The China Mail - Disgraced Prince Andrew may face more legal woes: UK biographer

Some lawmakers called on Monday for the UK government to formally strip Andrew of his titles, following years of damaging allegations about his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Andrew, 65, who has denied any wrongdoing, agreed to pay Giuffre millions of dollars in 2022 to end her civil sexual assault case against him.

But the revelations have not stopped and, under pressure from his brother King Charles III, Andrew said on Friday he was renouncing his title of Duke of York.

Charles's oldest son and heir to the throne, Prince William, was consulted about the decision.

British media reported at the weekend he planned to banish his uncle even further from royal life when he becomes king, including barring him from his coronation.

A day before Giuffre's book "Nobody's Girl" comes out, Lownie said things could get even worse for the prince.

"I do think that if the Met (Metropolitan Police) had properly investigated these sex trafficking allegations, he would have been charged and I hope they will now do so," he said.

Lownie, whose book "Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York" was published in August, said there was a "strong case against the prince because of malfeasance in public office" linked to his time as a special trade envoy.

He described Andrew as being "on the ropes", adding that there were grounds for an inquiry by the National Crime Agency, which investigates organised crime and human trafficking among other offences.

- 'More days of pain' -

Andrew gave up a position as trade envoy in 2011 after a string of controversies.

He stepped back from official royal duties in 2019 and gave up his HRH title, his appearances limited to family occasions such as Christmas Day. That door has now been shut to him and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson.

Giuffre, who died by suicide in April, reportedly says in her book she was trafficked by Epstein and forced to have sex with Andrew three times, including when she was 17.

Epstein died by suicide in a New York jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on charges of trafficking underage girls for sex.

Andrew, a long-time friend of Epstein, has denied ever meeting Giuffre. But the BBC reported royal sources as saying Buckingham Palace was preparing for "more days of pain ahead".

Andrew's scandals have proved a huge embarrassment to the royal family, and Giuffre's memoir is set to be published on the eve of a high-profile visit to the Vatican by Charles, who is due to end centuries of tradition and pray with Pope Leo XIV.

A number of MPs said parliament should not just rely on a voluntary agreement by Andrew, but should act to strip the "duke" title from late Queen Elizabeth II's second son.

- No questions -

Rachael Maskell, MP for the northern English city of York from which Andrew's title comes, proposed a bill that would allow the king or a parliamentary committee to take it away.

Some politicians also want Andrew to lose the title of prince, which he gets automatically as a monarch's son.

George Foulkes, who sits in the House of Lords, wrote to both the Lords and the lower House of Commons to ask for a review of the convention that prevents questions about the royal family in parliament.

Lownie said Andrew "lost his protector" when Eizabeth died in 2022 and that the king should have been "far more ruthless".

"People complained about him for years and nothing was done. I think also she (Elizabeth) just had a complete blind spot about him," he said.

"William certainly doesn't. I think Charles is realising the reputational damage to his own reign."

J.Liv--ThChM