Prince Andrew over the weekend was pictured riding horse at Windsor Castle, where the Queen and Prince Philip were isolating. The Duke of York was seen arriving at the castle in a Range Rover, alongside a female companion.
Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip have been in the Berkshire residence since they left Norfolk for the lockdown measure in the UK, which would take up to a month. This will mark the only second time that Andrew has been seen in public since the Ghislaine Maxwell files were made public last month.
Prince Andrew, 60, has been accused of failing to help US prosecutors to investigate the underage trafficking of girls and pedophilic activities of the late American financier Jeffrey Epstein and former British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell.
The Duke may have set his troubles with the law aside to relax and ease off tensions. He was seen sporting a black polo neck T-shirt and a face mask as he drove into the residence. Later on, he changed into a black coat and a riding hat while his companion was adorned in Remembrance Poppy and riding slacks.
In one of the many scandals that have rocked the Royal Family recently, a second deposition given by Ghislaine Maxwell linked Andrew with involvement in Epstein sex ring. Maxwell, the former girlfriend of the convicted sex-offender, was said to be the madame in charge of recruiting minors to provide sexual services for Epstein. She is currently in jail in New York awaiting trial on child trafficking and perjury charges.
Last month, prosecutors published the transcript from the first interview, and now, lawyers for Maxwell are fighting hard to keep transcripts of the second interview from the public eye.
However, according to The Sun, one of Epstein’s victims, Virginia Roberts, requests that the transcripts be published in full. Roberts, now known as Virginia Giuffre, claims she had sex with Andrew while she was still a minor – a claim which the Duke of York vehemently denies.
According to a source in the know about the investigations, when Maxwell was grilled back in April, Andrew’s name did come up.
However, a source close to the Duke said he had done nothing wrong and was not afraid of the much-touted scandalous documents being published during court proceedings. When transcripts from the first interview were first released, the 60-year-old Duke had called Ms. Guiffre a liar, saying her allegations were unfounded.
Meanwhile, as the drama continues to unfold in the Royal Family, there are plans by the Queen to get everyone to come together for the Christmas holidays. According to insiders, the Queen had even gone to the extent of arranging group counseling sessions to try and mend the bad blood currently existing in the family.
The Queen realizes that the family might require the services of professionals to help sort out the differences between different groups in the family. While a low key event is planned for Christmas this year, Prince Harry and Meghan, who have since officially exited the family, will not be making it to the traditional festivities in Norfolk.
Source: dailymail.co.uk