Real and lasting damage

PRINCE Andrew's decision to invite Jeffrey Epstein into the Royal Box at Ascot was a reckless lapse in judgment. At the time, the Wall Street financier had not been convicted of any crime. But the warning signs were there for anyone paying attention. Rumours of his obsession with young girls followed him like a stench. Even Donald Trump, hardly a paragon of virtue, famously remarked that Epstein "likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side". If Trump could see it, why couldn't a senior royal? Andrew ushered Epstein into the most

- BY CHRISTOPHER BUCKTIN

sacred corners of royal life. In 1999, he was at Balmoral. A year later, he attended the Duke's 40th birthday do at Windso