A few notes about Jeffrey Epstein – we now know that he apparently updated and signed a new will just two days before his mysterious death in a Manhattan jail cell. The bulk of his mysterious fortune – reportedly about $577 million – is going into a mysterious trust and no one really understands who benefits besides Epstein’s brother. It’s all so weird. Also weird: Ghislaine Maxwell really did stage those photos of herself at an LA In-and-Out – the Daily Mail did some digging on that too. But this is about Prince Andrew and whether he would be “willing” to speak to police about what he knew about Epstein and when he knew it:
Prince Andrew would be willing to help a police investigation into allegations of sex trafficking against his late friend Jeffrey Epstein and associates, the Daily Express understands. The Duke of York, who has categorically denied acting improperly with any young women he met through Epstein, does not consider himself above the law. And he would be willing to provide a witness statement or undergo questioning to help the authorities in either Britain or the United States. However, sources have suggested he has never been asked and it is not clear how such an investigation will now proceed after Epstein, 66, a billionaire convicted sex offender, was found hanged in a New York prison cell on August 10.
Andrew, 59, believes he has no case to answer after denying any impropriety. But he was stung into issuing a fresh statement denying any involvement in Epstein’s sordid activities after a video emerged over the weekend showing him peering from behind a door and waving at a young woman at the billionaire’s New York mansion in 2010. That was two years after Epstein had pleaded guilty to procuring an under-age prostitute in a controversial plea deal that left him on the sex offenders register for life but resulted in many of his accusers believing they had failed to get justice because more serious charges were dropped.
Buckingham Palace said: “The Duke of York has been appalled by the reports of Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged crimes. His Royal Highness deplores the exploitation of any human being and the suggestion he would condone, participate in or encourage any such behaviour is abhorrent.”
That statement failed to explain why he then continued to be friends with Epstein after his crimes became known. Even before Epstein’s conviction in 2008, staff at Buckingham Palace had long discussed his friendship with Andrew and why they believed he was someone to be kept away from the Duke. But Andrew ignored their advice and now accepts that it was an error of judgment to maintain his friendship with Epstein, who gave his ex-wife, Sarah, Duchess of York £15,000 to help clear her debts when she got into financial difficulties.
The ass-covering continues. Buckingham Palace “had long discussed his friendship with Andrew and why they believed he was someone to be kept away from the Duke.” The phrasing, my lord. Like Epstein was throwing children at Andrew and poor Andrew was merely trying to help a friend. Rather than, you know, Andrew actively seeking out Epstein over the course of two decades, and Andrew accepting the trafficked girls and women Ghislaine Maxwell procured for him. And if palace courtiers were so concerned about Andrew’s relationship with Epstein, why did they allow the Queen to repeatedly cover up Andrew’s shadiness and crimes?
As for Andrew being “willing” to sit down with police and investigators and talk about all of this… yeah, we’ll see. We’ll see how the criminal side proceeds and we’ll see how the civil side proceeds. UK legal experts are already freaking out about how Andrew could be deposed – and possibly sued – in American courts for his role in the trafficking operation.
Photos courtesy of Getty.
He’s saying and doing everything you’d expect him to do. Trying really hard to cover his tracks and act innocent.
Yeah, now that Epstein is dead. Where was he before with this willingness?
I actually suspect that he’s been given a heads up that he’s going to have to go through questioning…..to give him the opportunity to prepare, PR wise. Obviously, it works much better for him if he “volunteers” himself for questioning, rather than be dragged in, kicking and screaming.
I hope he goes down as hard and embarrassingly as possible.
yes! me too
You’re probably right. Still I don’t think anyone believes he didn’t know or play a part in all this.
spot on, this is damage control…
I think it’s more likely Trump called up his BRF BFF and told him not to worry. It’s easy to say you will speak to police if you know they will never come calling.
And he doubles down…filthy old fool
Yes I’m sure he will cooperate to help them. A dead man tells no tales and so Andrew thinks he’s in the clear.
I’m counting on the fact that not one of the royal family is any kind of rocket scientist and that he incriminates himself at every turn. He’s too prideful to take anyone’s counsel. Oh I dearly hope that this is the beginning of the end of the RF.
