Prince Edward has become the first member of the Royal Family to publicly address the recently released Epstein documents.
When questioned by CNN’s Eleni Gioko about how he was handling the fallout from the bombshell files, the 61-year-old Duke of Edinburgh called for the focus to be on the victims of Jeffrey Epstein.
Speaking at the World Governments Summit in Dubai, he said: “I think it’s all really important always to remember the victims and who are the victims in all this.”
The royal’s remarks come after approximately three million documents connected to the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein were made public on Friday.
Prince Edward has become the first member of the Royal Family to publicly address the recently released Epstein documents.
|
CNN
These newly disclosed files have drawn Andrew and his former wife Sarah Ferguson further into the controversy surrounding the former Duke of York’s association with Epstein.
The document release represents one of the largest disclosures related to the case, intensifying scrutiny on those connected to the late financier who died in prison in 2019.
Newly released emails appeared to exposed correspondence between Sarah Ferguson and Epstein from July 2010, in which the former Duchess of York appears to say that the Royal Family were attempting to discredit her.
The files appear to reveal the extent of Ms Ferguson’s relationship with the convicted sex offender.
“Just as I always said, no woman has ever left the Royal Family with her head, and the [sic] cannot behead me, therefore they will discredit me,” Ms Ferguson allegedly wrote to Epstein. “Totally to obliteration. I have no words.”
The scandal that prompted the former Duchess of York’s anguished correspondence had erupted two months earlier, in May 2010, when she was caught in a newspaper sting appearing to agree to provide access to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, who was then Prince Andrew.
She had also appeared on television with Oprah Winfrey to discuss her financial struggles.
In her alleged email exchanges with Epstein, Ms Ferguson expressed desperation, writing: “Have you died on me? Don’t… Please you are my pillar.”
She appears to have told him the British press was “ready to exterminate me” and that neither PricewaterhouseCoopers, which had been brought in to audit her finances, nor “the palace system” could handle the negative coverage.
“I am now 1000 per cent being hung out to dry,” she allegedly wrote.
The documents show that Epstein provided Ms Ferguson with £15,000 to settle her debts, including money owed to a former staff member.
Ms Ferguson subsequently acknowledged that accepting this financial arrangement had been a “gigantic error.”
The correspondence appear to indicate that the former Duchess of York expressing considerable gratitude to Epstein for his help with business connections and seeking his guidance on various matters.
Her alleged messages to the financier were notably warm, with Ms Ferguson describing him as a “legend” and “the brother I have always wished for.”
Ms Ferguson has not publicly commented on the newly disclosed correspondence or the details of her visits to Epstein during this period.
The former Duchess of York has previously made clear her regret of knowing Epstein, saying: “I abhor paedophilia and any sexual abuse of children and know that this was a gigantic error of judgment on my behalf… I will have nothing ever to do with Jeffrey Epstein ever again.”