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.Credit: Getty Images
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 main British group that seeks to end the monarchy, Republic, backed the protester and called on the King to answer questions about what he knew.
“We fully support the heckling of Charles,” said Republic spokesman Graham Smith.
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“The royals need to be challenged, and if the politicians won’t do the job and the police won’t investigate, then more and more members of the public will be asking the tough questions.
“There is palpable public anger about the royals. If the royals aren’t properly challenged, the public will increasingly voice their anger wherever the royals go.”
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.
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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 travel to Australia and Singapore with her partner, Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, for a visit beginning 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 Garden and the NSW Mounted Police.
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