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It is widely said that she was the late Queen’s “favourite” child, prince andrew Has suffered a sharp fall from grace in the last decade.
Plagued by a series of controversies, the latest setback has seen new messages between the Duke and Jeffrey Epstein To find out – sent months later Andrew claims to have fired the disgraced financier.
email between andrew and Epstein were reportedly handed over to a London court, which revealed they were exchanging messages at least as late as February 2011, when the Duke wrote: “Stay in close touch and we’ll play some more soon.”
In recent days, Andrew’s relationship with Epstein has once again been thrust into the spotlight by the publication of quotes from Posthumous memoir of Virginia Giuffre.
In her book, Giuffre claims that Andrew considered it his “birthright” to sleep with her when she was 17 years old. While acknowledging that Giuffre may have been a victim of abuse by Epstein, Andrew has always denied the allegations against him.
Andrew’s relationship with a convicted pedophile ultimately forced him to step down from his royal duties and in January 2022, he was His royal patronage was taken away.
In the years since, he has faced several other scandals, including one of his “close confidants” being banned. UK accused him of being a Chinese spy,
Here, Independent Takes a look at the timeline of Andrew’s fall from grace and his retreat from the public eye.
queen’s favorite
The Queen stood by Andrew even when he was trapped Jeffrey Epstein scandal in 2019 and “stepping back from royal duties for the foreseeable future”.
In October 2021, it was claimed that the monarch intended to personally spend millions of pounds to defend her son against sexual abuse allegations made by Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre.
She also signaled her support for her disgraced son by accompanying him to Prince Philip’s memorial service in March 2021.
Andrew provided a steady hand for the Queen as she walked into Westminster Abbey to commemorate her husband’s life, just weeks after he reached a multi-million pound out-of-court settlement with Giuffre.
Friendship with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell
During his 2019 interview with the BBC newsnightAndrew said he has known British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, daughter of media mogul and former MP Robert Maxwell, since they were at university.
She introduced Andrew to her then-boyfriend Jeffrey Epstein in 1999. Even after Epstein was convicted of procuring a child for prostitution and soliciting a prostitute in 2008, the three remained a close friendship.
Andrew is alleged to have personally invited the couple to Balmoral, the queen’s Scottish residence, in 1999.
Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in prison in June 2022 after a sex-trafficking trial in New York for procuring teenage girls for Epstein to abuse.
Andrew continued visiting Epstein in New York after the financier was convicted of child sex crimes in 2008.
Epstein received an 18-month sentence, but was allowed to go to his office on “work release” most days and was released on probation after 13 months.
Andrew faced criticism when photographs emerged showing him opening the door to Epstein’s palatial East Side townhouse and strolling through Central Park in December 2010.
now infamous 2019 bbc newsnight In the interview, Shahi claimed that she had broken off contact with Epstein in December 2010.
2019: Virginia Giuffre sexual abuse case
In 2019, Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre, formerly known as Virginia Roberts, filed a lawsuit in Manhattan alleging that she was trafficked by Epstein to have sex with Andrew on three occasions when she was 17 years old and a minor under US law.
Giuffre has accused Andrew of sexually abusing her when she was a teenager on Epstein’s private island, Little St. James, which the prince has “categorically” denied.
2019: BBC Newsnight interview
Andrew was criticized by the BBC for a car accident newsnight Interview which aired on 16 November 2019.
During the interview, he denied that he had slept with Giuffre, saying that the encounter could not have occurred because he was at a branch of Pizza Express in Woking with his daughter, Princess Beatrice.
He also said that Giuffre’s claim that he was sweaty in a nightclub was false because he was not sweating due to “an overdose of adrenaline from the Falklands War”.
The royal faced a public backlash, with equality campaigners claiming he was “It’s too stupid to even pretend to care about Epstein’s victims.”,
2019: Step back from public duties
Four days later, Andrew announced The Queen gave him permission to withdraw from public duties In view of the interview.
