Devastating Epstein files is 'final nail in the coffin' for 'problem' Prince Andrew, experts warn
4 January 2024, 17:24 | Updated: 4 January 2024, 17:30
Royal experts have hailed the bombshell release of the unredacted Epstein files as the 'final nail in the coffin' for Prince Andrew.
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Phil Dampier, a seasoned journalist who has spent decades covering the royal family, hailed the release of the forty documents as damning for the Duke of York's reputation.
Speaking to MailOnline, Dampier said he expects Prince William will ensure his uncle is distanced from the Royals in an effort to keep the family relevant and maintain it's reputation.
"The big danger for him is that another woman could make specific allegations against him and want a day in court or a pay off as well," Dampier told the publication.
'This could be the final nail in the coffin of his reputation," he added.
Prince Andrew stepped down from his role as a working royal in 2019 following revelations over his links to the convicted paedophile.
He was also stripped of all patronages by Queen Elizabeth in 2022 following the civil sexual assault settlement with accuser Virginia Giuffre.
In the files, released overnight, Prince Andrew is accused of groping a woman. He denies the allegation.
A woman named Johanna Sjoberg claimed Prince Andrew touched her breast while sitting on a couch inside Epstein's Manhattan apartment in 2001, while giving testimony in May 2016.
Buckingham Palace previously said the allegations are "categorically untrue".
Read More: The Prince, the Presidents and the King of Pop: Who is named in the Epstein files?
Read More: What does the release of the Epstein documents mean for Prince Andrew?
The Daily Mail's Royal Editor Rebecca English branded the release as an "embarrassment" to the duke.
Royal expert Richard FitzWilliams told The Independent that any chance of the duke wishing to return to public life was "hopeless".
“Andrew is in the headlines and once again it makes it very uncomfortable publicity for the royal family. Part of this problem is his attitude generally towards royal life and life itself, simply because his outlook in past years has been so entitled," he told the outlet.
FitzWilliams described the duke as "a problem that just won’t go away".
It comes after US Judge Loretta Preska ruled last month that documents naming more than 170 people who were either associates, friends or victims of Epstein should be made public.
The documents are part of a 2015 US defamation case by Virginia Giuffre against Ghislaine Maxwell, the disgraced British socialite who supplied Epstein with underage girls.
Read More: Prince Andrew accused of having 'underage orgy' in newly released Jeffrey Epstein court files
An email sent from Epstein to Maxwell, which was released as part of the tranche of documents, appeared to show the financier ask her to "issue a reward" to any of Ms Giuffre's friends who "come forward and help prove her allegations are false."
Amongst the allegations listed by Epstein in the email were a "Clinton dinner" and claims described as "the new version in the Virgin Islands that Stephen Hawking participated in an underage orgy."
In Ms Sjoberg's interview under oath, which is called a deposition in the US, she also said Epstein had told her former President Bill Clinton "likes them young, referring to girls".
In other documents, Maxwell could be seen sending an email in January 2015, shortly after a civil claim had been filed against her, in which she described herself as "out of my depth".
She added: "I have already suffered such a terrible and painful loss over the last few days that I can't even see what life after press hell even looks like - statements that don't address all just lead to more questions... what is my relationship to Clinton? Andrew on and on."
The court documents show that during Maxwell's videotaped deposition in 2016, she claimed she could only recall the duke on Epstein's island once.
Asked whether any girls under the age of 18 were present on that one occasion, she replied: "There were no girls on the island at all.
"No girls, no women, other than the staff who work at the house. Girls meaning, I assume you are asking underage, but there was nobody female outside of the cooks and the cleaners."
