Prince Andrew: Damage of allegations 'immediate' says Low

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The Queen was forced to take rapid action to protect the Royal Family after Prince Andrew made a catastrophic and public error of judgement. The Duke of York was the subject of serious allegations which threatened to overshadow the image of the Royal Family. In response to a fiercely damaging television interview given by Prince Andrew, the monarch was forced to act urgently to address the controversy sparked by her son. The Queen is now understood to have acted to “protect the institution” from the potential impact of the Duke of York’s interview.

Royal correspondent for The Times Valentine Low offered his analysis of the Queen’s actions as the situation surrounding Prince Andrew rapidly spiralled.

He said: “The Queen is there to protect the institution of the Royal Family and she will do that above all else. 

“We saw this with Prince Andrew.”

As the allegations concerning Prince Andrew hastily garnered media attention, the Duke decided to engage in an interview with BBC Newsnight, which ultimately left the Queen with little choice but to step in.

Mr Low continued: “The damage from that was immediate and seismic. 

“It was a very small number of days before he was stepping down from his royal duties. 

“He went from a working Prince in the Royal Family to nothing.”

The Queen acted quickly in an effort to limit the royal public relations crisis triggered by the interview and Prince Andrew was suspended from public duties just days later.

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In the Newsnight interview, the Prince claimed he had “no recollection” of meeting Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who had made the allegations of sexual abuse against the royal.

The Duke denied the allegations, offering the explanation that he had been at a restaurant in Woking with family members when the incident supposedly took place.

He also spoke of a medical condition at the time, which caused an inability to sweat as a further assertion that the allegations against him were false.

He vehemently denied the allegation and Prince Andrew agreed to pay a significant financial settlement to Ms Giuffre in February 2022 in order to resolve an ongoing civil case against him – with no admission of guilt as a result.

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In the aftermath of the interview, Prince Andrew was stripped of his military titles and patronages, which have been handed back to the Queen to be redistributed among other members of the Royal Family.

The Prince has remained largely out of the public eye since he was forced to step back from formal royal duties.

He was present at the Thanksgiving Service in memory of Prince Philip, but did not attend any of the Platinum Jubilee events as he reportedly tested positive for coronavirus just before the bank holiday weekend.

While there has been speculation that the Duke hopes to make a return to royal duties, it is unlikely as the Queen continues to stand firm on her decision to remove Prince Andrew from the public perception of the Royal Family.

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