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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
(about 1 hour 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.” LONDON — Prince Andrew, caught up in a firestorm over his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced Manhattan financier, that has spread rapidly to threaten the entire British royal family, announced on Wednesday that he would step back from public life 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.” The prince’s extraordinary statement capped a tumultuous three days since his televised interview about Mr. Epstein, which brought a storm of negative coverage, prompted companies with ties to the prince’s charities to distance themselves from him, and rekindled calls for him to testify to the F.B.I. about his history with Mr. Epstein, who was accused of sex trafficking.
He said he was “willing to help any appropriate law enforcement agency with their investigations, if required.” “It has become clear to me over the past few days that my association with Jeffrey Epstein has 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,” Prince Andrew said in a statement issued by Buckingham Palace.
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. “Therefore, I have asked Her Majesty if I can step back from public duties for the foreseeable future, and she has given her permission,” said the prince, who is also known as the Duke of York and is the second son of Queen Elizabeth II.
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. The duke, 59, had hoped that the interview, broadcast Saturday by the BBC, would put to rest lingering questions about his ties to Mr. Epstein, as well as accusations that he had sex with an underage girl who had been supplied to him by his friend.
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. Instead, after the duke submitted to 50 minutes of polite but relentless grilling by the BBC journalist Emily Maitlis, it turned an unsavory episode into a full-blown scandal.
In his statement on Wednesday, though, Andrew said, “I continue to unequivocally regret my ill-judged association.” Viewers expressed shock and anger at Prince Andrew’s lack of sympathy for Mr. Epstein’s victims, as well as his unpersuasive denials of sexual misconduct, which included strange assertions, including that he had been medically unable to perspire since his combat tour in the Falklands War.
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.” The backlash has dominated headlines in Britain ever since, turning the interview into the biggest public-relations debacle for the British royal family since the turbulent aftermath of the death of Princess Diana in a car crash in 1997.
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. In his three-paragraph statement, Prince Andrew attempted to undo some of the damage himself. He expressed regret for “my ill-judged association” with Mr. Epstein, who killed himself in a Manhattan jail in August.
“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.” “His suicide has left many unanswered questions, particularly for the victims,” the prince said, “and I deeply sympathize with everyone who has been affected and wants some form of closure.”
In the days after the interview, several companies, including the network equipment maker Cisco Systems and the consulting firm KPMG, moved to distance their brands from an organization supported by the prince, Pitch@Palace. Prince Andrew said he would be ready to help “any appropriate law enforcement agency with their investigation, if required.” During the interview, broadcast last Saturday by BBC, the prince said he would have to consult with lawyers before testifying under oath about his ties to Mr. Epstein.
On Monday, a woman who has accused Mr. Epstein of sexually abusing her as a child called on the prince to speak to the American authorities. “Prince Andrew, and any others who were close to Epstein, should come forward and give a statement under oath on what information they have,” said the woman, who calls herself Jane Doe 15, at a news conference in New York.
In August, another woman, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, accused the prince of having sex with her three times when she was 17 years old and had been offered to him by Mr. Epstein. Under insistent questioning by Ms. Maitlis, Prince Andrew insisted he had “no recollection” of meeting Ms. Giuffre.
Several companies moved to distance their brands from an organization supported by the duke called Pitch@Palace, which aims to help entrepreneurs. Those companies include Cisco Systems, Aon, a British insurer; and KPMG, a consulting firm. Aon asked for its logo to be removed from the Pitch@Palace website because it was not a partner of the organization and never had been.
Even before the duke agreed to speak, his decision to go before the cameras had opened divisions inside Buckingham Palace. The Sunday Times reported that the prince’s public relations adviser, Jason Stein, resigned two weeks ago because he believed that the interview “could backfire.”