Prince Andrew will be taking a step back from the spotlight following his interview about his relationship with former millionaire child predator Jeffrey Epstein.
He gave an interview to the BBC that aired over the weekend in which he struggled to dispel allegations that he raped Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who was a minor at the time, whom Epstein allegedly had set him up with back in 2001. Giuffre accused Epstein of sexual assault, trafficking, and several other felony offenses that took place in the early 2000s and has accused the prince of raping her on three different occasions.
“It has become clear to me over the last few days that the circumstances relating to my former association with Jeffrey Epstein has become a major disruption to my family’s work,” a statement from Andrew reads. “Therefore, I have asked Her Majesty if I may step back from public duties for the foreseeable future, and she has given her permission.”
[Related: Beleaguered Prince Andrew ‘wants to do another’ Epstein interview]
A statement by His Royal Highness The Duke of York KG. pic.twitter.com/LfMFwMyhcb
— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) November 20, 2019
He went on to “unequivocally regret my ill-judged association with Jeffrey Epstein” and added that he “deeply sympathize[s] with everyone who has been affected and wants some form of closure.” Andrew also said that he’d be “willing” to help with investigations surrounding Epstein.
During the BBC interview with Emily Maitlis, which many consider a mistake, he insisted that on one of the dates of the alleged assaults, he was at a chain pizza restaurant with his daughters. Andrew also said her claim that they met at a nightclub and that he was sweating profusely could not be true because he had a post-combat condition that prevented him from sweating. He also flatly denied that he and Giuffre ever had a sexual relationship.
“Without putting too fine a point on it, if you’re a man, it is a positive act to have sex with somebody,” he said. “You have to take some sort of positive action. And so therefore if you try to forget, it’s very difficult to try and forget a positive action, and I do not remember anything. I can’t.”
