‘How long have you known?’ King heckled over Prince Andrew as Epstein outrage grows

3 hours ago 3

London: King Charles has been peppered with questions about Prince Andrew during a public appearance in England, in a dramatic display of the risks to the monarchy from the scandal over convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

A protester shouted questions at the King while he greeted people outside a cathedral on Monday, amid a growing debate about whether Andrew should incur stronger sanctions such as forcing him out of his royal home.

The protest comes as Princess Anne prepares to head to Australia within weeks for several days of public events.

Some members of the public turned on the protester to tell him to be quiet while they waited to meet the King outside Lichfield Cathedral in Staffordshire, north of Birmingham, but this did not prevent the moment – captured on video – from spreading on social media.

“How long have you known about Andrew and Epstein?” the protester asked. “Have you asked the police to cover up for Andrew?

“What do you think? Should MPs be allowed to debate the royals in the House of Commons?”

The King made no comment and his security detail made no attempt to quieten the protester.

The royal family is caught in a prolonged dispute over Andrew after a series of developments in recent weeks undercut the prince’s previous claim that he cut off contact with Epstein at the end of 2010, after he had served time in prison for sex offences.

An email published on October 13 showed that Andrew was in touch with Epstein in February 2011 – contrary to a claim he made on the BBC’s Newsnight program in 2019.

Andrew acknowledged the damage to the royal family in a statement on October 17 saying he would stop using his titles. While he remains a prince, and has not been stripped of his titles by parliament, he will not be known as the Duke of York.

King Charles meets members of the public following his visit to Lichfield Cathedral on Monday.

But the media debate has intensified around Andrew with last Wednesday’s release of a memoir by Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who has written a detailed account of having sex with Andrew on three occasions, starting when she was 17.

Andrew has denied the allegations and has said in the past that they had never met. The King has not made any public comment on the claims against Andrew, nor the loss of his brother’s titles. In one symbolic move last week, Andrew’s banner bearing his coat of arms was removed from Windsor Castle.

The prince has kept his home at Royal Lodge, near Windsor Castle, but is under scrutiny over a rental agreement that allows him to stay there for several more decades while paying rent of “one peppercorn” each year if it is demanded by the Crown Estate.

Several media outlets have reported that Buckingham Palace is seeking to move Andrew to Frogmore Cottage, previously the home of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. In this arrangement, Andrew’s former wife, Sarah Ferguson, would move from Royal Lodge to Adelaide Cottage, previously the home of Prince William and Princess Catherine.

Anne, the Princess Royal, will head to Australia and Singapore with her partner, Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, for a visit that begins on Saturday, November 8.

A key moment in the visit will be her attendance at a ceremony to mark the 100th anniversary of the Royal Australian Corps of Signals, which made her its Colonel-in-Chief many years ago.

Buckingham Palace said the princess would undertake a series of military engagements in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane during the four-day visit to commemorate the centenary.

As the president of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, she will also lay a wreath at the Sydney War Cemetery on Armistice Day. She will leave Australia for Singapore on November 12.

Princess Anne visited Australia in 2022, when she opened the Royal Easter Show in Sydney among other events, and in 2023, when she visited the Royal Botanic Gardens and the NSW Mounted Police.

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