‘I can’t take any more of this,’ then-prince Andrew wrote as he was engulfed in Epstein scandal, emails reveal

CTV’s Royal Commentator Afua Hagan on the key takeaways from the recently released Epstein emails relating to his relations with Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.

LONDON — As the man formerly known as Prince Andrew was drawn into the news surrounding sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, he sought to distance himself from the scandal.

“I can’t take any more of this,” a sender identified in Epstein’s contacts as “The Duke” wrote to him in 2011, in one of thousands of partly redacted emails released Wednesday.

Fourteen years later, the former Duke of York has been stripped of all his titles, including the princeship bestowed at birth. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor -- as he’s now known -- was royally demoted two weeks ago by his brother, King Charles III, and faces eviction from the mansion where he’s lived rent-free near Windsor Castle.

But the bad news keeps coming for the man who was once second-in-line to the throne.

The recent trove of documents has renewed the sexual assault allegations against Mountbatten-Windsor and undermined his denials that he ever met his accuser, Virginia Roberts Giuffre. They also reveal some of the efforts made behind the scenes to attack her claims.

Mountbatten-Windsor, the second son of the late Queen Elizabeth II, has vehemently denied all allegations by Giuffre, who took her own life earlier this year. But he did settle a lawsuit out of court that reportedly paid her millions of dollars.

When Mountbatten-Windsor’s ties to Epstein -- who had been convicted of soliciting prostitution in Florida -- were first reported in 2011, he was forced to resign as Britain’s special trade envoy.

The scandal, however, resurfaced in 2019 when Epstein was arrested for a second time on charges of sex trafficking. Giuffre said she was 17 when she was trafficked to have sex with Mountbatten-Windsor.

In a disastrous attempt to clear his name, Mountbatten-Windsor did an interview with the BBC in which he denied ever meeting Giuffre and said he broke off contact with Epstein in December 2010. He was widely criticized for showing no empathy for Epstein’s victims and for offering unbelievable explanations for his friendship with Epstein.

His downfall over the past month began when other emails showed his Epstein friendship lasted far longer than he disclosed. Those revelations were followed by the publication of Giuffre’s posthumous memoir last month that detailed the three times she said they had sex.

The new emails undercut Mountbatten-Windsor’s claim that a now-infamous snapshot of him with his arm around Giuffre’s partly bare midriff was doctored because he couldn’t remember it being taken.

“Yes she was on my plane, and yes she had her picture taken with Andrew as many of my employees have,” Epstein wrote in one 2011 email in which he called Giuffre a liar.

Epstein repeatedly disparaged Giuffre, calling her “nothing more than a telephone answerer.”

He discussed getting a reporter to investigate her, suggesting “Buckingham Palace would love it.”

When the Mail on Sunday sought comment before publishing a story in March 2011 about Giuffre’s allegations, Epstein forwarded the email to a contact listed as “The Duke” that is partly redacted but appears to be Mountbatten-Windsor.

“Please make sure that every statement or legal letter states clearly that I am NOT involved and that I knew and know NOTHING about any of these allegations,” the reply from the email listed as “The Duke” said. “I can’t take any more of this (on) my end.”

When he asked Epstein how he planned to respond to the tabloid’s request, Epstein said he wasn’t sure.

Brian Melley, The Associated Press