Prince Andrew has been to Balmoral for crisis talks with the Queen about his relationship with the late billionaire and convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, it has emerged.
The Duke of York travelled to the Scottish Highlands after he was “accused of failing to help US prosecutors in their investigation into the financier and Ghislaine Maxwell”, the Daily Mail reports.
“The Queen and Andrew will have lots to discuss”, a Royal source told The Sun. “So much has come out over the summer. The Queen wants to be kept informed and she will not be back at Windsor until early October.”
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Virginia Giuffre, who has alleged that Andrew had sex with her on three occasions, last month claimed that the Duke of York “played a ‘guessing game’ with Maxwell about her age when she was just 17 and compared her to his daughters”, the paper adds.
Court documents seen by the Daily Mirror also revealed that Giuffre claimed the Duke of York assaulted her with a Spitting Image puppet of himself when she was trafficked to have sex with the Royal at the age of 17.
Giuffre alleges that the Prince had been given the puppet in April 2001 by Epstein and Maxwell, who is accused by US prosecutors of procuring girls for the late financier to abuse.
Andrew has repeatedly denied all allegations of wrongdoing and his lawyers insist he offered to aid the FBI in their investigations after the bureau submitted a request to the Home Office in April, the Daily Express says.
The prince has kept a low profile for almost a year now, officially stepping back from public life last November after a disastrous interview with BBC Newsnight.
A spokesperson for Prince Andrew refused to comment on the trip to Balmoral. Maxwell’s trial is expected to take place next July.
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