GETTYCamilla Tominey says that Andrew's reputation has been tainted forever by the underage sex claims
The Duke was pretty candid, especially about living with his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson. She has shared his Windsor home, Royal Lodge, for the past six years despite the couple divorcing in 1996.
“So what? Why can’t you remain friends with your ex-wife?” he exclaimed, before proudly declaring: “I’m the exception to the rule.”
Which tells you everything you need to know about the 54-year-old royal.
Andrew does not care what other people think, which is why he remained friends with Jeffrey Epstein after the billionaire American financier was convicted of soliciting an underage girl for prostitution in 2008.
The Duke was forced to resign from his trade role three years later after being photographed walking through New York’s Central Park with Epstein, who paid £15,000 to clear some of Fergie’s debts (she later paid it back admitting it was a “gigantic error of judgment” but continued to defend her ex-husband).
Such loyalty cost the equivalent of pocket change to Epstein but now this sex scandal has blown up in the Duke’s face, it is the Royal Family who will pay the ultimate price.
For regardless of his innocence or guilt, Andrew will for ever be tainted by this sordid saga.
It is one thing being branded Randy Andy by the press but quite another being accused of underage sex. Yes, the girl was 17 but in much of America that’s classed as sex with a minor.
Andrew has vehemently denied the claims and protested his innocence but the case does suggest he is guilty of a yet another error of judgment, which makes accusations of him clocking up too many Air Miles and playing too much golf look positively petty.
The court papers relating to the case, which I have had the misfortune to read, constantly beg the question, how on earth could Andrew have been friends with this sleazebag?
It is the same with his friendship with Colonel Gaddafi’s son Saif. First a paedophile, then a war criminal. Who will be revealed as Andrew’s next best buddy, Kim Jong-un?
It is one thing being branded Randy Andy by the press but quite another being accused of underage sex
THEN there was the £15million sale of Sunninghill Park to Timur Kulibayev, the son-in-law of the Kazakhstan president.
If paying £3million above the asking price wasn’t enough to make the deal look decidedly dodgy, the marital property, dubbed South York, has lain derelict ever since.
Apart from Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, who have had to endure more lurid headlines about their parents than Epstein has bought bottles of baby oil, the people I feel most sorry for right now are Andrew’s staff.
Can you even begin to imagine how much hard work has gone into rehabilitating the Duke’s image in recent years?
It must have been like pulling teeth. “Sir, would you mind severing all ties with Epstein? It’s just he’s a registered sex offender.”
Or: “Sir, would you mind not taking your golf clubs on royal engagements? It’s just you’re being funded by the taxpayer to represent the Queen.”
Or: “Sir, could you possibly tell your ex-wife not to try to sell access to you to the highest bidder? It’s just that you’re fifth in line to the throne.” The list goes on.
Some have blamed the Queen for over-indulging Andrew, said to be her “favourite” child.
I think that is a bit harsh on HM. After all, Andrew is a grown adult and if he doesn’t even listen to the people he pays to advise him, then why on earth would he listen to his mother?
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