The scandal that broke the palace - Prince Andrew, Jeffrey Epstein and that Newsnight interview
The royal was stripped of his military roles and patronages by the late queen...Prince Andrew’s fall from grace has become a scar on the royal family that won’t fade, from the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, car crash interview and retreating from public life.
To fully grasp Prince Andrew‘s change in status and how it’s affecting the monarchy now, we need to rewind more than 25 years, when the royal first met Jeffrey Epstein and his wife Ghislaine Maxwell.
The friendship led to bombshell accusations, which he has vehemently denied, a photograph that still haunts him, and a bizarre claim over sweating.
Prince Andrew was introduced to Jeffrey Epstein through Ghislaine Maxwell
The royal, born to Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip in 1960, rarely made headlines before the scandal unfolded. Although he was the third child of the reigning monarch, behind Prince Charles and Princess Anne, a royal rule dubbed him second in line to the British throne at one point in history.
He joined the Royal Navy as a trainee helicopter pilot in 1979, and served in the Falklands War in 1982. Andrew is the only second royal in the modern monarchy to serve in active duty, sharing this with nephew Prince Harry who served in Afghanistan.
By 1986, he married his now ex-wife Sarah Ferguson and they welcomed two daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie. They separated six years later, and their divorce finalised a decade after tying the knot.
It was 1999 when Ghislaine Maxwell introduced Prince Andrew to Jeffrey Epstein, an investment banker and financier at the time.
How did Prince Andrew meet Ghislaine Maxwell?
Andrew met Maxwell while at university, with the prince admitting this during his infamous BBC Newsnight interview in 2019. Maxwell graduated in 1985, after attending Oxford, the same time the royal was serving in the Royal Navy. Her father, Robert Maxwell, was the owner of the Daily Mirror newspaper and their family were well-connected.
In the late 90s and 00s, Maxwell and Andrew were seen on outings, in New York and London, and often pictured together.
In 1999, Prince Andrew hosts the socialite and Jeffrey Epstein at Balmoral, and a photo of the pair reportedly relaxing at the late queen’s residence was revealed during her trial in 2021. The couple are invited to Andrew’s 40th birthday bash at Windsor Castle the following year, and attend Royal Ascot that summer.
After being pictured with Maxwell at Heidi Klum’s Halloween party in 2000, the couple join the prince at Sandringham that December. Andrew later told Newsnight it was for a “straightforward shooting weekend”.
Maxwell was later sentenced to 20 years in prison for sex-trafficking underage girls for Epstein.
Prince Andrew and Jeffrey Epstein’s friendship
The Duke of York revealed the two became friends after he left the British Navy and began establishing a career in business.
“In the Navy it’s a pretty isolated business because you’re out at sea the whole time,” Andrew said. “I wanted to know more about what was going on in the international business world.”
Prince Andrew explained he did stay at a number of his residences, but would only see Jeffrey Epstein infrequently.
“It was a convenient place to stay,” he told Newsnight.
He added: “I mean you have to understand that his house, I described it more as almost as a railway station if you know what I mean in the sense that there were people coming in and out of that house all the time.”
“At no stage during the limited time I spent with him did I see, witness or suspect any behaviour of the sort that subsequently led to his arrest and conviction,” he said previously via Buckingham Palace.
Duke said they were not ‘close friends’
They appeared to still be pals in 2003, as it has been since claimed Maxwell asked Andrew to write a tribute to Epstein for his 50th birthday party. She reportedly gathered tributes from various friends and sources over 12 months for his big bash.
A source claimed to Sunday People in July 2025 that Andrew was on that list. Andrew has not responded to the claims.
However, the royal later dismissed they were ‘close friends’, telling the BBC: “It would be, to some extent, a stretch to say that as it were we were close friends. I mean, we were friends because of other people. And I had a lot of opportunity to go to the United States, but I didn’t have much time with him.”
‘The wrong thing to do’
The royal was photographed visiting Epstein after the billionaire’s 2008 conviction of two state prostitution charges. They were seen walking through Central Park in New York and talking. When quizzed about visiting Epstein, Andrew said it was the ‘wrong thing to do’ in hindsight.
He replied: “I mean I’ve gone through this in my mind so many times.
“I went there with the sole purpose of saying to him that because he had been convicted, it was inappropriate for us to be seen together.”
Andrew continued: “At the end of the day, with the benefit of all the hindsight that one could have, it was definitely the wrong thing to do. But at the time I felt it was the honourable and right thing to do.”
“I admit fully that my judgment was probably coloured by my tendency to be too honourable but that’s just the way it is,” the royal said.
“I kick myself for on a daily basis because it was not something that was becoming of a member of the royal family.”
Epstein died by suicide in a federal prison cell in New York City after he was arrested on sex trafficking charges. He was facing up to 45 years in prison over allegations he sexually abused dozens of young teenage girls and women between 2002 and 2005. He had pleaded not guilty ahead of his death.
Jeffrey Epstein accuser reveals photograph with Prince Andrew
During Maxwell’s trial in 2021 for sex trafficking, a photograph of Prince Andrew with his arm around the waist of Virginia Giuffre, resurfaced.
In the early 2000s, Giuffre alleged Jeffrey Epstein and Maxwell made her sleep with Prince Andrew on multiple occasions when she was 17 years old. The royal has always denied the accusations and claimed he doesn’t remember ever meeting her.
He said to the BBC: “I don’t remember that photograph ever being taken
“I don’t remember going upstairs in the house because that photograph was taken upstairs and I am not entirely convinced that…I mean that is…that is what I would describe as me in that…in that picture but I can’t…we can’t be certain as to whether or not that’s my hand on her whatever it is, left… left side.”
