Another survivor, Elizabeth Stein, said the former prince’s humiliation should be followed by more disclosure and further action by US authorities.
“I think the accountability that we’re seeing, that the British people are demanding from Andrew, is really encouraging for us,” he told the BBC.
Stein has also not filed any claims against the former prince. She said Epstein abused her after Maxwell hired her as a fashion student in New York in 1994.
No one can be sure of the number of victims, but there should be no doubt about the damage Epstein and Maxwell caused to the girls and women they attracted into their world. Maxwell was called a monster for the way she sought out teenagers to service Epstein on the massage table. He is now serving 20 years in prison.
The reaction of the survivors is a reminder that the former prince’s fate is only one part of a larger story. The impact on the royal family is dramatic, but King Charles is being praised for his actions: he has defended the monarchy by expelling his brother.
Charging
Only the hyperbolic would frame this as the ruin of the royal family. TO YouGov survey in the UK at the weekend found that 79 per cent thought the King had made the right decision, although 58 per cent also said he had acted too slowly.
So the biggest dilemma for Andrew is not whether he will be able to find a house on the Sandringham estate, but whether he will be called to testify about what he saw during his friendship with Epstein and Maxwell for more than a decade.
Four Democratic members of Congress want him to appear before the House oversight committee for its investigation into Epstein.
“If he wants to clear his name, if he wants to do the right thing for the victims, he will come forward,” one of them, Suhas Subramanyam, told the BBC over the weekend.
Meanwhile, in the UK, He Telegraph reported that former prosecutor Nazir Afzal called for Andrew to face a political investigation into claims made by Roberts Giuffre about sexual relations with the prince in London in 2001.
There is more to discover about what happened. On the weekend, for example, The Wall Street Journal revealed that JPMorgan bankers questioned large cash withdrawals by Epstein as early as 2002. Many of his victims said in their statements to lawyers that he would hand over cash. Epstein was a valued client, so no one stopped his suspicious behavior.
For all the attention on the royal family, the Epstein scandal is all about the network of wealthy enablers who turned a blind eye to what was happening. Or, in some cases, participated.
Being a prince protected Andrew in the past. The gates of Buckingham Palace and the Royal Lodge’s security barrier protected him four years ago, for example, when Roberts Giuffre’s lawyers tried to serve him with documents in their civil lawsuit against him. One of those lawyers, Sigrid McCawley was outraged these barriers to claiming, although he found a way to get around them.
Now, as a private citizen, Andrew may find it harder to evade questions about what he did and what he knew.
Could he land in the United States without being summoned? How will law firms try to get him to present evidence in future claims? The King can give him a home at Sandringham, but he can’t save him from questions about Epstein and Maxwell.
Another survivor, Annie Farmer, wants the former prince to testify. He also wants US authorities to make Epstein’s files public. With her sister Maria, she made the first known report of abuse by Epstein to police and the FBI. That was in 1996 and there has never been a proper explanation as to why nothing was done.
Imagine what the Farmer sisters and others have gone through for three decades, knowing that Epstein could have been arrested.
Farmer spoke about the need for accountability on October 21, when Andrew was still a prince. “If you want to do the right thing for Virginia and the rest of us, you could do something different and say, ‘I have information that I want to share because I think it might be useful,'” he told the BBC.
Charging
In the past, Andrew twice said he would help survivors of sexual abuse.
In November 2019when he stepped away from his royal duties after his calamitous news night In an interview with the BBC, he said in a statement: “I am of course willing to assist any appropriate police agency with their investigations if necessary.”
He said it again in early 2022 when settled – at incredible cost to royal finances – the civil case with Giuffre.
“Prince Andrew regrets his association with Epstein and praises the bravery of Ms. Giuffre and other survivors in defending themselves and others,” the statement concluding that case said. “He pledges to demonstrate his remorse for his association with Epstein by supporting the fight against the evils of sex trafficking and supporting its victims.”
The next phase of this drama will be the attempt to get Andrew to face the questions about the past, or at least help the survivors in some way. The legal search will be the story even if we never hear their answers.
A prince’s promise must be worth something, of course. But that only applies to fairy tales.
Lifeline 13 11 14; Beyond the blue 1800 512 348; Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800; National Counseling Service on Family and Domestic Sexual Violence 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732).
