King Charles III’s decision to strip Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly Prince Andrew, of his royal titles “will not be the last thing the palace need to do” to contain the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, a PR expert has told Newsweek.
Andrew was reduced from a royal to a “commoner” by the king in a Buckingham Palace statement on Thursday following mounting pressure, including from Britain’s politicians.
Andrew was accused of rape by the late Virginia Giuffre, who said she was trafficked to have sex with him in London, New York and the U.S. Virgin Islands in 2001 by Epstein and his ex-girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell. Andrew has always denied the allegations.
Giuffre sued Andrew at Federal Court in New York and he settled for an undisclosed sum without admitting liability in 2022, but the scandal has continued to grow even after Giuffre’s death, in what her family described as a suicide, in April.
Newly released emails originally sent in 2011 showed Andrew told Epstein “we’re in this together” and “we’ll play again soon” a day after the publication of Giuffre’s first newspaper interview. That undermined Andrew’s account to the BBC of having broken off his friendship with the disgraced financier months earlier in December 2010. Epstein had in 2008 pleaded guilty to soliciting a minor for prostitution.
Eric Schiffer, chairman of Reputation Management Consultants, told Newsweek Charles had to strip Andrew of his titles, but may need to ready himself for further action later.
“It was absolutely a must to do on behalf of the monarchy and it will further enhance the firewall that the monarchy is reenforcing with Andrew.
“It will not be the last thing the palace need to do, however, because the judgment and behavior choices of Andrew were so heinous that it’s not going away and there will be many more media cycles about it.”
Already, since the king’s decision on Thursday, a new email sent by Andrew to Epstein in April 2010 has emerged posing questions about the nature of the pair’s relationship during a period in which he has previously said he had cut off contact.
Epstein was seemingly attempting to broker a meeting between Andrew and Jes Staley, the former chief executive of Barclays Bank.
Andrew wrote, that he would “love to” meet him, but would be out of the U.K., adding: “But I will make sure I meet him soon on another trip.”
The message continued: “Also I have no immediate plans to drop by New York but I think I should at some stage soon. I’ll look and see if I can make a couple of days before the summer. It would be good to catch up in person.”
Staley has denied knowing about Epstein’s crimes, stating in a court filing quoted by British newspaper the Evening Standard in March: “If I had known it was to be found that he was a prolific sex offender, I would not have had a relationship with him at all.”
It was already known that Andrew flew to New York in December of that year and stayed overnight with Epstein, he later told the BBC the visit was to break off their friendship.
However, the fact more emails are coming out is perhaps a warning to Buckingham Palace that they have not yet reached the end of the disclosures.
In addition to losing his titles, Andrew is also being forced out of his 30-room mansion, Royal Lodge, where he pays only a nominal “peppercorn rent.” He agreed a deal to pay £8.5 million up front for rent and renovations when he signed the 75-year lease in 2003.
Andrew had what was viewed as a cast-iron lease, but was persuaded to abandon it. Palace insiders have indicated the process will be time-consuming and they cannot say how soon Andrew will actually be out.
When he does leave, he will move to the Sandringham Estate, which is privately owned by the royals, and Newsweek has been told the king will fund his accommodation, potentially continuing to support him financially too.
That may in itself pose an ongoing risk to the monarchy’s reputation if the public feel Andrew is still being protected by the king.
“There will be many,” Schiffer said, “who will not like the fact the king is supporting Andrew and I would imagine the king will make further adjustments on this deal in time.”
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