Prince William has just made some shocking comments about Prince Andrew, telling a close friend that he considers his uncle to be “a risk” and “a threat” to the royal family amid the sexual assault lawsuit he is currently embroiled in. We did not expect the future King of England to be so open, but boy are we glad that he was!
If you’ll recall, Prince Andrew, otherwise known as the Duke of York, was forced to step back from public duties in 2019 due to backlash surrounding his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and after one of Epstein’s victims alleged that she was forced to have sex with the now 61-year-old royal when she was just 17. In August earlier this year, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, one of the women who accused Epstein and his ex-lover, Ghislaine Maxwell, of sex trafficking, filed a lawsuit against Prince Andrew, accusing him of sexually assaulting her on three occasions between 1999 and 2002 when she was a minor. Giuffre, now 38 years old and a mother to three children, had first made the allegations way back in 2015, which the royal has always emphatically denied.
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According to reports, Prince William made the comments about his uncle to a close friend, who then promptly told The Times. As per the publication, the 39-year-old is "no fan of Uncle Andrew," and one of the "triggers" that "really gets" him is Prince Andrew's perceived "ungracious and ungrateful" attitude towards his position, which Wills considers "a risk" and a "threat" to the royal family. "Any suggestion that there isn’t gratitude for the institution, anything that could lead anyone in the public to think that senior members of the royal family aren’t grateful for their position, William thinks is really dangerous," the friend said.
Another palace insider said that Prince Andrew, the Queen's second son, is still hoping that he can return to some of his royal duties in the not-so-distant future, although the insider insists that the royal family will never allow that to happen. "There is no way in the world he’s ever coming back," the source said, before adding, "The family will never let it happen." This echoes some earlier comments from other royal insiders, who previously told The Times that both Prince William and his father Prince Charles are in agreement that "there will never be a return to public life for Andrew."
As for the latest with the lawsuit, it's currently being reported that UK authorities are dropping the case after a third review, with a source close to the Duke of York telling People, "Despite pressure from the media and claims of new evidence, the Met have concluded that the claims are not sufficient to warrant any further investigation. The Duke has always vigorously maintained his innocence and continues to do so."
Giuffre, who has now become an advocate of justice for sex trafficking victims, commented on the lawsuit back in August, saying: "I did not come to this decision lightly. As a mother and a wife, my family comes first — and I know that this action will subject me to further attacks by Prince Andrew and his surrogates — but I knew if I did not pursue this action, I would be letting them and victims everywhere down."
