Prince Andrew latest: Andrew told to leave public life forever after embarrassing royal family
Downing Street declines to comment on calls to evict Andrew from royal lodge
Downing Street declined to pass judgment on Prince Andrew’s continued residence at Royal Lodge, amid fury over taxpayers subsidising him living in the mansion despite revelations on his links to paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.
The Prime Minister’s spokesman refused to “get drawn into hypotheticals about living arrangements of members of the royal family” as he faced repeated questions from reporters.
Asked whether Andrew should leave Royal Lodge, the official said: “The lease was agreed with the Crown Estate, which is statutorily independent from Government, required to operate commercially.
“Terms of the lease required an initial one-off £1 million payment to the Crown Estate, as well as a requirement for Prince Andrew to pay for substantial upfront refurbishment work.
“The National Audit Office reviewed the lease arrangements for Royal Lodge in 2005. And in its report, which was published at that time, concluded that the Crown Estate does not have any special procedures when negotiating agreements with the royal family.
“An independent evaluation concluded that the transaction with Prince Andrew and Royal Lodge was appropriate.”
The spokesman evaded questions on whether Sir Keir Starmer is happy with the arrangement, and whether it should be reviewed in light of Andrew’s ties with Epstein, saying: “That is the situation as it exists.”
(PA Wire)
Athena Stavrou21 October 2025 13:04
Giuffre ‘amazed’ Andrew was ‘stupid enough’ to meet Epstein in public after conviction
Virginia Giuffre has said she was “amazed” that a member of the royal family would be “stupid enough” to appear in public with Jeffrey Epstein after his conviction.
Prince Andrew’s alleged victim described how she felt after seeing the picture published of the pair in New York in 2011.
“Seeing this new photo of Prince Andrew at Epstein’s side made ‘Randy Andy’ seem even more arrogant to me,” she wrote in her posthumous memoir.
(PA Archive)
Athena Stavrou21 October 2025 12:47
Giuffre recalls moment infamous photo with Andrew was taken
In her posthumous memoir, published today, Virginia Giuffre describes the moment the infamous picture of her with Prince Andrew was taken.
She says she posed with the prince the first time she met him, aged 17, at Ghislaine Maxwell’s house in London.
She recalled running to get her “Kodak FunSaver” camera and asking Epstein to take the photo.
She added: “My mum would never forgive me if I met someone as famous as Prince Andrew and didn’t pose for a picture”.
(United States District Couty for the Southern District of New York)
Athena Stavrou21 October 2025 12:32
Who has supported the motion to strip Andrew of titles?
The SNP has put forward a motion to pressure Sir Keir Starmer’s government to formally strip Andrew of his title, which would require an Act of Parliament.
Stephen Flynn, the SNP’s Westminster leader, has submitted an early day motion (EDM) which allows MPs to express an opinion, publicise a cause or support a position. It is rare for them to be debated.
There are 14 signatures supporting the EDM, all from either SNP, Plaid Cymru or Green Party MPs.
(UK Parliament)
Athena Stavrou21 October 2025 12:11
It’s time Eugenie and Beatrice cut Prince Andrew out of their lives
There are plenty of people out there who know too well the shame and horror when a parent is accused of something monstrous. Yet few have experienced it under the same high-beam public scrutiny as princesses Beatrice and Eugenie. Theirs is a rare kind of living hell.
For their own sake – and certainly that of their young children – the royal princesses need to find some distance from their disgraced father, says Samuel Fishwick:
Athena Stavrou21 October 2025 12:03
Giuffre’s brother calls on UK police watchdog to review Andrew claims
The brother of Virginia Giuffre have called on the police watchdog to review the decision by the Metropolitan Police not to continue its investigations into her allegations against Prince Andrew.
Giuffre’s family says she had been “gaslit” by the police and authorities in both the UK and US which was a “kick in the stomach” for her.
They have called for the Met Police to reopen their investigation into Ms Giuffre’s allegation that she was forced to have sex with Prince Andrew when she was aged 17, an allegation he vehemently denies.
