British Royalty
No party for the party prince: Andrew turns 62
Britain’s Prince Andrew, Duke of York, turns 62. He always makes headlines. Photo: Steve Parsons/Pool PA/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
Prince Andrew may have imagined his 62nd birthday differently. Although he was able to avert a lawsuit about allegations of abuse against himself with a lot of money, he should hardly be in a party mood.
“Randy Andy”, “Party Prince” and “Airmiles-Andy”: The second eldest son of British Queen Elizabeth II has long had a dubious reputation. But shortly before his 62nd birthday on February 19, Prince Andrew’s reputation has slipped to a temporary low point.
Ironically, in the year of his mother’s 70th anniversary of the throne, the prince, once described as the Queen’s favorite son, is causing her great concern. Although he was able to stop a civil lawsuit in the USA over allegations of abuse with a settlement that was probably worth millions, the damage is immense.
Trial averted in New York
As soon as the news of the comparison was out in the world, speculation began as to how Andrew would raise the estimated sum of up to twelve million pounds (the equivalent of more than 14.3 million euros). It is assumed that the Queen will give him a helping hand. But the distinction between private and public property is not always easy for the British head of state. Therefore, there are already suspicions that Andrew could ultimately benefit from public funds – that would be the next scandal.
Plaintiff Virginia Giuffre accuses Andrew of repeatedly abusing her when she was a minor. She had filed a civil suit in New York. According to her own statements, she was the victim of an abuse ring set up by US multimillionaire Jeffrey Epstein and his ex-girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell and was thus mediated to Andrew.
The prince denies ever having met Giuffre and tried to nip the lawsuit in the bud. When that failed, he announced that he would face a jury trial. An interrogation with the plaintiff’s lawyer was already scheduled for March 10th. But Andrew probably had to bow to pressure from the royal family, who don’t want to see more headlines with juicy details. Andrew stands by his denial. But for many British media, the payment is tantamount to an admission of guilt. «Royal villain pays to abuse victim he never met. How to do it,” headlined the “Daily Star” with a sarcastic undertone.
No flags
It is highly doubtful that the prince will feel like celebrating on his birthday this Saturday. The public will probably not notice anything about his day of honor anyway: Unlike last year, the government in London did not order flags on government buildings for his birthday in 2022. Andrew is already rid of his military rank insignia. He also has to do without the salutation “Royal Highness”. Returning to the inner circle of the Royals is considered almost impossible. There have also been calls for him to relinquish his title of Duke of York.
But there were better times: in the early 1980s, Andrew was still considered the country’s most eligible bachelor. The second in line to the British throne after his older brother Charles, after training as a naval officer, obtained his pilot’s license and served in the Falklands War.
In 1986 he married Sarah “Fergie” Ferguson. The couple had two daughters, Princess Beatrice (33) and Princess Eugenie (31). But the happiness did not last long, they separated in 1992, four years later they divorced. A photo in particular made headlines in which Fergie could be seen getting her financial adviser to kiss her toes in Saint-Tropez. Later, it wasn’t so much love affairs as her constant lack of money that brought red-haired Fergie to the front pages of the tabloids.
Celebrate with the beautiful and rich
Andrew, on the other hand, traveled the world, appeared at numerous parties for the rich and beautiful and became known as the “party prince”. “I don’t know why I got this title because I’ve never really partied,” Andrew later claimed. But numerous photos showing how he surrounds himself with young women at boisterous parties paint a different picture.
Doubts about his judgment were also raised by the fact that he received not only Epstein and Maxwell as guests in the royal palaces, but also Saif al-Islam, the son of the then Libyan dictator Muammar al-Gaddafi, and other family members of Arab autocrats. The sale of his Sunninghill Park estate near Windsor to the son-in-law of the then Kazakh President at a massively inflated price also raised eyebrows. In 2011, he was forced to resign as British Business Ambassador Abroad. He had previously been mocked as “Airmiles-Andy” because of his frequent travel at government expense.
He claims to have gotten the nickname “Randy Andy” (horny Andy) much earlier and quite unexpectedly. On his first day at the elite Gordonstoun boarding school, he got lost in the girls’ wing, he once told a shy television journalist with a mischievous smile. But the days when Andrew could count on his charms to work are long gone.