Prince Andrew has remained mum after his name, along with other high-profile people, recently appeared in court papers relating to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. However, he was recently pictured looking glum as he left the royal family's Windsor estate.
A photo from the Mirror showed the Duke of York at the wheel of his car, driving away from his home at Royal Lodge in Windsor. The 63-year-old appeared to look dejected as he faces another humiliation following the release of the Epstein documents, which alluded to his alleged sexual relations with a minor that included a sex tape.
The court documents unsealed in a New York court earlier this month contain 1,000 pages of depositions and statements. They were part of Virginia Robert Giuffre's 2015 libel suit against Epstein's former lover, Ghislaine Maxwell.
Prince Andrew was named in the papers 67 times. The release of the documents has reportedly prompted him to "lock himself away" with an unnamed insider telling the publication that he is left feeling helpless.
"He doesn't have the emotional bandwidth to deal with this. He has locked himself away in a room and has no idea how to respond. He's devastated," the source said.
In the documents, Giuffre alleged that she was forced by Epstein to have sex with Prince Andrew on three separate occasions. In 2021, she accused the duke of rape and sexual abuse when she was 17 years old.
The Duke of York has since vehemently denied any wrongdoing but admitted that he has visited Epstein in the past in New York, at his island in the U.S. Virgin Islands, and at Maxwell's house in London.
But he denied having any sexual relations with Giuffre or any women trafficked by Epstein when asked during his 2019 Newsnight interview with BBC journalist Emily Maitlis.
Regardless, Prince Andrew settled his case with Giuffre out of court in February 2022 to avoid a trial. The scandal his case brought to the monarchy and the royal family also prompted Queen Elizabeth to strip him of his royal patronages and military titles in January 2022.
Another unnamed source claimed that the duke is now "at a loss, totally tormented" at the turn of events. He had reportedly expected to move on with his life after the settlement, which Epstein's former lawyer Alan Dershowitz called a "terrible mistake". He believed that the royal would have "won" the case in court had he agreed to be cross-examined and given evidence in a U.S. civil court instead of paying his accuser.
"I think he made a terrible mistake. I suspect he was pressured by his mother to make that mistake. If he had fought that case, I believe he would have won, I believe the case would have been dismissed on a variety of grounds," he said adding: "But he didn't want to sit through a deposition, or people around him didn't want to sit through a deposition, so he settled the case."
Prince Andrew's legal team has since also clarified that the settlement does not necessarily mean a confession of guilt to which Dershowitz noted: "Often you settle cases, not because you're guilty of what you're charged, but because you don't want to admit other things that you've done."
Some of the peasants thought it was a “lovely moment” to see & shake the hand of pedo #PrinceAndrew during Christmas at Sandringham. His response:pic.twitter.com/xjXGa7oWht
— Nelly (@ValleyGirl629) January 7, 2024
Prince Andrew broke cover hours after a viral video shared online showed his awkward encounter with well-wishers during the royal family's annual Christmas Walk to St. Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham. He asked a group of people why they were recording him instead of just taking photos.
"It's just, why video?" he asked and was answered: "Cause it's just lovely, lovely moments." He then asked the well-wishers to take his spot and "see what it's like" with all the cameras facing them and called it "a really bizarre sensation".
