Prince Andrew's ex-girlfriend claims Buckingham Palace didn't give Duke 'a choice' to fight case

Reports claim Prince Andrew is shunning friends and making decisions ‘in isolation’ about how best to redeem himself.

‘He didn’t have a choice’

It is no secret that in 2019,Prince Andrew gave a rather disastrous interview with Emily Maitlis on BBC Two’s Newsnight. The fallout from the interview, in which he never regretted knowing convicted sex offender Jeffery Epstein, led the Prince to leave Royal duties.

In January 2022, Prince Andrew was accused of sexual assault by Virginia Giuffre, who alleged that she was forced to have sex with the Duke on several occasions when she was only 17.

Prince Andrew has always denied the claims, but in February last year (2022), the Duke reached an out-of-court settlement with no admission of guilt.

Prince Andrew’s ex-girlfriend, Lady Victoria Hervey, who believes in the Prince’s innocence, spoke with Lorraine Kelly on her ITV show, stating that Prince Andrew ‘was not allowed to fight’ the accusations. According to her, Buckingham Palace forced the Duke to settle the case.

She said:

From what I know, he didn't have a choice. He basically didn't get his day in court and was not allowed to fight.

Fears Prince Andrew is ‘becoming a recluse’

Amid the rumours that Prince Andrew is preparing to try and have the settlement overturned, his friends have voiced their concerns that Prince Andrew is becoming a recluse in his bid to clear his name.They said:

He’s seeing nobody; there’s a real element of isolation there, it feels like he’s becoming a recluse.

They believe Prince Andrew is ‘desperate’ to redeem himself and has had difficulty adapting to life outside the Royal fold. A source told The Independent:

There are fears he’s making judgements in isolation and only speaking to his lawyer.

Read more:

⋙ Prince Andrew reportedly 'desperate' to clear his name, but lawyers say it won't happen

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Before adding:

He’s stuck inside this bubble of wanting to have a role in the royal family when he doesn’t have one anymore.

Lady Victoria said on Lorraine that Prince Andrew was never meant to permanently lose his titles, which his friends believe he has difficulty coping with. She claimed:

The titles were supposed to be given back to him. They were never officially going to be taken away. They were only going to be briefly taken away while it was going to be fought, and he was going to be a private citizen in court.

Read more:

⋙ Prince Andrew allegedly wants King Charles to give him back his birth right

His friends worry that the Prince, who practically lives in isolation, is only being advised by lawyers and has no access to PR advice. They believe that the Duke of York ‘does not understand the humility and penance he needs to show following the case’.

Sources used:

- The Independent: Fears Prince Andrew is becoming a ‘recluse’ as he plots challenge to sex assault lawsuit

- Mail Online: Prince Andrew's ex-girlfriend Lady Victoria Hervey claims Buckingham Palace 'did not allow' the Duke to fight Virginia Giuffre case and his performance on Newsnight interview was due to 'no media training'