She said it had become clear to her in recent days that her association with Epstein had become a “major distraction” in the work of the royal family.
The royal said she regretted her relationship with Epstein and had “deep sympathy” for his victims.
2022: Royal titles and military affiliations stripped
Queen in January 2022 Andrew was stripped of his military titles and royal patronage. In the wake of a US judge allowing Giuffre’s civil sexual abuse case against her son to go to trial.
The prince stopped using his HRH (His Royal Highness) style, with his roles – including colonel of the Grenadier Guards, one of the oldest regiments of the British Army – handed over to other members of the royal family.
His other military titles included Honorary Air Commodore of RAF Lossiemouth; Colonel-in-Chief of the Royal Irish Regiment; Colonel-in-Chief of the Small Arms School Corps; Commodore-in-Chief of the Fleet Air Arm; Royal Colonel of the Royal Highland Fusiliers; Deputy Colonel-in-Chief of The Royal Lancers (Queen Elizabeth’s Own); and Royal Colonel of the Royal Regiment of Scotland.
2022: Out of court settlement
andrew payment Multi-million pound settlement outside the courtWhich means that both the parties avoided hearing the case.
As part of the agreement, he was to pay damages to Giuffre and make a donation to a charity “in support of victims’ rights”.
Andrew has faced calls to confirm how he funded the settlement – ​​which is said to be up to £12 million – and whether the Queen or even King Charles, then Prince of Wales, contributed to the sum.
December 2024: ‘Confident’ banned in Britain on charges of Chinese espionage
In December 2024, it emerged that a “close confidant” of the royal family was barred from entering the UK because authorities felt he could pose a threat to national security.
Yang Tengbo brought the case to the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) after then-Home Secretary Suella Braverman said he should be barred from the UK in March 2023.
British authorities allege the businessman was working on behalf of the United Front Work Department, a branch of the Chinese Communist Party used to influence foreign entities.
He is said to have visited the royal residence twice at the invitation of the king’s younger brother and was described as a “close confidant” of Andrew.
Andrew insisted he “ceased all contact” with the businessman accused of being a Chinese spy when concerns were first raised about him. A statement from his office said he met the man through “official channels” and “nothing of a sensitive nature was ever discussed”.
January 2025: New messages show relationship with Epstein continued for months after New York trip
Newly revealed messages revealed that the Duke of York remained in contact with Epstein until February 2011 – despite claiming to have broken off contact with him in December 2010.
Emails allegedly handed over to a London court between Andrew and Epstein show they were exchanging messages at least as far back as late February 2011, when the Duke wrote: “Stay in close touch and we’ll play some more soon.”
The messages exchanged between the pair came on the same day a photo of Andrew was published with 17-year-old Virginia Giuffre and Ghislaine Maxwell – who is currently behind bars for recruiting and trafficking underage girls for Epstein, Bloomberg reports.
The emails were obtained by Bloomberg after they were revealed in a filing by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) defending the appeal of former Barclays boss, Jess Staley, who is challenging a decision to ban him from the finance industry for misleading regulators over his relationship with Epstein.
October 2025: Andrew is forced to give up his title of Duke of York
Andrew has been forced to give up all his titles including Duke of York and Knight of the Garter because his former friendship with Epstein threatens to impact the work of the royal family.
Andrew has given up his title as Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order and his Garter role as Royal Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter.
He issued a statement saying that he, the king and his family had “concluded the persistent allegations made against me are a distraction from the work of Her Majesty and the Royal Family”.
He further said, “As always, I have decided to put my duty towards my family and country first. I stand by my decision to step away from public life five years ago.”
Andrew’s former wife Sarah Ferguson will also no longer be known as the Duchess of York. His daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, would be unaffected.
The news follows the publication of excerpts from Epstein victim Virgina Giuffre’s posthumous memoir. In the book, Giuffre claimed that Andrew considered sleeping with her to be his “birthright”.
In his statement released on 17 October, Andrew reiterated that “I vehemently deny the allegations made against me”.