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The Duke of York in March agreed to pay a multimillion-pound sum with no admission of liability to bring the civil sexual assault case brought by his accuser, Virginia Giuffre, to a close. The settlement, while preventing a courtroom battle in New York, did not save the prince’s reputation – but the Most Revd Justin Welby, in an interview in honour of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee with News At Ten presenter Tom Bradby, said “we have become a very unforgiving society” and “we all have to step back a bit”.

The Archbishop made the comments when questioned whether the upcoming celebrations of the Queen’s 70-year reign offered the public the chance to unite and forgive Prince Andrew, who has always strenuously denied the allegations against him.

Mr Welby said he recognised “there’s very deep feelings indeed”, with issues of abuse “intensely personal and private” and it wasn’t right to “tell people how they’re to respond about this”.

Andrew, 62, was stripped of his military titles in January in the face of the legal battle over accusations by Ms Giuffre, 38.

As part of the settlement, which is not an admission of guilt from Andrew, the duke vowed to “demonstrate his regret for his association” with Jeffrey Epstein by supporting the “fight against the evils of sex trafficking, and by supporting its victims”.

The 95-year-old monarch last month attended a memorial service for her late husband Prince Philip at Westminster Abbey accompanied by Andrew.

The move, which was widely regarded as a show of support from Her Majesty to her son, sparked mixed reactions among Brits.

The Archbishop, describing the Queen as “probably the most trusted person in the country”, said that despite public criticism she was “fully entitled” to have attended the event with the duke.

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