The television interview was devised as an opportunity for Britain’s Prince Andrew to set the record straight on his friendship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and end questions about whether he had slept with a 17-year-old girl.
But three days after the interview was broadcast, Andrew’s public relations strategy is in tatters. Charitable partners and educational institutions are distancing themselves from the royal. Fleet Street journalists are on the attack as they chase down fresh questions, and witnesses have accused the prince of using racist language.
On Tuesday, Standard Chartered followed KPMG in ending its sponsorship of Andrew’s PitchPalace scheme to support entrepreneurs, and several universities are reviewing their association with him.
Andrew, 59, who is Queen Elizabeth’s second son and eighth in line to the throne, has always denied that he had sex with a 17-year-old girl procured for him by his friend Jeffrey Epstein, who died in prison while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
Apparently, against the advice of his own public relations adviser, who has since resigned, Andrew, sat down for a BBC interview last week to try to set the record straight.
Interviewer Emily Maitlis asked about Virginia Roberts Giuffre’s allegations that Andrew and she danced at Tramps nightclub in London and later went to a house belonging to Ghislaine Maxwell to have sex in 2001.
“I have no recollection of ever meeting her. I’m convinced I was never in Tramps with her,” he said. “There are a number of things wrong with her. I don’t know where the bar is in Tramps. I don’t drink. I don’t think I’ve ever bought a drink in Tramps whenever I was there.”
He continued to insist that his friendship with Epstein had some “seriously beneficial outcomes,” such as giving him networking opportunities as he prepared for a role as a trade envoy. But his failure to express sympathy for Epstein’s victims sparked anger among viewers, and his lengthy, rambling denials spurred incredulity among commentators.
He said he could not explain a photograph apparently showing him with an arm around Giuffre, and suggested it could not have been taken in London because he was not wearing his customary jacket and tie.
Even more bizarre was his rejection of Giuffre’s claim that he had been “profusely sweating.”
“I didn’t sweat at the time because I had suffered what I would describe as an overdose of adrenaline in the Falklands War when I was shot at … it was almost impossible for me to sweat,” he said.
Alastair Campbell, Tony Blair’s spin doctor during his time in Number 10, said the interview was a mistake.
“There is a danger of, what has been a kind of low-running frenzy for some time, becoming a bit of a crisis for him,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today program.
The result is open season on a man long viewed as a playboy prince. Tabloid newspapers have taken delight in publishing a parade of photographs showing Andrew around town in shirtsleeves and in various states of perspiration.
They have raised fresh questions about how he can afford his jet setting lifestyle.
And on Tuesday, former home secretary Jacqui Smith leveled a second claim of racism, saying she had been left “slack jawed” after a conversation at a Buckingham Palace event. “It was a state dinner for the Saudi royal family and he made racist comments about Arabs that were unbelievable,” she told a London radio station.
A day earlier, newspaper columnist Rohan Silva claimed he once heard Andrew use the expression “n***** in the woodpile.”
A spokesman for the palace denied the claims. “HRH has undertaken a considerable amount of work in the Middle East over a period of years and has many friends from the region,” he said. “He does not tolerate racism in any form.”
Like many royals, the prince is patron of countless charities that rely on his status to attract funding and prestige. Several businesses beyond the two that have already jumped ship are considering whether they will continue to work him.
A spokesman for Standard Chartered said: “We can confirm we are not renewing our sponsorship of PitchPalace for commercial reasons once our current agreement terminates in December.”
London Metropolitan University said it was reviewing Andrew’s role as patron, while students at the University of Huddersfield voted overwhelmingly to remove him as chancellor.
“Prince Andrew’s association with a known pedophile, Jeffrey Epstein … combined with the allegations made by Virginia Giuffre that Prince Andrew sexually assaulted her make him an utterly unsuitable representative for us here at the University of Huddersfield,” read their motion.
“We need to put survivors of sexual assault above royal connections and show students, alumni, and prospective students that this institution cares about their well-being, irrespective of the status of the alleged perpetrator.”
