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King Charles III is stripping his brother Prince Andrew of his remaining titles and evicting him from his royal residence, following revelations about Andrew’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
The U.Ok.’s Prince Andrew will quickly now not be a prince. King Charles is stripping his youthful brother of all his titles and kicking him out of a royal mansion. And that is due to Andrew’s historical past with convicted intercourse offender Jeffrey Epstein, which has been underneath scrutiny for years now. Andrew has denied all of the accusations in opposition to him. Let’s go to NPR’s Fatima Al-Kassab, who’s been following this story, joins us from London. This relationship between Epstein and Prince Andrew, it is type of previous information. So why this motion from the king now?
FATIMA AL-KASSAB, BYLINE: Yeah, this does return years, A. However this 12 months, emails have been printed in British newspapers that appeared to point out that Andrew had stayed in contact with Epstein a lot later than the time he had beforehand instructed British media that he had lower all ties with the intercourse offender. After which this month, we obtained the posthumous memoir of Epstein’s best-known accuser, Virginia Giuffre. And in that, she stated she’d had intercourse with Andrew 3 times as a youngster.
Andrew has denied accusations that he sexually abused Giuffre, however he did settle a lawsuit together with her again in 2022. Giuffre died by suicide earlier this 12 months. And a few weeks in the past, Andrew introduced that he was going to surrender a few of his titles, together with the duke of York. However extra incriminating revelations saved developing. There have been pictures of Epstein and his former long-term accomplice and convicted intercourse trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell at Andrew’s royal mansion in Windsor. They have been printed this week. After which strain saved mounting. And earlier this week, King Charles was truly heckled about this. And that is very uncommon for the king.
MARTÍNEZ: So what’s been the response to this transfer?
AL-KASSAB: Effectively, this is what it seemed like final night time on this actually fashionable BBC program. The host interrupted the present with the information.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED TV HOST: I am stopping the recording ‘trigger we have now a breaking story which we must always reply to. Prince Andrew will now not be Prince Andrew.
(APPLAUSE)
AL-KASSAB: And you’ll hear the viewers there. That is members of the general public within the viewers erupting into applause. And that actually exhibits the energy of feeling among the many British public right here. They clearly needed the king to go additional. And we have additionally had response from the household of his accuser, Giuffre. Her brother, Sky Roberts, stated final night time that at this time, an odd American lady from an odd American household introduced down a British prince. And so they say she received a victory for accountability. We have not heard but from Andrew himself.
MARTÍNEZ: All proper, so he is now not a prince. So what does that imply precisely?
AL-KASSAB: So that is unprecedented. It is a new low. And it is an actual fall from grace for the king’s youthful brother. It is decisive and dramatic motion that we have seen from the king, additional than what the late Queen Elizabeth did. And for years, we have been instructed Andrew could not actually cease being a prince as a result of he’s the late queen’s son, in spite of everything. However that has now occurred. So he’ll now be recognized solely as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor. And he is additionally been kicked out of the 30-room mansion on the Windsor property that he’d been dwelling in just about rent-free for greater than 20 years. The assertion from Buckingham Palace says he’ll now transfer onto an property that is privately owned by the king. So in different phrases, not paid for by British taxpayers.
MARTÍNEZ: So now that that is executed and over with, will the royal household have the ability to transfer on from this?
AL-KASSAB: Yeah, they’re hoping that this attracts a line underneath the scandal that is been actually damaging for the royal household’s repute. And it is distracted from the work that the king needs folks to be centered on. The assertion from the palace final night time stated that censures in opposition to Andrew have been deemed essential, however the truth that he continues to disclaim the allegations in opposition to him. However that is not essentially the top of it.
There’s nonetheless a police investigation right here within the U.Ok. into whether or not or not Andrew tried to get private details about Giuffre by way of his police safety. And as you recognize, Epstein is an enormous deal within the U.S., too. Congress continues to be trying into the Epstein information, and one individual they’d love to listen to from is the previous prince. They’ve referred to as for Andrew to offer proof and share all the pieces he is aware of. What we do know is that by doing this, the royal household is distancing themselves from him and making this his downside.
MARTÍNEZ: That is NPR’s Fatima Al-Kassab in London. Thanks very a lot.
AL-KASSAB: Thanks.
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