The Duke of York has been in the headlines since a television interview about his relationship with the US financier, who was accused of sexually exploiting underage girls for years and committed suicide in prison.
"It has become clear to me in recent days that the circumstances of my ties with Jeffrey Epstein have become a major disruption to my family's work and the (mine). "
It was with these words that Prince Andrew, second son of Queen Elizabeth II, mired in an endless controversy over the Epstein affair and repudiated by many of the companies and universities with which he collaborated, announced Wednesday. November " to end (his) public commitments ", in one of the worst crises that has shaken the British royal family for decades. The queen has "Given permission" for this purpose of commitment planned in the near future.
The Duke of York has been in the headlines for a long and calamitous TV interview about his relationship with US financier Jeffrey Epstein, who was accused of sexually exploiting underage girls for years and committed suicide. jail.
The prince was particularly blamed for not having distanced himself from him, and not to have expressed empathy for the alleged victims.
The second son of Queen Elizabeth II said Wednesday "Continue to regret unequivocally (his) misguided association with Jeffrey Epstein " and "Deeply sympathize with all those affected" by the case. He says to himself " of course " ready to cooperate with the investigation.
In his interview, the 59-year-old Duke of York had simply challenged the charges of a woman recruited by Epstein who claims to have been forced to have sex with him when she was a minor.
Since the broadcast, critics and defections had multiplied, plunging the royal family in what some media did not hesitate to call "A second" annus horribilis "", according to an expression of Elizabeth II.
The Queen used the term in 1992 to describe the year that saw her two sons separate from their respective wives, her daughter Anne divorced, and Windsor Castle, the royal residence, burned.
On Tuesday, Standard Chartered Bank and KPMG consulting and audit firm announced they would stop sponsoring Prince Pitch @ Palace's association, which helps entrepreneurs and start-ups.
On Wednesday, the British telecoms giant BT followed suit, saying it would stop supporting a digital learning funding program, iDEA, if Prince Andrew remained the godfather.
Three Australian faculties, Bond University and Murdoch University as well as the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT), have also announced an end to their collaboration with Pitch @ Palace, among others.
Racist Thoughts
A litany of other institutions, including Barclays Bank and drug giant AstraZeneca, also said they were considering breaking ties with Prince Andrew.
The London Metropolitan University said it could withdraw its sponsorship and students from Huddersfield (north of England) voted against it, saying it was "Totally unfit to represent them" as a sponsor.
The scandal even erupted in the first televised debate of the December 12 legislative elections between Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Labor opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn: both expressed their "Sympathy" and their 'Thoughts' for the victims.
"There are some very very serious questions that need to be answered"added Jeremy Corbyn, for whom the monarchy "Needs some improvements".
As if that was not enough, Andrew is also accused of racist remarks. Gordon Brown's former home secretary, Jacqui Smith, revealed that she was "Left speechless" face racist comments of the prince on the Arabs, at an official dinner in honor of the Saudi royal family.
And a former Sri Lankan prime minister's aide also accused him of using an expression containing the word "Negro". A spokesman for Buckingham Palace replied that the prince "Does not tolerate racism in any form".
