1) The Pizza Express alibi
Virginia Giuffre, a victim of Epstein who died by suicide in April, claims in her posthumously published memoir, Nobody’s Girl, that she had sex with Andrew on three separate occasions, including once in London on the night of March 10, 2001, after visiting Tramp nightclub.
He denied being there in a 2019 Newsnight interview with Emily Maitlis, claiming that he was at Pizza Express in Woking on that date with his daughter Princess Beatrice.
This alibi has never been proven or disproven.
Where was he that night?
2) The pay-off money
In 2022, Andrew paid an out-of-court settlement to Giuffre, a woman he claimed he had no recollection of meeting, despite them seemingly being photographed together in 2001. Giuffre claimed in her book that the payout was US$12 million ($20m).
Although there were suggestions at the time that his late mother provided the funds, Buckingham Palace has neither confirmed nor denied this.
Now Rachael Maskell, the Labour MP for York Central, has demanded “a lot of clarity”.
Where did the money come from? Where has Andrew’s income come from?
3) No regular income
Sources close to Andrew and his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, who still lives with him at Royal Lodge despite the couple divorcing in 1996, have repeatedly claimed that he has no regular income.
He was cut off financially by the King last year, leaving his £20,000-a-year naval pension as his only source of declared funds.
Mystery therefore surrounds how they afforded to splash out on a Swiss ski chalet in Verbier in 2015, reportedly bought in a joint mortgage of between £8m ($18m) and £13m.
They sold the Alpine property in 2020 after income streams “dried up”. Ferguson admitted to receiving £15,000 from Epstein, but a newly published email revealed last week that she also asked the sex trafficker for a US$50,000-US$100,000 loan in 2010 “to help get through the small bills that are pushing me over?”.
Since royal wills are sealed, there is no way of knowing how much money Andrew inherited from his grandmother, the late Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, or his parents.
Who has been funding the couple in recent years?
4) The grace and favour home
Why should the couple remain in Royal Lodge when Andrew has only paid a “peppercorn” rent for the past two decades under the terms of the lease he signed with the Crown Estate in 2003?
The agreement allows for him to remain in the Grade II listed property if he pays for its upkeep, including repainting the exterior every five years.
But if he cannot prove he has a regular income, then the deal falls into jeopardy.
Why should somebody with no official royal status – who does not carry out any engagements – remain in a grace-and-favour home?
5) A possible abuse of power
The Metropolitan Police is looking into claims that Andrew asked his taxpayer-funded close protection officer to uncover information about Giuffre after allegedly passing on her date of birth and confidential US social security number.
The revelation came in an email the Prince sent to Ed Perkins, then the late Queen’s deputy press secretary, in February 2011, falsely claiming Giuffre had a criminal record, when Andrew was still the UK’s trade envoy.
If it does emerge that he abused his position, could a claim be brought against him for misfeasance in a public office?
The “tort” or civil wrong occurs when an official abuses their power in bad faith, knowing that their actions will probably cause harm to another.
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