As Prince Andrew relinquishes all his royal roles after being accused of having sex with Virginia Giuffre, then 17, we take a look back at what the late Queen Elizabeth II thought about the allegations made against her son
15:04, 18 Oct 2025Updated 15:10, 18 Oct 2025
From King Charles’s scandalous affair to Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s decision to step back from the Royal family, the Firm has weathered a fair share of controversies over the years. However, none have been as damaging as the sex assault allegations levelled against Prince Andrew.
The Royal found himself in hot water when stories about his friendship with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein resurfaced. In an attempt to quash rumours, Prince Andrew agreed to an interview with BBC Newsnight journalist Emily Maitlis. He was accused of having sexual relations with Virginia Giuffre, who was 17 at the time. Giuffre claimed she was trafficked by businessman Epstein and passed around his circle of friends for sex.
Andrew, who has now relinquished his royal titles in a bombshell move, vehemently denied these allegations. Nevertheless, the interview was widely regarded as a disaster and led to his withdrawal from public life. Now, the scandal has hit the headlines again as an email shows he stayed friends with the paedophile longer than he admitted. It also comes as excerpts from a posthumous memoir by Virginia Giuffre were published. But what was his mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II’s, take on the scandal?
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Queen Elizabeth showed support for her son(Image: Getty Images)
In 2014, court documents alleged that Prince Andrew was among several high-profile figures who had engaged in sexual activities with a girl under 18, later identified as Ms Giuffre. Prince Andrew, however, maintained that he had no memory of ever meeting her and insisted that a photograph showing him with his arm around her waist was doctored.
Epstein took his own life in his prison cell in 2019. And in 2022, Andrew settled the civil sexual assault case brought against him in the US by Ms Giuffre for a reported £12million. The settlement contained no admission of liability, guilt or wrongdoing on Prince Andrew’s part.
Queen Elizabeth supported her son but had just a one-word response to Prince Andrew’s side of the story, according to the Royal family’s close friend and biographer Gyles Brandreth. According to an extract from his 2002 book, Elizabeth: An Intimate Portrait, the late Queen “listened carefully” to her son’s full account of the sorry saga and responded with just one word: ‘Intriguing’.
Relaying a conversation he had with a senior courtier about the controversy, he said: “There was a lot of nonsense talked about no one being at the helm, but the Queen took a firm grip of things.” As revealed by The Mirror, the Queen agreed to help Prince Andrew settle his civil sex case by personally making a £2million donation to Virginia Giuffre’s charity.
Under the terms of the £2million deal arranged by the Queen’s most senior advisors and the Duke of York’s legal team, the Queen agreed to help Andrew as long as she was not connected to any personal payment to Ms Giuffre, it is understood. A Royal insider revealed: “She could not be seen to be making a payment to a victim of sexual assault, who accused her son of being an abuser. But a deal was structured in such a way to arrange a sizeable financial contribution to the settlement by way of a charitable donation instead.”
The Queen agreed to help Prince Andrew settle his civil sex case by personally making a £2million donation to Virginia Giuffre’s charity(Image: Mirrorpix)
Despite her succinct response, the Queen demonstrated her support for her son by accompanying him on a horse ride through Windsor Great Park in the rain, just days after he stepped back from public duties, with photographers conveniently present to capture the moment. Then, on January 13, Buckingham Palace released a statement: “With The Queen’s approval and agreement, The Duke of York’s military affiliations and Royal patronages have been returned to The Queen. The Duke of York will continue not to undertake any public duties and is defending this case as a private citizen.”
This comes as Prince Andrew announced he will now be relinquishing all of his titles, a decision believed to have been made following pressure from both King Charles and Prince William. In a statement given yesterday (Friday, October 17), Andrew said: “In discussion with The King, and my immediate and wider family, we have concluded the continued accusations about me distract from the work of His Majesty and the Royal Family. I have decided, as I always have, to put my duty to my family and country first. I stand by my decision five years ago to stand back from public life.
“With His Majesty’s agreement, we feel I must now go a step further. I will therefore no longer use my title or the honours which have been conferred upon me. As I have said previously, I vigorously deny the accusations against me.”
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