Andrew must be pretty damn stupid if he thinks anyone is buying his denials.
@ Anners
I actually hope it’s NOT their end (BRF as a whole)…..I still find them pretty entertaining! 😉
@Bella DuPont
Well, they are entertaining in a train wrecky, think-they’re-chosen-by-God-but-are-some-of-the-messiest-losers-ever way, however I think their cost outweighs their entertainment value. 🙃 #canadianindependence
I’m kind of laughing (in a sad/angry way) at “Andrew believes he has no case to answer after denying any impropriety.”
Oh is that the end of it? he denies impropriety, nothing to see here, everyone move on.
He was in.his.house. Answering the door (as Lainey pointed out, how many times do we think Andrew has answered the front door of his own home?) with young girls coming and going. 2 years after Epstein was convicted. There is nothing alleged about any of that. And it WAS improper, at the very least. So, GTFO with that nonsense Andrew and BP.
THIS!!! It’s like watching a carnival barker: “Nothing to see here, folks! Don’t pay attention to the feet you see under the curtains…keep moving!”
I am devastated, but not surprised, by how the rich and powerful skip away again and again from justice.
Those photos are damning for Andrew, but I want to know who was monitoring Epstein? A level three sex offender should not have unaccompanied children in his house.
Well, I think its clear he wasn’t being monitored, but that’s a good point.
Lainey was on fire in her article yesterday. Because that is how ridiculous this all is. The media should be all Andrew all the time. This is the story of abusing privilege and elite status helping to avoid consequences for criminal activity.
Andrew is acting like OJ when he wanted to find the “real killer”. It’s a joke and the police know it. That said with Epstein gone, the civil action that was commenced by Virginia Roberts does not go away and her lawyers are definitely going to try to get Andrew to be deposed.
@Nic -yup. The very idea that we are debating (in general) the amount of coverage of Andrew vs. H&M’s private travels…..its appalling. I know people say “we can do two things at once” but one deserves a lot more attention. If people want to talk about elitism and how the royals think they’re above it all and don’t practice what they preach – THIS is the royal to focus on.
His defense will be that he was not aware that they were paid and that they seemed to be there willingly. He was socializing and had no idea that this was “procured”. That’s the defense that works for all of them. Plausible deniability. Men who are in power who judge this will agree that it could happen to any unsuspecting powerful man, because “groupies” are common.
I am so sick of this BS. We need more female and LGBTQ judges who see through this crap.
“The Firm” will protect him from any real consequences, so much as I’d love to watch him spend the rest of his life in jail, I would be happy for him to squeal on others so they are locked up. While he may avoid jail time, his reputation would be ruined and if Charles has any sense, he’s already working on his mom to get Andrew stripped of any official roles.
Not that it will work. Queen Complicit will stand by her pedo son til the bitter end.
How gracious of him 🙄
PR BS spin as.there is no way the RF and their lawyers would expose him to this kind of scrutiny.
PR spin indeed. Which brings me to a bit of pointless pr observation here:
“….condone, participate in or encourage….”
That looks like an interesting variation of a classic Shit-Sandwich to me. Softer messages at the start and the end….hiding the real message (shit) in between.
They want to deny “Participation”, but are softening the message by hiding it in between the less jarring crimes of “condone” and “encourage”.
I picked up on that too, Bella. I agree, total shit sandwich.
And he probably will get away with it. Altho my understanding is that there is more evidence being sifted through right now, so who knows what will turn up… the whole thing is too high profile to just “go away” at this point. Hopefully they’ll get Maxwell.
He must think he’s beaten the system and will get out of this scot-free.
The ass covering team assigned to Andrew must be at their wits end.
Ugly. I hope all the dirt about Prince Andrews’ involvement comes out. All of it, and damn the vile man for knowingly being involved. Vile.
I feel like the rest of the sentence should be “…on the condition of immunity.” Why help now?
Must be nice to have one of the most powerful women in the world protecting you because you are her favorite child. He knows he’s going to get away with it because he’s been getting away with bad behavior for years, and he also knows that his Ma will defend him until she breathes her last breath.
So disgusting to see how rich and powerful people can avoid justice I his case even worse because we have photos…
Hahaha! Ya in exchange for clemency.
