Prince Andrew faces fresh scrutiny after a newly surfaced email allegedly reveals he reassured Jeffrey Epstein they were “in this together”.
The email contradicts his claim that he had cut ties with the convicted sex offender months earlier.
The explosive message is dated February 28, 2011. It was allegedly sent from Prince Andrew’s email just one day after the now infamous photo appearing to show him with Ghislaine Maxwell, the convicted associate of Epstein, and Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who accused the duke of sexually assaulting her when she was 17, emerged for the first time.
Andrew has always denied allegations of sexual assault against him.
Prince Andrew allegedly tells Jeffrey Epstein ‘we are in this together’ in leaked email
According to the MailOnline, the Duke of York, 65, appeared more concerned about Epstein than his own reputation.
“I’m just as concerned for you!” the duke allegedly wrote. “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!”
Otherwise keep in close touch, and we’ll play some more soon!
The email was reportedly signed off “HRH The Duke of York KG”. KG refers to Prince Andrew’s Knight of the Garter position, which he has held since 2006.
Royal biographer Ingrid Seward called the message “hugely damning”.
“If it was his contention that he had never met Virginia, or indeed that the infamous image was a creation, surely he would have said something straight away?” She questioned to The Sun.
“Given what we know about Epstein, to say ‘we’re in this together’ has terrible connotations. This is the point of no return for Andrew.”
The email also contradicts Andrew’s claim during his BBC Newsnight interview that he had no contact with Epstein after their now-infamous Central Park walk in December 2010.
“To this day I never had any contact with him from that day forward,” Andrew said in the 2019 interview.
Prince Andrew allegations
The resurfaced message is just the latest development in Andrew’s ongoing scandal over his association with Epstein, who died in prison in 2019 after taking his life.
In a US civil case, Giuffre alleged that the prince sexually assaulted her in the early 2000s when she was 17, after she was trafficked by Epstein.
In February 2022, the duke and Giuffre settled the case out of court, for an undisclosed sum. He has always denied the allegations against him.
However, the fallout led to Andrew being stripped of his military titles and royal patronages. He had stepped back from public duties in late 2019.
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Elsewhere, even Andrew’s ex-wife Sarah Ferguson previously referred to Epstein as a “supreme friend” in a 2011 email, just weeks after publicly denouncing him.
Giuffre tragically took her own life in April of this year, at the age of 41.
Prince Andrew declined to comment to the Mail on the email. Buckingham Palace has been approached for comment.
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