Here’s a tweet I forgot to include yesterday in my post about Prince Andrew and how the FBI is expanding its Jeffrey Epstein investigation to interview more victims that could either further connect Andrew to Epstein’s crimes or completely exonerate him. Andrew and Buckingham Palace have always maintained that he’s done nothing wrong and saw nothing wrong. So, you know, this should be a welcome development, right? 

Anyway, here’s the tweet: 

There’s probably a long list of “John Does” who don’t want those documents unsealed. 

Anyway, in …ummmm…unrelated news, Prince Andrew is now in Australia to promote his Pitch@Palace project to recruit entrepreneurs. It’s a working visit as he meets with business talent to shortlist the candidates that will eventually be invited to Buckingham Palace to pitch their idea to investors. Taken on its own, I’m sure it’s garden variety networking. And yet, Jeffrey Epstein would have been one of those investors invited to participate in these kinds of networking events. That doesn’t mean Andrew has to stop supporting entrepreneurs; it’s more of an observation about what he considers to be his own skillset, and the kinds of circles he spends time in. We have seen, over the years, what happens in these circles, the kind of privilege shared among the membership, and the excesses of that kind of privilege, along with their consequences. 

I listened to a Guardian podcast this morning about Prince Andrew with an overview of his reputation and how it’s been dodgy even unrelated to the Epstein scandal. He’s kept company with some shady men and the podcast host points out that “[Andrew] was friends with Colonel Gaddafi’s sons and Tarek Kaituni, a Libyan gun smuggler, who he invited to his daughter Eugenie’s wedding last year”. 

As the podcast guest, royal reporter Chris Ship, notes, it speaks to how drawn Andrew is to power and wealth, sometimes over and above good judgment and counsel. The conversation then moves to Prince Andrew’s friendship with Jeffrey Epstein and how Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell were once invited to a royal birthday party at Windsor Castle – and one of the birthdays they were celebrating was the Queen Mother’s! 

He brought that man around the Queen Mother!

And then Epstein is arrested and jailed and Andrew continues to see him when he’s released! The discussion here – as it has been for years – then becomes…why.

WHY?!?

The podcast host asks, is it simply an error in judgment or is it a certain amount of arrogance, that Andrew thought he was “untouchable”? For a few years, it seems like he was. Until 2019. Now we’re talking about the photo again and Andrew’s sh-tty statement that was released a month ago and how he fumbled his explanation of why he continued to see Jeffrey Epstein even after he was convicted for essentially being a pedophile. 

AND the podcast goes to address rumours that the story about Andrew getting into a fight with a palace aide a couple of weeks ago was actually leaked by Clarence House and his brother, Prince Charles!

All of this to say that Prince Andrew’s reputation is seriously damaged, which is a serious understatement. But as Chris Ship says, Andrew keeps trying to just go about his day, trying to wait out the storm, just as he is here in Australia. And the big question is: can he recover? Maybe…if that’s it. If what we’ve learned so far is the extent of it. But the Epstein investigation seems to only just be getting started. What are the chances that by the end of the investigation, Andrew comes out looking like he was just friends with a bad person, that simple? 

Click here to listen to the Guardian podcast on Prince Andrew.