Carlos III faces damage the Duke of York inflicted on the Royal Household and his relationship with the ‘Epstein case’
Among the corpses in the closet that Carlos III inherits is the future of Prince Andrew, the member of the royal family implicated in tycoon Jeffrey Epstein’s sex scandal and whose image is synonymous with infamy. The challenge of the new British king, which also faces other European monarchies, including the Spaniards, is how to improve the image of the Crown at a time when social demands no longer condone behavior that was once tolerated. And, moreover, at a time when palaces are no longer checked with a magnifying glass, but with a precision microscope.
Felipe VI voiced this challenge from the monarchies as early as April this year, in the statement disclosing his assets. In that text, he stated that he was walking the “path of modernization” of the Crown “to make it worthy of the respect and trust of the citizens according to the principles of exemplary, transparency, rectitude and integrity of their conduct.” The conduct of Prince Andrew, and by extension the British royal family, is far from these principles.
Andrés, Duke of York, is involved in one of the biggest scandals of the world jet set at the beginning of this century. He was accused of using the network of underage prostitution woven by North American tycoon Jeffrey Epstein and his partner, Ghislaine Maxwell. The prince was prosecuted in the United States after Virginia Giuffre explained in court her sexual relations with the new monarch’s brother when she was 17 years old and was kidnapped by Epstein. The luxury billionaire pimp’s suicide in prison didn’t close a trial that turned into a poisoned dagger pointing at the heart of the British royal family.
Andrés, after publicly claiming that he had never met Virginia Giuffre, had to humble himself. In February of this year, it was announced that he had reached an amicable settlement with the young woman to close the case. While the terms of the pact are secret, British media reported that the prince paid $14 million to avoid a trial that would have exposed his woes the same year Elizabeth II celebrated her jubilee.
This out-of-court agreement has not prevented the erosion of the royal family. Firstly, because it was not explained where the money came from to silence the victim and several newspapers published that the Queen paid them to protect her favorite son. In addition, the media’s verdict was blunt. “Andres will have to live his retirement in disgrace,” wrote The Sun. The BBC accused the royal descendant of “paying rather than clearing his name”.
By this time, the prince had already been suppressed from all his military posts – he came to participate as a pilot in the Malvinas War, in 1982 – as well as appointments to institutions dependent on the Royal House. The title of Royal Highness was also lost. The Duke of York had already withdrawn from public life and with his decision Buckingham removed him from the stage for good. However, his shadow is still poisonous.
In this sense, the Spanish royal family has been more proactive when it comes to moving away from the contagion that the relationship with insincere attitudes poses for its future. This is what happened when the scandals of the then Duke of Palma, Iñaki Urdangarín, now ex-husband of the Infanta Cristina, came to light. In 2011, days before his indictment for misappropriating the funds of the Nóos Institute, the Royal House publicly released its decision to absolve him of all public acts. In 2015, Felipe VI withdrew the Duchy of Palma from his sister, a decision that prevented Urdangarín – who held the title of consort – from using that name again. His divorce from Cristina has permanently separated him from the royal family.
La Zarzuela also had to deal with the situation of the emeritus king, who retired for two years in Abu Dhabi after being hit by several scandals. After their controversial visit to the Sanxenxo regattas in May, Juan Carlos I and Felipe VI held a lengthy meeting in which the former promised to remain discreet.
But other European monarchies also face scandals that undermine their legitimacy in the society they are supposed to represent. Within the European royal houses, there are cases such as that of Belgium, whose king, Felipe, has trouble controlling his younger brother, Laurent. The Belgian government even threatened this grandson of Balduino and Fabiola to withdraw part of his annual allowance if he continued to play with fire by making decisions such as attending Chinese military events against the will of the executive.
In Denmark, the scandal came at the hands of Queen Margaret’s husband, former French diplomat Enrique de Laborde de Monpezat, renamed Henrik after his royal wedding. This prince consort has irritated his subjects by statements in which, for example, he refuses to share a grave with his wife if he dies. The prince has even publicly said, “The queen is making fun of me” or “they pay less attention to me than the cat.”
In Norway, trouble has arisen due to Princess Marta Luisa, the fourth heir to the throne. The young woman was married to Ari Behn, a controversial writer who dressed as a woman for transvestite parties in Barcelona. Marta Luisa divorced in 2016 and has now announced her engagement to African-American shaman Durek Verret.
Source: La Verdad
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