It has not been a good year to be the Duke of York. Firstly, Andrew Lownie’s devastating joint biography of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson, Entitled, splashed allegations of the grim antics of the prince over its unforgiving pages, to bestselling effect. In a few weeks, Virginia Giuffre’s posthumously published memoir will also be published. It will likely be hugely embarrassing for Andrew as Giuffre is expected to have detailed precisely what she alleged occurred between her and the duke several years ago.
It seems likely that this sordid, reputationally shattering story still has a few twists and turns yet to come
This, of course, took place under the auspices of the paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein, but that man’s baleful influence has continued to creep into Andrew’s life many years after his demise. In an email that has been published in the Mail on Sunday, the duke reportedly wrote to Epstein to say that ‘I’m just as concerned for you! Don’t worry about me! It would seem we are in this together and will have to rise above it. Otherwise, keep in close touch and we’ll play some more soon!!!!’’
The email, which the MoS says it has verified, was sent on 28 February 2011, 12 weeks after Andrew claimed he had cut off all contact with Epstein. He may have explicitly said on his notorious 2019 Newsnight interview that, as soon as he learnt that Epstein had been convicted of sexual offences, he severed all contact with him after a final face-to-face meeting in New York in December 2010, but, like many other remarks that he made in that conversation it sounded suspicious at the time and seems to have been disproven since.
Andrew’s behaviour here is hardly a revelation. That he appears to have continued to regard Epstein as a close friend even after the sex offender was convicted of grim offences is, at best, a remarkable display of loyalty given the circumstances. At worst it suggests that the financier had a presence in Andrew’s life that the duke was not prepared to relinquish, for whatever reason. Hence the grim words ‘we are in this together’ and the determination that the two would remain in close contact with one another, especially with the promise – or threat – that ‘we’ll play some more soon’.
Epstein is, of course, dead, with his reputation shattered. Andrew is very much alive, and the rest of the royal family will be waiting not only for the Giuffre memoir to emerge with increasing trepidation, but also wondering what fresh calumny is likely to be exposed about the duke’s relationship with his former BFF. There is an intrinsic arrogance in his apparent belief that (perfectly valid) questions from the press about this relationship could simply be ignored (or risen above). Even the signature on his email – ‘A, HRH The Duke of York, KG’ – smacks of the entitlement that Lownie so accurately captured in his book.
This seems unlikely to be the final revelation from the Epstein files, and the question that many will be asking is where, if ever, the horror ends. Andrew has always strongly denied any wrongdoing and so far has never been arrested or interviewed by the police over the allegations – an event that, if it were to occur, would be without precedent for a member of the royal family. The Firm will desperately be hoping that Andrew can simply be exiled to Royal Lodge and kept out of sight as long as possible. However, it seems equally likely that this sordid, reputationally shattering story still has a few twists and turns yet to come. Perhaps another Newsnight interview may clear up matters, but even a man as intellectually limited as Andrew might realise that that is, perhaps, not his best option at this juncture. He may once have played along with Epstein, but the grand old duke of York’s revels are now very much ended.
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