Andrew wants immunity. End of.
Their relationship, unlike others, I don’t think was built on child trafficking. Royals aren’t cash liquid, they rely on rich friends to fund their lifestyle. In return Epstein got a HRH at his parties and people would come because they thought it brought respectability and widened his network. Obviously Andrew preyed on the underage pool, but it was the lifestyle not the girls that kept him around. He couldn’t give 2 craps about anyone other than himself and living the life. He’s garbage. I hope they nail him.
@Eliza, I always thought the Andrew-Epstein connection was all about $$$$ and not sex.
I think it was both…..the girls as part of the lifestyle. I think Andrew liked partying on Epstein’s yacht and Epstein liked vacationing at Balmoral and partying at Windsor castle. It was a mutually beneficial agreement for both of them in that way. and I think for Andrew, the young girls, freely available, were part of that.
Epstein’s whole lifestyle was around being able to imprison girls for sex plus ‘gift’ them to men who he then had dirt on (and get off scott free after flaunting it). They like power, & money buys that, but it’s the power that they like.
I find it ridiculous that Andrew’s PR consists of him announcing that he’ll do the bare minimum required in a legal case about sex trafficking. Like whoppee you’re going to talk the police about your nefarious friend who died in mysterious circumstances.
I hope he does have to stand trial in the US.
Trigger warning- A relative of mine took his life and later I found out he was a pedophile. I don’t waste my breath trying to justify his behaviour. Out of his respect for his victims privacy I don’t bring up with other relatives. However, I find it appalling that the BRF is trying to cover this up instead of supporting the victims. A part of love is setting healthy boundaries and helping someone face consequences if they transgress boundaries.
Rant over. Sorry, I just can’t understand choosing to enable a mans lack of accountability in this situation.
So, now we’re relying on US federal prosecutors or NY State prosecutors to bring charges against Andrew? I hope they will take a stand somehow, but I doubt it.
This could be a chance to show the world how the US stands on sex trafficking, sexual assault, and violence perpetrated by powerful white men against women and girls. But I think the world already knows….😔
Errr….I hate to point it out but we already know where the U.S. Stands on those issues….Look at your president.
🙁
Imagine that this Epstein debacle was happening while HRC was president…..
The statements are really not full denials, are they? Wonder how many hours were spent choosing words that basically mean “how dare you think badly of Mummy’s boy”.
This entire story continues to be bizarre. If the will was finalized two days prior, does that mean attorneys pushed for asset protection? Or did JE know the gig was up and he wanted a final slap to the victims before he ended his life?
As for the burger joint photos, people were guessing they were staged. She was looking directly at the camera in every one.
I read that someone sent a reporter over to find that In n Out, and the bus ad was wrong – it was an old photo. Nice try, Ghislaine.
So, now we know she’s not in LA. I still say she’s not in the US at all.
Since sex with young girls seems to have been the constant, daily focus of Epstein’s life, I don’t see how anyone could have been associated with him without being fully aware of his predilections. The phrase I keep seeing pop up is that Epstein and Andrew “partied together”. I was reading last night that some journalists have estimated that they partied together about 20 times. I believe that those two only got together to be with young women, many of them younger than 17. I had to stop reading that article last night after I got to the part about a friend of Epstein’s “gifting” him with 12 year old triplets for his birthday. There seems to have been no end to the man’s depravity.
The more details I read, the angrier I get. I’m sure he is not the only one and that right now there are disgusting people commiting the same crimes, but the fact that he got away with it and never had to pay for ruining so many lives…
I agree it would be well nigh impossible for anyone in Epstein’s close circle to miss what he was all about. Reports are he required a steady stream of girls for his THRICE a day massages/abuse sessions. Anyone spending as much time with him as Andrew did absolutely got the picture.
Epstein’s house was covered in pornographic material including framed, hung pictures of topless girls (and more creepy af stuff). Andrew can’t say he answered the door & didn’t notice the decor (eye roll). Everyone & anyone who stepped foot into his dungeon knew.
He thinks he’s gotten away with it …and he just might. This is so disgusting on so many different levels.
