Royal expert Katie Nicholl says the palace has a good reason for staying silent when it comes to Prince Andrew's Epstein connection.
One day after a United States judge unsealed court documents related to disgraced late billionaire Jeffrey Epstein, many are wondering why the British royal family has yet to comment on the new mentions of Prince Andrew.
According to royal expert Katie Nicholl, it's not surprising that the family has chosen to remain silent when it comes to the son of the late Queen Elizabeth II being named in the documents.
"We've reached out to the Palace for comment today [Jan. 4, 2024], and their line is a simple one -- and it is the same one as it has been for some years now, which is that Prince Andrew is now no longer a working member of the royal family," Nicholl tells ET. "Therefore, it is not Buckingham Palace's responsibility to comment on his behalf."
Among the most disturbing allegations lobbed at Prince Andrew is the claim that he groped one woman in 2001 at Epstein's Manhattan townhouse in the presence of Virginia Giuffre, the woman who later filed a lawsuit against him.
Giuffre -- who also filed a defamation case against Epstein's close friend and associate, Ghislaine Maxwell -- allegedly had her breast touched by a hand puppet that "looked like" Andrew while the prince put his hand on the breast of Johanna Sjoberg.
The claims come from Sjoberg's testimony during the 2015 defamation trial between Maxwell and Giuffre. In her statement, Sjoberg alleged that Maxwell took a picture of the alleged assault involving the puppet, but that she never saw the photo.
"It looked like him," Sjoberg said. "And she [Maxwell] brought it down and presented it to him [Prince Andrew]; and that was a great joke, because apparently it was a production from a show on BBC."
"I sat on Andrew's lap and they took the puppet's hands and put it on Virginia's breast, and so Andrew put his on mine," she continued.
Nicholl called the allegation "bizarre" and noted that Maxwell denies having given Prince Andrew the puppet, allegedly in his likeness.
The prince settled a lawsuit in 2022 with Giuffre, who accused him and Epstein of abusing her as a teen, an accusation the Brit denied. In a court filing at the time, his attorneys said, "Prince Andrew regrets his association with Epstein, and commends the bravery of Ms. Giuffre and other survivors in standing up for themselves and others."
Nicholl says Andrew's tune is not expected to change any time soon, either.
"His statement remains the same: that he is innocent of these allegations leveled at him, as we know, and he settled the case out of court back in 2022," Nicholl says. "[He] paid a vast sum of money to Virginia Giuffre, and –- as far as the Duke is concerned -- that was the end of the matter."
"At that point, he didn't know that these unsealed documents... were going to be made public," she continued. "But his stance seems pretty clear: there is no comment. There is nothing further than his original denial and as far as the Palace are concerned – well, it's absolutely no comment from them, because they no longer represent the Duke of York. He is not a working member of the royal family."
"My personal opinion is that with the Duke no longer carrying out royal duties or engagements -- actually it really gives the palace a pretty good reason not to comment," Nicholl says. "What they've done is quite cleverly ostracized the Duke of York."
For Andrew, the best path forward -- she believes -- is to keep a low profile and not raise any feathers following the release of the previously sealed documents. As for any hope of reinstatement to his position within the royal family or in the good graces of his country's citizens, the future is more muddled.
"Andrew has got the support of his family," Nicholl says, adding that he continues to attend family functions including King Charles III's coronation and the family Christmas at Sandringham. "Does he have the support of the British public? I'm not so sure."
Andrew stepped back from his royal duties in an official capacity in November 2019 -- just months before Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced their exit -- and said at the time the move would be "for the foreseeable future."
"It has become clear to me over the last few days that the circumstances relating to my former association with Jeffrey Epstein has become a major disruption to my family’s work and the valuable work going on in the many organizations and charities that I am proud to support," Prince Andrew said in a statement at the time.
He went on to note, "I continue to unequivocally regret my ill-judged association with Jeffrey Epstein. His suicide has left many unanswered questions, particularly for his victims, and I deeply sympathize with everyone who has been affected and wants some form of closure. I can only hope that, in time, they will be able to rebuild their lives. Of course, I am willing to help any appropriate law enforcement agency with their investigations, if required."
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