Prince Andrew, not Meghan or Harry, should be pilloried, supporters say

Prince Andrew’s name rocketed to the top of the social media debate about Meghan Markle’s upcoming interview with Oprah Winfrey, with her supporters saying he’s the one who should endure the “character assassination” she’s facing right now at the hands of former royal aides.

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex with Prince Harry arrives at the Royal Albert Hall in London, to attend the Mountbatten Festival of Music in March 2020. (Simon Dawson/Pool via AP, File) 

Supporters’ fury over a royal “smear campaign” against Meghan — and their calls for Andrew to be publicly pilloried instead — was sparked by an explosive report in the Times in the UK Tuesday that said that the duchess was the subject of an official 2018 bullying complaint from several Kensington Palace staff members.

After the American former TV actress married Prince Harry in May 2018, the employees claim they were “humiliated” by her, reduced to tears or experienced “emotional cruelty and manipulation,” the Times reported.

Supporters for the Duchess of Sussex question the timing of the claims becoming public. They believe Meghan is being targeted for speaking honestly to Winfrey about her conflicts with royal life — and possibly about the racism and misogyny she experienced when living in the U.K. Winfrey has said in promotional ads for the CBS special that Meghan will reveal “shocking things” about how her situation became “almost unsurvivable.”

To supporters, Meghan’s interview with Winfrey is nothing compared to the fact that the royal family has long shielded Andrew from serious consequences for his decade-long friendship with the late accused sex trafficker, Jeffrey Epstein.

Photograph appearing to show Prince Andrew Duke York with Jeffrey Epstein’s accuser Virgina Guifre and alleged madam Ghislaine Maxwell. (Florida Southern District Court) (Florida Southern District Court)

The royal family also hypocritically continued to have Andrew, the queen’s second son, represent them at events around the world despite reports over the years that he exploited his status for personal financial gain and cozied up to unsavory figures in business and autocratic regimes.

“Britons are wondering why Buckingham Palace is striking back at Meghan Markle ahead of the Oprah Winfrey interview, yet ‘palace aides’ have been curiously silent on Prince Andrew’s association with Jeffrey Epstein,” tweeted Quentin Fottrell, a New York-based Irish journalist.

“Just waiting for the announcement from royal aides over their shock & horror at Prince Andrew’s close friendship with a sex trafficker & the prince’s notorious free loading,” added British singer-songwriter Tanita Tikaram.

“Sorry media, I’m not going to take a single story about Meghan Markle seriously until Prince Andrew is drop kicked into the sun,” added London-based writer Tasha Suri.

Mike Williams, a British content producer, called the attacks on Meghan “so predictably inane,” adding, “That Meghan Markle, the first non-white member of the British royal family, has been treated far worse than Prince Andrew, a man who was chums with a prolific global pedophile and sex trafficker, speaks absolute volumes.”

Such outrage towards Andrew, reportedly the queen’s favorite child, has been growing in recent weeks. It follows the announcement that Harry and Meghan were asked to relinquish their royal patronages after they finalized their decision to step away from being senior working royals and stay based in California, where they moved last year.

Prince Andrew, Duke of York, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Prince William, Duke of Cambridge attends the annual Remembrance Sunday memorial at The Cenotaph on November 10, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images) 

The queen also stripped Harry, an army veteran who served in Afghanistan, of his honorary military titles.

More than a year earlier, Andrew also stepped away from royal duties, following his disastrous interview about Epstein with a BBC journalist. During the 2019 interview, the Duke of York tried to justify his friendship with Epstein and showed no sympathy for his alleged sex trafficking victims.

Unlike his nephew Harry, Andrew, a navy veteran who fought in the Falklands War, was allowed to keep a number of prominent military appointments, the Daily Express reported.

Through late 2010, Andrew was a regular guest at the financier’s different homes and traveled on his private plane, dubbed “The Lolita Express,” reports show. Andrew also is accused of having sex with Virginia Robert Giuffre, one of the teen-age girls the convicted pedophile and his alleged co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell, groomed to service their famous friends, court records show.

Epstein died by suicide in August 2019 after being jailed on new sex trafficking charges. Maxwell also has been arrested and is in custody, facing trial on sex trafficking charges. The British socialite reportedly introduced Andrew to Epstein, and Andrew said in the BBC interview that he remained in touch with Maxwell up until around the time Epstein was arrested.

The FBI has continued to investigate Epstein’s operation in preparation for Maxwell’s trial this summer. In his BBC interview, Andrew vowed that he would cooperate with the investigation. But a year later, Andrew still had not met with investigators, The Independent reported. 

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Andrew, Duke of York attend Royal Ascot 2017 at Ascot Racecourse on June 22, 2017 in Ascot, England. (Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images) 

“He simply has not kept that promise,” said Lisa Bloom, an attorney who representing some of Epstein’s alleged victims. “Meanwhile, the six victims I represent struggle to repair their lives.”

Following news that Harry had to relinquish his military titles, British historian and author Kate Williams was among those who questioned why Andrew had not faced similar consequences.

She tweeted: “Any news on Prince Andrew relinquishing his military titles?”

In a series of tweets, she balked at the idea that Harry needed to live in the U.K. to fulfill the responsibility of the titles, and pointed out that he holds these responsibilities “dear.”

“He set up the Invictus Games,” Williams said. “The servicemen and women he meets love him.” Instead, Williams said, Harry is getting punished for “standing up for his wife.”

“Andrew admitted consorting with a convicted sex offender,” Williams said. “What has Harry done?”

Even TV personality Piers Morgan, a fervent critic of Meghan and Harry, agreed that Andrew should lose his military titles. He also asked why Andrew is still eighth in line to the throne.

Actually, Andrew has faced some consequences for his Epstein debacle, though they are not likely to satisfy Meghan and Harry’s supporters. After he stepped back from royal duties, he also had to give up his royal patronages and lost the ability to travel overseas or to take part in any public appearances where he is officially represented the royal family or the U.K.

The queen also canceled a large public celebration planned for his 60th birthday last year, and he was excluded from official photographs released of the July wedding of his beloved daughter, Princess Beatrice.

Despite his military titles, Andrew also won’t be invited to participate in the queen’s annual birthday parade in June, the Trooping the Colour, the Times reported. Andrew has featured in the parade in years’ past, but his absence this year will be “another blow to his hopes of returning to public life.”