And they said that if the London force would not take action, they felt the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) should review the decision.
(BBC/Panorama)
Athena Stavrou21 October 2025 11:37
Watch: SNP leader lodges parliamentary motion to formally strip Prince Andrew of all his Royal titles
SNP leader lodges parliamentary motion to formally strip Prince Andrew of all his Royal titles
Athena Stavrou21 October 2025 11:09
Key claims from Virginia Giuffre’s memoir
Six months after her death, Virginia Giuffre’s memoir has uncovered new harrowing details experience being trafficked by Jeffrey Epstein.
As the book is published on Tuesday here are some of the biggest revelations:
Describing the first time she met Andrew
Giuffre describes being taken shopping by Ghislaine Maxwell in London before the meeting. At her flat, they took a picture together before going out for dinner and to a nightclub.
She alleges she was told to “do for him what you do for Jeffrey” and then after they had sex, the prince said thank you “in his clipped British accent” afterwards”.
An orgy with Andrew on Epstein’s island
Giuffre alleges the third time she had sex with Prince Andrew was on Epstein’s Caribbean island of Little Saint James during an orgy with eight other young girls.
She wrote: “Epstein, Andy, and approximately eight other young girls, and I had sex together. The other girls all seemed and appeared to be under the age of 18, and didn’t really speak English.”
Giuffre ‘amazed’ Andrew was ‘stupid enough’ to meet Epstein in public after conviction
After Epstein had been released from prison for procuring a minor for prostitution, Giuffre wrote that she was shocked to see a photograph of Andrew with him in New York’s Central Park in 2011.
Andrew’s Newsnight interview was ‘jet fuel’ for her legal team
As Giuffre wrote she was considering filing a lawsuit against Andrew in 2019, she said she saw the royal had done a sit-down interview with Emily Maitlis on BBC Newsnight, on which he said he had “no recollection” of meeting Giuffre.
Giuffre wrote: “As devastating as this interview was for Prince Andrew, for my legal team it was like an injection of jet fuel. Its contents would.. help us build an ironclad case against the prince.”
Andrew ‘hid behind Balmoral’s gates’
In August 2021, Giuffre’s team launched a legal suit that alleged, she wrote, that “that Prince Andrew had raped and battered me when I was a minor, causing me severe and lasting damage”.
She wrote that when action was launched, papers could not be served on Andrew because of his “fleeing to Queen Elizabeth’s Balmoral Castle in Scotland and hiding behind its well-guarded gates”.
Athena Stavrou21 October 2025 10:56
Lib Dems call on Prince Andrew to ‘return’ unpaid rent
The Independent’s political correspondent Caitlin Doherty reports:
The Liberal Democrats have said that Prince Andrew should return “every penny of rent that he’s not paid while disgracing his office”.
The party’s cabinet office spokesperson Lisa Smart said on Tuesday that “the longer this whole sorry saga goes on, the more his presence in public life is an insult and increasingly an embarrassment”.
In a statement on Tuesday, she said: “Andrew has failed our King and Royal Family and betrayed the values of the British people.
“The longer this whole sorry saga goes on, the more his presence in public life is an insult and increasingly an embarrassment.
“He should show some contrition by returning every penny of rent that he’s not paid while disgracing his office.”
(Getty Images)
Athena Stavrou21 October 2025 10:37
Pressure mounts on Prince Andrew over his Windsor mansion
Pressure is mounting on Prince Andrew to give up his 30-bedroom mansion after it emerged he has paid a “peppercorn rent” on the property for more than 20 years.
Senior Tory Robert Jenrick said it was “about time Prince Andrew took himself off to live in private” as “the public are sick of him”.
Parliamentary committees could also look into the Crown Estate’s handling of Andrew’s Royal Lodge residence in Windsor.
A copy of the leasehold agreement, shared by the Crown Estate, shows Andrew signed a 75-year lease on the property in 2003.
It reveals he paid £1 million for the lease and that since then he has paid “one peppercorn” of rent “if demanded” per year.
(Alan Hunt/Geograph)
Athena Stavrou21 October 2025 10:24
