Prince Andrew’s request to return to public life after Jeffrey Epstein scandal is ‘wishful’

Prince Andrew’s attempts to restore his reputation ahead of his return to public life are “wishful thinking”.

While the king respects his brother’s right to clear his name, any hopes of this paving the way back to official duties and a royal front-line role are “far off the mark,” a well-placed source told the Mail.

“That is not the king’s opinion at all,” they said.

King Charles finds himself in a difficult position, but he knows he must act as a monarch, not a brother.

The source said it’s about “so much more” than Andrew’s out-of-court settlement in the US with Virginia Roberts over allegations of rape and sexual assault, which he has always denied.

The source says Prince Andrew’s (centre) attempts to return to public life are wishful thinking (pictured Andrew, with the Princess Royal, left, and King Charles, right).

Prince Andrew has always denied the allegation made by Virginia Giuffre (pictured with Ghislaine Maxwell in 2001).

There is frustration in some parts of the royal household that the beleaguered prince and his advisers – who recently launched a media blitz to try and turn the tide of public opinion – fail to understand this fact.

“The decisions previously made about his position within the royal family also affect his professional judgment and personal associations,” the source said.

The King is supported by his son and heir, the Prince of Wales.

William also firmly believes that his late grandmother’s decisions to free her so-called favorite son from his official duties and connections were correct. The late Queen also stripped Andrew of the right to publicly use his HRH title so he could fight the case as a “private citizen”.

Ms Roberts, now 39 and known by her married name Virginia Giuffre, claimed she was forced to have sex with Andrew when she was 17 after being trafficked by convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Andrew, 62, denied the allegation but paid a reported £12million out of court settlement to get Ms Roberts to drop the civil suit in the US.

Legal sources close to Prince Andrew said he would launch an £81million lawsuit against Virginia Giuffre if she repeated her allegations against him in an upcoming memoir

Prince William is said to be adamant that his late grandmother Queen Elizabeth II’s (pictured together) decisions to strip Andrew of his official duties and connections were right

Legal sources close to the prince said he would launch an £81million lawsuit against her if she repeated the allegation in an upcoming memoir. He has hired Los Angeles attorneys Andrew Brettler and Blair Berk to get them to retract their claims and potentially obtain an apology.

Meanwhile, friends of Ms Roberts scorned a bizarre “stunt” allegedly designed to disprove her account of her encounter with the Duke of York. A front-page photo of the Daily Telegraph on Saturday showed a man and woman lying fully clothed in a bathtub at the former home of convicted child trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell. They wore masks with the faces of Andrew and his accuser.

It was published under the caption: “The photo that ‘exonerates’ Duke about bath sex. Maxwell’s brother Ian told the newspaper that the photo, taken by two of his sister’s acquaintances, disproved Ms Roberts’ account of her sexual encounter with Andrew.

Mr Maxwell said the picture showed[s] conclusive that the bathroom is too small for any kind of sextobe.

Ms Roberts claimed Andrew licked her toes in the bath before they had sex in the bedroom in 2001. A source close to Ms Roberts told the Mail on Sunday: “If this shameful stunt is the best Maxwell’s side can do in defense of Prince Andrew then it’s ridiculous… It’s a disgusting attempt to discredit a sexual abuse victim , and it would be ridiculous if it weren’t so offensive.

“Besides, they have completely wrong facts. Virginia never said they had sex in the bathtub.”

Lisa Bloom, an attorney who represented several Epstein and Maxwell victims, said: “What a surreal, bizarre photo. It doesn’t prove anything… Virginia said that she and Andrew were in the bath. The photo shows that two adult people can fit in the bathtub.”

Ms Roberts’ lawyers declined to comment. Elsewhere, evidence has surfaced that could prove the infamous picture of Andrew with his arm around a young Ms. Roberts is genuine.

The photo is believed to have been taken on March 10, 2001, the night Ms Roberts said Andrew first sexually abused her.

The Mail on Sunday said it could prove the picture was printed on March 13, 2001 in a one-hour lab two minutes’ drive from Ms Roberts’ former home in Florida and that it would have been ‘virtually impossible’ to forge it.

Last week, in a television interview from prison, Maxwell said, “It’s fake. I don’t think it’s real for a second.’ In 2019, Andrew said he had “no recollection” of the photo that was taken.

Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk