Prince Andrew latest: New Epstein emails released day after Andrew stripped of titles by King – UK Times

Andrew Mountbatten Windsor told disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein it would be “good to catch up in person” after the paedophile was released from prison for prostituting minors, court documents show.

In an email on April 15, 2010, following a suggestion from Epstein that the then-prince should meet American banker Jes Staley, Andrew responded: “I would love to but sadly heading into the stan’s today and back via Kiev next Fri/Sat, so will miss him.

“But I will make sure I meet him soon on another trip.

“Also I have no immediate plans to drop by New York but I think I should at some stage soon.

“I’ll look and see if I can make a couple of days before the summer.

“It would be good to catch up in person.”

The pair were later pictured together in Central Park in New York in December 2010 in a meeting Andrew claimed in his 2019 Newsnight interview was to break off their friendship.

However, in the 2019 Newsnight interview with Emily Maitlis, the former prince claimed his visit to New York to see Epstein in 2010 was the “wrong decision” but he wanted to end their friendship in person.

The corgis of the late Queen Elizabeth II which were adopted by Andrew Mountbatten Windsor and Sarah Ferguson are to remain in the care of their family, Buckingham Palace has confirmed.

However, it did not clarify if it would be Andrew, Sarah or Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice who would give them a home.

Earlier this year, Sarah claimed that the late Queen communicated to her through the dogs’ barking.

In an address to the Creative Women Platform in London, reported by The Times newspaper, she said: “I have her dogs, I have her corgis. Every morning they come in and go ‘woof woof’ and all that and I’m sure it’s her talking to me.

“I’m sure it’s her, reminding me she’s still around.”

Andrew will move to an undisclosed property on the King’s Sandringham estate, with the accommodation privately funded by the King, who will also make private financial provisions for his brother.

The former duke had a “cast-iron” lease for his Royal Lodge home and only after negotiations with the King’s representatives did he agree to serve formal notice on Thursday to surrender the lease, which had more than 50 years left to run.

But the process around surrendering the lease and other formalities has some similarities with buying a property, which can be drawn out, although it is understood things are moving as quickly as practicable.

It has been reported Andrew will not be moving to Wood Farm on the Sandringham estate, the property favoured by the late Queen and her husband the Duke of Edinburgh who preferred its cosy surroundings to the main Sandringham House.

But there are a number other properties available, ranging from Park House, the birthplace and childhood home of Diana, Princess of Wales, to York Cottage, where King George V lived before becoming monarch.

Sarah Ferguson lived with her ex-husband Andrew at Royal Lodge but will not be housed by Charles and will have to find a new home.

The decision to strip Andrew Mountbatten Windsor of his honours and titles was influenced by the Queen’s concerns about his impact on her work with sex abuse victims, it has been claimed.

According to the Telegraph, Camilla was appalled by Andrew’s association with paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein and felt the ongoing row was getting in the way of her public duties.

The Queen has supported survivors of sex attacks and domestic abuse for years and it was recently revealed in a new book that she herself fought off a man who groped her on a train when she was a teenager.

The King stripped his younger brother of his Prince and Duke of York titles in a dramatic move on Thursday night and a statement from Buckingham Palace stressed both his and Camilla’s thoughts were with victims of abuse.

The statement said: “Their Majesties wish to make clear that their thoughts and utmost sympathies have been, and will remain with, the victims and survivors of any and all forms of abuse.”

After the King’s historic decision to evict his brother and strip his official titles, the former prince must contend not only with his straitened circumstances and the public shaming, but also with the fact that he has long deluded himself about always putting ‘duty first’, says Sean O’Grady.