Yeah hard to say what will happen to him, but as far as Epstein, the more info about him the more I change my mind-it was a suicide not murder….though why didnt Epstein finalize matters with his will prior to the first suicide attempt in July?
I hope this turns into the shitstorm that brings down the monarchy.
Times up for them as well.
If UK lawyers are getting upset it means Andy has no immunity.
Those pictures with the queen will never go away. They are disastrous. I wonder if the Queen really rolled out the red carpet for Trump and his brood because she knew something was coming with Epstein and would need his help?
The BRF faced down all the heat after Diana’s death & it was really intense nasty stuff so they aint gonna worry too much about a favourite second son scandal.
How big of him now claim to be willing to talk with law enforcement!
I thought the Guy Adams written article in the DM detailing all the known Andrew/Epstein contacts was quite something. I hadn’t read before that Fergie took her two daughters (then about 8 and 9) to vacation on Epstein’s now infamous island back in 1998.
Also per the article the rather small 15 thousand pounds payment made to settle a Fergie debt was intended to be just the first of many installment payments but somehow it got revealed and the plan was derailed. I always thought that amount seemed paltry —it makes sense it was intended to be just the first of many payments.
Good. This should have been his stance from the beginning. I take it as a sign they’re feeling the heat.
Must say: I’ve actually been pleasantly surprised by some of the recent coverage this has received in the UK press.
Andrew is so entitled he thinks ‘partying’ with these girls was his right….and how his leeching wife could take money from a pedophile never mind associate with one is beyond me – these 2 are so disgusting I do not know how the Queen and the BRF can protect them – it is vile.
Ugh. Hey, The Daily Express,…guess what? There’s no such thing as an underage prostitute. There are girls, children, minors!, that have been procured and exploited by men (and women) for sex. But there are no prostitute under the age of consent. If you can’t consent to sex for free when you’re under 18, then you can’t consent to sex for money. Calling these girls prostitutes is literally re-victimizing them again.
I completely agree and it pisses me off when I see that wording. Call a spade a spade and stop the word salad. How the hell can a 12 y/o consent to sex FFS!
Nasty Andy wants to cut a deal. 🤢🤮
Exactly what I was thinking.
BRF is sinking like a rock.
YES, and I’m so here for it!!
My feeling is that behind the scenes the rich and powerful are busy get rid of any evidence of their association with underage girls, be it be by intimidation, threats and cash. Andrew is getting courage to speak because Epstein is gone and the little girls have been silenced leaving Virginia who as most people are arguing was 17 when the whole thing happened. As somebody wrote, the British Queen rolled the red carpet for Trump and his kids because she knew what was coming. It was scratch my back and I will scratch yours. I hope everything about Andrew comes out with videos , photos and all. Shame on the BRF and most importantly the Queen.
Well what’s he going to say? “Na, na, na-na na, you can’t catch me”?
He’s gross and the Queen is complicit in his activities. They’re all disgusting.
Reiterating what others have said above, I hope this is the big scandal that brings down the whole monarchy. I’m cynical and I guess i don’t really expect it to, but a tiny amount of hope. Unfortunately I think that the most that will happen is some kind of “exile”, where the disgusting creep still lives a life of luxury. It’s infuriating how much the rich and powerful get away with. And all this happening in the midst of chaotic austerity, and Brexit, with people in this country suffering in so many ways, with uncertainty in our future…while the rich just do whatever the f they want. Really disheartening times.
Wasn’t his nickname Randy Andy a long time ago. lol
Still is, in my books ;). These days he’ll also answer to Duke of Denial.
I’m American so I really don’t condone or understand “love or respect of monarchy “ .i get the British people believe this is their heritage.
These people of BRF are horrible. Their country is on the verge of complete disaster and they parade around , going on vacations, spending insanely while the British public suffers.
The queen is complicit in supporting randy ( pervert ) Andy. She must be the original Iron Lady.
Those spoiled ingrate princes who want to be normal. PLEEZ!!!
I hope the whole family goes down and they abolish this ridiculous institution.
The queen / Charles should never be forgiven for the Diana debacle. I wouldn’t curtsy Under any circumstance.
@Sharonk, well I’m British and I agree 100% with your comment.