasions at the behest of Epstein, including one she described as an “orgy”.

One of the occasions took place at the London home of Epstein’s longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell, who she says facilitated her introduction to Andrew. 

The memoir says Andrew correctly guessed Giuffre’s age – 17 – when they first met, and includes details of encounters in London, New York and on Epstein’s private island. In her book, Giuffre said the “entitled” Andrew believed it was his birthright to have sex with her.

Epstein, who killed himself in 2019 in prison while awaiting trial on sex abuse charges, was jailed in 2008 for child sex offences. Maxwell was found guilty in 2021 in the U.S. of sex trafficking by helping Epstein sexually abuse teenage girls and was later sentenced to 20 years in prison.

PRINCE ANDREW’S DENIALS AND THE ‘NEWSNIGHT’ INTERVIEW

In 2011, Andrew quit his role as Britain’s roving trade ambassador, partly because of his friendship with Epstein.

With Epstein making headlines again in 2019, Andrew gave what turned out to be a disastrous interview to the BBC’s Newsnight programme.

He denied ever meeting Giuffre, said he could not have had sex with her in London as she said because he was in a pizza restaurant for a children’s party, and that her account of him sweating profusely at a nightclub was wrong because he suffered from a medical condition that stopped him perspiring.

He also cast doubt on an infamous picture from 2001 which showed him with his arm around Giuffre’s waist.

He has always continued to deny the accusations although in 2022, he approved a financial deal to settle a U.S. lawsuit brought by Giuffre.

He told the BBC that he had broken off contact with Epstein in 2010 but had gone to stay at his home in New York because he was “too honourable” to cut off ties by phone.

CHINESE ‘SPY’ AND ‘WE’LL PLAY MORE SOON’ SCANDALS

In the wake of the BBC interview, Andrew was abandoned by businesses and his charities, and he was forced to step back from public duties. 

But Giuffre’s lawsuit and the criminal prosecution of Maxwell forced Buckingham Palace and the royals to take further action to distance themselves from Andrew. In January 2022, he was stripped of his military links and royal patronages, and lost the moniker of “His Royal Highness”.

Last December, it was disclosed in a court ruling that a close Chinese business associate of Andrew was thought by the British government to be a Chinese spy.

The man involved has denied the allegations, but they meant Andrew’s already battered reputation took a further hit, and provoked further questions about his finances, coming after Charles cut off his annual allowance.   

Earlier in October, The Mail on Sunday newspaper published an email it said was from Andrew to Epstein, written in 2011 weeks after he had told Newsnight he had already broken off contact with the financier. 

In the email the prince wrote: “Keep in close touch and we’ll play some more soon,” the paper said.

ANDREW STRIPPED OF ALL HIS TITLES

On October 18, Andrew announced that he would give up using his title of “Duke of York”, and all his remaining honours, such as his membership of the Order of the Garter, Britain’s oldest chivalric order.

It was also announced he would no longer attend the annual royal Christmas get-togethers at Sandringham, the royal home in eastern England.

On October 30, the king escalated his actions against Andrew by voiding all his titles, including that of prince, and forcing him to surrender the lease of his Royal Lodge mansion on the Windsor Estate, west of London.

Andrew, who had not paid rent on his 30-room mansion for two decades, will be moved to alternative private accommodation on the Sandringham estate in eastern England, and will be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor.

Buckingham Palace described the decision as necessary despite Andrew’s continual denial of the allegations against him. The palace said the king stood with all victims and survivors of abuse.

IS THIS THE END OF THE SAGA?

London’s police force said it was “actively looking” into newspaper allegations that Andrew had asked one of his personal protection officers in 2011 to dig up information about the Giuffre allegations, which a Buckingham Palace source said should be “examined in an appropriate way”.

Some anti-monarchy campaigners argued that Andrew’s loss of royal titles and transfer from one lavish residence to another amounted to too mild a punishment. Republic, a campaign group founded in 1983 that calls for an elected head of state in Britain, said he should face a police investigation.

(Reporting by Michael Holden; additional reporting by Catarina Demony; editing by Sharon Singleton and Mark Heinrich)