Article content continued

Andrew’s conduct has overshadowed much of the political campaigning for Britain’s parliamentary election on Dec. 12.

In a televised debate on Tuesday night, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the monarchy was “beyond reproach” while opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn said the institution “needs a bit of improvement” and that there were questions to be answered.

Andrew, widely reputed to be the favourite of the queen’s three sons, has been under scrutiny over his friendship with Epstein for the past several years.

Now eighth-in-line to the throne, he quit as Britain’s roving trade ambassador in 2011 after being lambasted for his links to the financier following his jailing in 2008 for child sex offences.

Then in 2015, one of Epstein’s accusers, Virginia Giuffre, said she was forced to have sex with Andrew in London, New York and on a private Caribbean island between 1999 and 2002, when she says Epstein kept her as a “sex slave.”

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or

In his BBC interview, he categorically denied the sex claims and gave a series of explanations as to why her account was not true, such as not being able to sweat and being at a pizza restaurant in the suburban town of Woking, provoking derision and ridicule in newspapers and social media.

He also told the BBC he had met Epstein in 1999 but his private secretary had written to the Times newspaper in 2011 saying they were introduced in the early 1990s.

Rather than drawing a line under the accusations, the interview led to more questions and businesses pulling out of supporting his charities and Pitch@Palace scheme to help young tech entrepreneurs.