Trade Minister Sir Chris Bryant said Prince Andrew insisted on arriving by helicopter during a visit to Wales even though the late Queen always came by car as he welcomed the King’s decision
Prince Andrew did not deserve any of the titles he has been stripped of, a Government minister has said.
Sir Chris Bryant revealed that the only time he met the disgraced Royal, Andrew insisted on arriving by helicopter – even though the late Queen “always came by car”. Trade Minister Sir Chris said there had clearly been an “abusive position” and said most of the public have wanted his titles removed for years.
He also suggested Andrew should go to the US and answer questions about his links to paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.
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In a bombshell announcement Buckingham Palace said Andrew has agreed to leave Royal Lodge as his links to paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein continue to cause controversy. He will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor.
Sir Chris told Times Radio: “You could have been reading many of these stories for more than a decade now, the accounts of Virginia Giuffre and many, many others to know, and then to see the changing accounts that Andrew has come up with of his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, to realise that there has been an abusive position here, an abuse of trust.
“And I mean, I know he claims he’s innocent, but the honest truth is that an awful lot of us, I think the vast majority of your listeners have been thinking for a very long time that he doesn’t deserve any of these titles and that they should be stripped from him. “
The Government minister said the allegations from sex trafficking victim Virginia Guiffre made it “very, very clear” that he abused his position of trust and “thought he was above the law, so as to gain sexual favours from somebody who was underage”. Ms Guiffre tragically took her own life earlier this year.
Sir Chris said he had only met Andrew once. He recounted: “He came to the Rhondda more than a decade ago. The Queen came several times actually to the Rhondda, and s he always arrived in a car. He insisted arriving in a helicopter. “
He went on to tell BBC Breakfast that Andrew – who he said is now “an ordinary member of the public” – should go to the US to answer questions if asked. He said: “I think that just as with any ordinary member of the public, if there were requests from another jurisdiction of this kind, I would expect any decently-minded person to comply with that request.
“So I feel exactly there same in this situation.” He added: “What I’m basically saying is that I think that if Andrew is asked to do something by a Senate committee, then I would have thought that he would want to comply.”
It is understood that although Andrew denies the accusations, Buckingham Palace considers that there have been “serious lapses of judgment”. In a statement, the Palace said: “Prince Andrew will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor. His lease on Royal Lodge has, to date, provided him with legal protection to continue in residence. Formal notice has now been served to surrender the lease and he will move to alternative private accommodation. These censures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him.”
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