![](\"https:\/\/static.independent.co.uk\/2025\/09\/16\/15\/02\/Funeral-service-for-Britains-Katharine-Duchess-of-Kent-in-London-m8dvivrm.jpeg?width=1200&auto=webp&crop=3%3A2\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Prince Andrew has been under pressure for a long time over his association with paedophile financierJeffrey Epstein and his sex trafficker girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Here is how that friendship led to the prince\u2019s disgrace and downfall.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Maira Butt<\/span>17 October 2025 21:37<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Liberal Democrat councillor Darryl Smalley has expressed relief after he campaigned for City of York council to remove Prince Andrew\u2019s freedom of the city status and for the royal to be stripped of his Duke of York title. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cWe\u2019d obviously lobbied quite hard and sent several letters to the palace and to Prince Andrew himself, all of which via recorded post and none of which was answered, but obviously a few years later the pressure has meant that the palace has had to act,\u201d Mr Smalley told PA on Friday. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cIt\u2019s obviously a long time coming but finally they recognised what a massive liability he is.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n He added: \u201cPleased that a long-running campaign has actually led to something. It\u2019s not often in politics, particularly the royal family, that they seem to listen.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cHowever, obviously, it\u2019s yet another moment where we need to think about those who are impacted by what Jeffrey Epstein did and all of his associates.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Andrew was stripped of his freedom of the city status after a unanimous council vote in 2022. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Maira Butt<\/span>17 October 2025 21:31<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Prince Andrew acted as though having sex with Virginia Giuffre was his \u201cbirthright\u201d, she claimed in her posthumous memoir.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Ms Giuffre, who was central figure in the downfall of disgraced paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein, died at the age of 41 in April, six months after completing the book, which lays out new details of allegations of sexual abuse against Prince Andrew.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Ms Giuffre, who settled a sexual assault lawsuit against the Duke of York, alleges the duke slept with her on three separate occasions. Prince Andrew has always vehemently denied any wrongdoing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n In an extract of the book, Nobody\u2019s Girl: A Memoir Of Surviving Abuse And Fighting For Justice,<\/em> Ms Giuffre described the prince as \u201cfriendly enough, but entitled\u201d as she had sex with him on various occasions, including while staying at the house of Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein\u2019s former girlfriend, near Hyde Park, London, in March 2001.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The extract, published in The Guardian<\/em>, states: \u201cMaxwell woke me up that morning by announcing in a sing-songy voice: \u2018Get out of bed, sleepyhead!\u2019 It was going to be a special day, she said. Just like Cinderella, I was going to meet a handsome prince!\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Maira Butt<\/span>17 October 2025 21:24<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cAs a Royal.. if you’re not safeguarding the most vulnerable people in your community, why should you hold those positions of power?\u201d Virginia Giuffre’s sister-in-law, Amanda Roberts, told BBC Newsnight last month. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Her comments came after it emerged that Sarah Ferguson, the then-Duchess of York, had called sex offender Jeffrey Epstein a \u201csupreme friend\u201d. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n A spokesperson for Ferguson told the BBC that the comment was written to counter Epstein’s threat to sue for defamation, and that she regretted any association with him.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Maira Butt<\/span>17 October 2025 21:09<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n York Central MP Rachael Maskell has said it is time for legislation to give the King power to remove titles after Prince Andrew announced he would no longer use his.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n She said: \u201cI have long called for the title of the Duke of York to be removed in the light that it carries an ambassadorial association with our city.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cYork is England\u2019s only UN Human Rights City and stands for a higher set of values and when polled, 80% of York residents voted for the removal of the title.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cHaving sought to change the law through my Removal of Titles Bill, I now think it is time for this legislation, which provides the King new powers to be able to remove titles or for a grand committee of both Houses of Parliament to make a recommendation to the King to remove a title.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Joe Middleton<\/span>17 October 2025 21:02<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The Duke of York also reportedly told his paedophile friend \u201cwe’ll play some more soon\u201d in the email dated 28 February 2011 \u2013 three months after the date he told the BBC he had severed contact with the disgraced financier.