Not a word for victims

Andrew 'refused mention of abuse survivors in Palace statements'

- BY RUSSELL MYERS

ANDREW Mountbatten Windsor routinely refused to sign off statements that expressed support for abuse survivors connected to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, it has been claimed.

The King and Queen for the first time last week publicly shared their “thoughts and utmost sympathies” with “the victims and survivors of any and all forms of abuse” as part of the announcement made to strip Andrew of his Prince and Duke of York titles.

A friend of Charles and Camilla told the Sunday Times that references to victims were removed from all previous statements drafted by courtiers and issued by Buckingham Palace since Andrew's disastrous Newsnight interview in 2019, because the wording required his approval. The friend said: “There has long been a sense from the family that the voices of the victims needed to be heard in these pronouncements, because they feature so heavily in this saga.

“And because there is no credible way the Queen and the Duchess of Edinburgh can continue to do the work they do in the areas of sexual abuse if they can't point to that. Now the King has lost his patience. You can see this is no longer a statement by committee: it is a statement from the King.”