What to do about Prince Andrew?

Why the Duke of York title is important—and why he no longer deserves it

Everyone who follows the British royal family knows that Prince Andrew’s failures of judgment have repeatedly harmed the reputation of the monarchy. The latest revelation is a probe by the British intelligence agency MI5 into his financial dealings with a Chinese businessman accused of espionage and banned from entry to Britain as a national security risk.

His association with Yang Tengbo has dishonored the venerable Duke of York title that his grandfather carried for sixteen years before taking the throne as King George VI when his older brother, King Edward VIII, abdicated to marry Wallis Simpson. Andrew’s great-grandfather was also Duke of York for nine years before becoming Prince of Wales and then King George V in 1910. Both of those precedents matter when considering how to end Andrew’s status as a royal duke.

Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, with now-banned Chinese businessman Yang Tengbo (right) at St. James’s Palace in London

To understand the gravity of Andrew’s latest scandal, it’s worth reviewing the origins of his troubles. They began in 1999 when he met the wealthy American financier Jeffrey Epstein through British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, supposedly Epstein’s girlfriend. In the following years, Andrew, Epstein, and Maxwell spent time together in Britain, New York City, and Palm Beach, as well as the financier’s private island in the Caribbean. Andrew even invited them to his fortieth birthday party at Windsor Castle and to his mother’s Balmoral estate in the Scottish Highlands. Epstein also provided $19,000 to pay off a debt for Andrew’s former wife, Sarah Ferguson.

Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell in an undated photograph supposedly taken in a cabin on the monarch’s Balmoral estate in Scotland

Florida authorities learned in 2005 that Epstein was trafficking and sexually abusing girls as young as fourteen. Three years later he managed to strike a plea deal to a lesser charge, was imprisoned for thirteen months, and registered as a convicted sex offender. After completing his sentence in 2010, Epstein resumed his luxurious life and reconnected with influential friends. Among them was Andrew, who was photographed with Epstein while walking in Manhattan’s Central Park that December during a still inexplicable four-day stay at the pedophile’s Manhattan townhouse. Publication of the picture in February 2011 prompted a storm of criticism, and several weeks later, one of Epstein’s victims, Virginia Giuffre (formerly Roberts) went public with an accusation that in 2001, when she was seventeen, Epstein had forced her to have sex with the prince—a charge Andrew has consistently denied.

The photograph of Prince Andrew with his arm around seventeen-year-old Virginia Roberts (later Giuffre), with Ghislaine Maxwell in the background, purportedly taken at Maxwell’s London home in 2001

“Sexually exploited and abused”

But the damage to Andrew’s reputation was irreversible. In July 2011 he resigned as Britain’s special trade representative, a globe-trotting job funded by taxpayers that he had held since 2001 when he left the Royal Navy after twenty-two years. He also cut ties with Epstein, who was arrested in July 2019 on federal charges that he had “sexually exploited and abused dozens of minor girls.” A month later, Epstein died in his prison cell—a “suicide by hanging,” according to the official record. In an effort to clear his name, Andrew agreed to an interview that ran on the BBC’s Newsnight program on November 16, 2019. It was a disaster for the prince. His explanations of his friendship with Epstein and his rebuttals to Giuffre’s account were unconvincing. Even worse, he failed to show sympathy for Epstein’s victims.

The incriminating photograph of Prince Andrew with Jeffrey Epstein walking in Manhattan’s Central Park, December 2010

On November 20^th, amid more public outrage, Andrew relinquished his royal duties. Giuffre struck back with a lawsuit against him in August 2021 doubling down on her sexual assault allegations. At the Queen’s request the following January, Andrew gave up all his military titles and royal patronages. He was no longer permitted to refer to himself as “His Royal Highness” but retained his Duke of York title. He eventually settled with Giuffre in February 2022 for an undisclosed sum, along with a statement of regret for his “association with Epstein” and praise for the bravery of Giuffre and other victims who had come forward.

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Ghislaine Maxwell faced her own reckoning when she was arrested in July 2020 on charges that she had helped Epstein recruit and groom his victims. She was convicted by a jury in December 2021 and sentenced to twenty years in prison.

“At the very top of a tree”

Now Prince Andrew stands accused of actions less salacious but equally sinister. A businessman and member of the Chinese Communist Party, Yang Tengbo has insinuated himself with the prince to such an extent that he was portrayed in court papers last week as a “close confidant.” An incriminating letter in Tengbo’s mobile phone seized by British authorities described him as sitting “at the very top of a tree” of Andrew’s most important relationships. Another document asserted that Andrew was “in a desperate situation and will grab onto anything.”