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Maira Butt<\/span>17 October 2025 20:55<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Maira Butt<\/span>17 October 2025 20:45<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The royal had faced fresh scandals in recent days, including meeting a senior Beijing official at the heart of the China spy scandal at least three times, according to reports.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Maira Butt<\/span>17 October 2025 20:35<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Widely purported to have been the late Queen\u2019s \u201cfavourite\u201d child, Prince Andrew has suffered a sharp fall from grace over the last decade.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Plagued by a string of controversies, the latest blow has seen new messages between the duke and Jeffrey Epstein come to light – sent months after Andrew claimed to have cut the disgraced financier off.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Emails between Andrew and Epstein handed to a court in London reportedly show they were still exchanging messages until at least late February 2011, when the duke wrote: \u201cKeep in close touch and we\u2019ll play some more soon.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Maira Butt<\/span>17 October 2025 20:28<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Andrew will retain the dukedom, which can only be removed by an Act of Parliament, but not use it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n He will also give up his knighthood as a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO) and his Garter role as a Royal Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Maira Butt<\/span>17 October 2025 20:23<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" How Prince Andrew\u2019s friendship with Jeffrey Epstein led to his downfall Prince Andrew has been under pressure for a long time over his association with paedophile financierJeffrey Epstein and his sex trafficker girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell. Here is how that friendship led to the prince\u2019s disgrace and downfall. Maira Butt17 October 2025 21:37 Andrew’s announcement ‘a long time coming’, says councillor Liberal Democrat councillor Darryl Smalley has expressed relief after he campaigned for City of York council to remove Prince Andrew\u2019s freedom of the city status and for the royal to be stripped of his Duke of York title. \u201cWe\u2019d obviously lobbied quite hard and sent several letters to the palace and to Prince Andrew himself, all of which via recorded post and none of which was answered, but obviously a few years later the pressure has meant that the palace has had to act,\u201d Mr Smalley told PA on Friday. \u201cIt\u2019s obviously a long time coming but finally they recognised what a massive liability he is.\u201d He added: \u201cPleased that a long-running campaign has actually led to something. It\u2019s not often in politics, particularly the royal family, that they seem to listen. \u201cHowever, obviously, it\u2019s yet another moment where we need to think about those who are impacted by what Jeffrey Epstein did and all of his associates.\u201d Andrew was stripped of his freedom of the city status after a unanimous council vote in 2022. Maira Butt17 October 2025 21:31 Prince Andrew believed having sex with me was his birthright, Virginia Giuffre memoir claims Prince Andrew acted as though having sex with Virginia Giuffre was his \u201cbirthright\u201d, she claimed in her posthumous memoir. Ms Giuffre, who was central figure in the downfall of disgraced paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein, died at the age of 41 in April, six months after completing the book, which lays out new details of allegations of sexual abuse against Prince Andrew. Ms Giuffre, who settled a sexual assault lawsuit against the Du…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7475,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7478"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7478"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7478\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7475"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7478"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7478"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7478"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/p>\n\nAndrew’s announcement ‘a long time coming’, says councillor<\/h3>\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\nPrince Andrew believed having sex with me was his birthright, Virginia Giuffre memoir claims<\/h3>\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\nVirginia Giuffre’s family called for Duchess of York to be stripped of royal title in weeks before announcement<\/h3>\n
\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\nKing Charles should be given power to remove titles, says MP<\/h3>\n
\n\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\nPrince Andrew told Jeffrey Epstein \u2018we are in this together\u2019 day after Virginia Giuffre photo emerged<\/h3>\n
\n\n<\/p>\n\nWhat did the Duchess of York say about Epstein? Prince Andrew\u2019s ex-wife dropped by charities over leaked emails<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/p>\n\nPrince Andrew \u2018met China spymaster at least three times\u2019<\/h3>\n
\n\n<\/p>\n\nTimeline of all the royal\u2019s scandals as new info reveals further Epstein links<\/h3>\n
\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\nAll the titles the Royal will no longer use<\/h3>\n
\n\n\n