He later told the BBC he suspected the photo was fake.
Andrew said in the interview: “I can’t because I don’t…I have no…again I have absolutely no memory of that photograph ever being taken.”
“Nobody can prove whether or not that photograph has been doctored but I don’t recollect that photograph ever being taken,” he added.
Virginia Giuffre vs Prince Andrew
Virginia Giuffre first alleged Prince Andrew slept with her when she was 17 in 2015 under a civil lawsuit against Epstein and Maxwell. She claimed it happened via Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell’s orders. She reported she was sex-trafficked by the couple in 2000, when she was known as Virginia Roberts.
Her allegations claimed Epstein forced her to have sex with the royal in his New York Mansion, in London and on the billionaire’s private island situated in the US Virgin Islands, in 2001.
She made the claims in a defamation case against the couple, but it was thrown out and struck from the record by the judge at the time. They were not made public until four years later, when the documents were unsealed.
Buckingham Palace defended Andrew in a statement, denying any involvement with Virginia Giuffre.
That year, in August 2019, following Epstein’s death, Prince Andrew released a statement. He said he sympathised “with everyone who has been affected and wants some form of closure”.
Civil lawsuit filed
In 2021, Virginia Giuffre officially filed a lawsuit against Andrew accusing him of sexual assault. She claimed the prince was aware of her age and that she was a victim of sex trafficking.
As he was no longer a working royal, the late queen agreed to fund her son’s legal defence team through her private income, the Duchy of Lancaster estate.
The following year, the pair settled out of court, for an undisclosed sum. However, he made it clear, by doing so, he did not accept any liability.
Giuffre died by suicide on April 25, 2025, at 41 years old.
Prince Andrew’s Newsnight nightmare
In 2019, his BBC Newsnight interview aired, where he was grilled by journalist Emily Maitlis.
It was dubbed a ‘car crash’ by the media. Andrew slammed claims by Giuffre that they had dinner, partied in a club called Tramp in London, and had sex. Andrew retorted that he was at home with his daughters instead.
He said: “No, that couldn’t have happened because the date that’s being suggested I was at home with the children.”
The Duke claimed Giuffre also alleging he was ‘sweating all over’ her were false. He said this was because he has a medical condition that prevents him from sweating.
He claimed: “I had suffered what I would describe as an overdose of adrenalin in the Falkland’s War when I was shot at and I simply… it was almost impossible for me to sweat. It’s only because I have done a number of things in the recent past that I am starting to be able to do that again.”
Andrew quits royal life
The following day the Duke of York announced he was stepping back from royal duties after the fallout. It came after a number of charities, businesses and universities cut ties with him.
Prince Andrew said at the time: “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 and the valuable work going on in the many organisations and charities I am proud to support.”
The late queen reportedly gave her permission for her son to remove himself from the royal fold. He continued, in the statement, that he “unequivocally regret[s] my ill-judged association with Jeffrey Epstein”.
Royals who defended and distanced themselves after Prince Andrew’s Jeffrey Epstein scandal
In 2022, Queen Elizabeth II issued a statement revealing the Duke had been stripped of his military affiliations and Royal patronages. He was also told he could not use his HRH title in any official capacity.
Prince Andrew’s ex-wife Sarah Ferguson stood by him, detailing on social media she was “with him every step of the way”.
However, Prince Harry once distanced himself from his uncle during a prank phone call with Russians who pretended to be Greta Thunberg. He reportedly said on the call: “Whatever he has done or hasn’t done, is completely separate from me and my wife.”
The Duke of Sussex also made a reference to Prince Andrew’s scandal in his memoir Spare. He says he and Meghan Markle spoke about his uncle when discussing whether the palace would remove their state-funded security. Harry told his wife that it wouldn’t happen because Andrew still had his security in place despite the fallout.
Whereas, Andrew’s brother King Charles is reportedly ‘humiliated’ by the prince’s Jeffrey Epstein scandal.
Royal commentator Hilary Fordwich told Fox News: “King Charles III is expected to do all he can to disassociate himself publicly and to make certain Andrew doesn’t appear with any senior members of the royal family.”
Prince Andrew’s ex-wife apologised over association with Jeffrey Epstein
However, Sarah Ferguson was even dragged into Prince Andrew’s scandal in 2011.
The Telegraph reported at the time that Epstein paid the Duchess of York’s former personal assistant Johnny O’Sullivan £15,000 at Andrew’s request. It was said made to allow restructuring of Sarah’s ‘£5 million worth of debts’.
The royal later apologised, telling the outlet that Andrew facilitated the payment.
She said: “I personally, on behalf of myself, deeply regret that Jeffrey Epstein became involved in any way with me. I abhor paedophilia and any sexual abuse of children and know that this was a gigantic error of judgment on my behalf.
“I am just so contrite I cannot say. Whenever I can I will repay the money and will have nothing ever to do with Jeffrey Epstein ever again. I cannot state more strongly that I know a terrible, terrible error of judgment was made, my having anything do with Jeffrey Epstein.
“What he did was wrong and for which he was rightly jailed.”
Read more: Moment Prince Andrew ‘lost his temper’ over collection of his teddy bears, new book claims
FBI closes Epstein case and won’t file charges against royal
The latest update, in July 2025, saw the FBI close their investigation into those associated with Jeffrey Epstein, including Prince Andrew.
They conducted no charges would be brought against the Duke of York. The bureau added they “did not uncover evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties”.
However, commentators have said it hasn’t given Prince Andrew a chance to clear his name in court since the scandal hit the headlines.
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