By: Geraldo Espinoza
It’s not Macbeth, but it’s in the ballpark.
According to reports coming out of England, Prince William played a pivotal role in dumping Prince Andrew from his royal duties.
Andrew, 59, was canned last week after his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, told insiders she felt “hoodwinked” by his disastrous BBC interview over his ties to late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, according to The Times of London.
“William is becoming more and more involved in decisions about the institution [monarchy] and he’s not a huge fan of his uncle Andrew,” a source close to the royals told The Times of London. “William thinks the right thing happened.”
Buckingham Palace “confirmed on Sunday that the Duke of York was “standing back from all his patronages” but indicated he still hoped to return to a public role at some point by saying the move was only temporary,” reported theguardian.com.
The possibly pervy prince “said last week that he was willing to help ‘any appropriate law enforcement agency with their investigations [into Epstein] if required.’ But the fallout from his friendship with the convicted child sex offender, who is believed to have killed himself in a New York prison in August, has already seen him lose or withdraw from patronages with English National Ballet, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Outward Bound Trust,” theguardian.com added.
During the NewsNight interview conducted by a BBC reporter, the Duke of York did not say that he regretted having forged a friendship with Epstein, nor did he express any compassion or sympathy for Epstein’s victims. He also said that even after Epstein was convicted of having sexual relations with a minor, he decided to take up Epstein’s invitation to stay at his Manhattan mansion.
In a somewhat bizarre twist, Prince Andrew said that due to a rare medical condition, he was unable to physically break a sweat. He mentioned this in response to the interviewer’s question about whether he danced with an underage girl in a London nightclub and began sweating afterwards as the young woman had charged.
The beleaguered prince is “not above the law” and has no diplomatic or sovereign immunity over the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, it can be revealed,” reported The Sun. “The Duke has been urged to put himself forward to be quizzed by US investigators who are looking into allegations against convicted sex offender Epstein. It is understood Andrew is not eligible for sovereign immunity as only the Queen is entitled to that category.”
Worse still, the royals have had to cancel a party. “The Queen has scrapped plans to host a party for Prince Andrew to mark his 60th birthday in February,” reported dailymail.com. “Instead, the monarch is said to be arranging a small family dinner for the Duke, according to The Sunday Times. His birthday is on February 19. The news comes just days after the Queen effectively sacked him from his royal duties at the behest of her eldest son in the wake of the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. It has also emerged that Andrew’s bungled BBC Newsnight interview was not sanctioned in advance by the Queen.”
