Military leaders in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UK) reportedly want Prince Andrew stripped of ceremonial military honorifics over his role in the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.
An anonymous senior military source told The Times of London that Andrew’s recent rail collision of an interview on the BBC was the impetus for the armed forces’ desire to rid themselves of the royal.
That Newsnight interview “came as a surprise to many of us who have also been in combat,” the source said. “It’s just not viable. It’s embarrassing to be represented by someone like that.”
The remarks and disgust for the Duke of York are said to come from “current and former personnel in the navy and army” and the dissension among the brass is also reflected within the service itself where the duke has “become a joke,” according to the outlet.
Chief among Andrew’s unforgivable sins are the implausible excuses he trotted out while attempting to justify his friendship with the convicted sex offender and alleged child sex trafficker.
The Queen’s son told BBC’s Emily Maitlis that Epstein’s home “was a convenient place to stay,” and the interview unraveled the would-be monarch’s esteem even further as it continued on.
“I mean I’ve gone through this in my mind so many times,” Andrew said. “At the end of the day, with a benefit of all the hindsight that one can have, it was definitely the wrong thing to do. But at the time I felt it was the honorable and right thing to do and I admit fully that my judgment was probably colored by my tendency to be too honorable but that’s just the way it is.”
Particularly galling to military officials who spoke on condition of anonymity was Andrew’s suggestion that he lost the ability to sweat due to a rush of adrenaline during his time serving in the Falklands War–an episode of British imperialism which occurred in 1982.
Andrew has been seen–and photographed–sweating several times since that undeclared military action launched by Margaret Thatcher.
He’s also been photographed with Virginia Roberts Giuffre, the woman who has consistently maintained she was only 17 when she was offered to the eighth in line of succession to the crown at a London townhouse by Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell–Epstein’s alleged recruiter, groomer and pilot of the so-called “Lolita Express.”
The child of empire, however, claims he’s never once met Giuffre.
“She says she met you in 2001,” Maitlis noted, “She says she dined with you, danced with you at Tramp Nightclub in London. She went on to have sex with you in a house in Belgravia belonging to Ghislaine Maxwell, your friend. Your response?”
Andrew replied: “I have no recollection of ever meeting this lady, none whatsoever.”
“It didn’t happen,” he added.
Andrew has also been reticent to cooperate with authorities.
As Law&Crime previously reported, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) recently expanded its investigation into Andrew’s role in Epstein’s global elite pedophile conspiracy to sex traffic underage girls for the use of powerful men.
FBI agents are keen to identify additional alleged victims who could provide new and potentially incriminating information on the duke.
Andrew’s efforts to stymie those investigations isn’t going over well with military officials either–who say that such a dodge is inimical to the values and standards of the British Army. “A soldier would be expected to stand up for what he done,” a military source said.
The wide displeasure over Andrew’s behavior and public image has become something of a game of pass the hot chips lately.
A royal source told The Times “he is keeping his military commands” but would not perform duties associated with those commands publicly. However, the palace–which officially presides over such appointments–said: “It’s not for the palace to speak on behalf of the [Ministry of Defense] or on assigning military commands.”
A Navy source cut through the divine right of doublespeak and said it made no sense for Andrew to keep the titles without doing the work:
As a service we would not be rushing to invite him to anything. It’s safe to say there have been grumbles and it seems likely that the post would be passed on.
[Image via Chris Jackson/Getty Images for Ascot Racecourse]
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