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Prince Andrew Steps Down From Public Duties in Aftermath of Epstein Interview Prince Andrew Steps Down From Public Duties in Aftermath of Epstein Interview
(32 minutes later)
Prince Andrew, under siege for his past association with the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, announced Wednesday that he would “step back from public duties for the foreseeable future.”Prince Andrew, under siege for his past association with the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, announced Wednesday that he would “step back from public duties for the foreseeable future.”
In a statement issued on Twitter, he said it had become clear that his relationship with Mr. Epstein had “become a major disruption to my family’s work and the valuable work going on in the many organizations and charities that I am proud to support.”In a statement issued on Twitter, he said it had become clear that his relationship with Mr. Epstein had “become a major disruption to my family’s work and the valuable work going on in the many organizations and charities that I am proud to support.”
He said he was “willing to help any appropriate law enforcement agency with their investigations, if required.”He said he was “willing to help any appropriate law enforcement agency with their investigations, if required.”
Mr. Epstein, who killed himself in August in a federal jail cell in Manhattan, was awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges. In his statement, Andrew said, “I continue to unequivocally regret my ill-judged association,” and that “his suicide has left many unanswered questions, particularly for his victims.” Mr. Epstein, who killed himself in August in a federal jail cell in Manhattan, was awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges. In 2008, he pleaded guilty to two state charges of soliciting prostitution in a widely criticized plea deal; he served 13 months and registered as a sex offender.
In a rare moment of contrition for a member of Britain’s royal family, Andrew said in an interview last week with the BBC that it was wrong for him to have stayed at the Manhattan townhouse of Mr. Epstein after the financier had served time for soliciting a minor for prostitution. After his arrest on federal charges in July, scrutiny fell on the wide array of prominent politicians, businessmen and scientists who had associated with Mr. Epstein. Prince Andrew, 59, had visited Mr. Epstein at his homes in Manhattan, Florida, and a Caribbean island, and had invited him to parties at Windsor Castle and Sandringham, another royal estate.
“That’s the bit that, as it were, I kick myself for on a daily basis because it was not something that was becoming of a member of the royal family,” Prince Andrew, 59, said in the interview. “And we try and uphold the highest standards and practices and I let the side down, as simple as that.” For months, the royal family has felt heightened pressure to explain the prince’s history with Mr. Epstein, and their relationship was the subject of a disastrous interview Andrew gave to the BBC last week. In it, he refused to say whether he regretted being friends with Mr. Epstein.
In his statement on Wednesday, though, Andrew said, “I continue to unequivocally regret my ill-judged association.”
He added of Mr. Epstein, “his suicide has left many unanswered questions, particularly for his victims, and I deeply sympathize with everyone who has been affected and wants some form of closure.”
In the BBC interview, Andrew acknowledged that was wrong for him to have stayed at the Manhattan townhouse of Mr. Epstein after the financier had served time for soliciting a minor for prostitution.
“That’s the bit that, as it were, I kick myself for on a daily basis because it was not something that was becoming of a member of the royal family,” Andrew said in the interview. “And we try and uphold the highest standards and practices and I let the side down, as simple as that.”