Prince Andrew: Queen 'can't tell him what to do' says Widdecombe

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Ann Widdecombe appeared on Jeremy Vine on 5 where the panel debated whether or not the Queen should get involved in the Prince Andrew saga and order him to go to the US to face his civil case head-on. But Ms Widdecombe did not believe it was right for the Queen to get involved in the matter, arguing Prince Andrew was mature enough to handle the situation on his own and feared the case would hurt the Queen’s reputation if she began to wade in on the issue. Ms Widdecombe then went back and forth with a fellow panellist and said the “frail” Queen should focus on her Platinum Jubilee and so should the rest of the public.

Speaking on Jeremy Vine on 5, the panel discussed how much involvement the Queen should have in the Prince Andrew civil case and whether she should demand he goes to the US for questioning.

Ms Widdecombe did not believe it was for the Queen to get involved and that she was already “frail” with her looming Platinum Jubilee to prepare for.

She told the show: “The Queen shouldn’t tell him to do anything, he’s in his [60s].

“It’s a bit late for mummy to be telling him what he should be doing, he has stepped down from royal duties.

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“It’s not as if he’s under the Queen’s immediate direction as you are as a working royal.

“So I don’t really think the Queen, although I’m sure the entire Royal Family will be discussing it, I don’t think the Queen should issue an instruction.

“I think the one thing he should not do is settle because if he does everybody will say if you settled and that must have been because there was something in the case you couldn’t have been entirely innocent.”

Ms Widdecombe then said Prince Andrew should simply stick by his denials and say nothing else until the case is resolved but admitted he was “damned if he did and damned if he didn’t”.

Daily Mirror associate editor Kevin Maguire was also on the panel but believed the Queen should be encouraging the Duke of York to try and “clear his name” and to not “hideaway”.

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Mr Maguire also believed the Queen should have told Prince Andrew to cooperate with the FBI when they wanted to speak to him as a witness. 

Ms Widdecombe added people should be focused on the Queen and celebrate what the monarch is doing.

The former Tory minister concluded by telling the show she hoped people could separate the Jubilee celebrations and the Prince Andrew case.

Prince Andrew may need to visit the US to face a civil court case brought against him by Virginia Giuffre after a judge ruled against his motion to dismiss the case.

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The future court date has not been decided yet but is expected to be between September and December.

Ms Giuffre is suing Prince Andrew following claims she was sexually abused by him in 2001 – something Prince Andrew has always denied.

Ms Giuffre says the three alleged instances of abuse by Prince Andrew caused her “significant emotional and psychological distress and harm”.

The Duke of York was seen publically for the first time since his dismissal was denied after he was spotted leaving his Windsor estate.

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