Senior British politician refused to support Andrew
Angela Rayner, the deputy prime minister of the U.K., called Prince Andrew a ânonceââBritish slang for a pedophileâas she furiously lobbied for him to be stripped of his ability to stand in for the king.
Her outburst is recorded in a new book called Get In, which charts the Labor partyâs rise to power and is serialized in the London Times this weekend.
After the queen died, it emerged that scandal-scarred Andrew had retained his role as emergency stand-in for the monarch despite accusations that Jeffrey Epstein paid a 17-year-old Virginia Giuffre to have sex with the prince.
Rayner, a source says, âthought this was a huge problem, and that the government needed to address this, and that she would offer cross-party support to make sure it happened. Thatâs â to be stereotypical â her working-class view. Sheâs not anti-monarchist, but she doesnât like a [pedophile].â
The palace came up with a non-confrontational fix: the list of so-called âcounselors of stateâ was expanded to include Princess Anne and Prince Edward, so that Andrew would never be required to act on his brother King Charlesâs behalf.
Rayner, realizing that merely adding new counselors of state would imply her endorsement of the existing ones, allegedly told her team: âIâm not going to vote to keep that nonce on ⌠I canât go back to my constituency and say, yeah, I support that.â
Andrew, who settled a lawsuit last year that Giuffre brought against him alleging sexual abuse, has consistently denied the accusations against him and said he had no memory of meeting her.
Letâs play, Andrew told Epstein. Gross
Although Rayner ultimately capitulated on the above matter and signed up to the fix in the end, Raynerâs disgust at Andrew remaining, albeit technically, a counselor of state is widely reflected in the U.K.
It is unlikely to be assuaged by new revelations this week showing that he lied about the ending of his friendship with Epstein.
Andrew told the BBC that he had no contact with Epstein after December 2010 when he visited him in person to tell Epstein the friendship was over, because he was âtoo honorableâ to do it via email or over the phone. Now it emerges that two months later he responded to a cheery email from Epstein with the message: âKeep in close touch and weâll play some more soon!!!!â
As The Daily Beast reported this week, the U.K.âs new ambassador to Washington was also up to his neck in the Epstein mess.
Prince Andrew, the Chinese spy and the $3 billion fundraising scheme
All in all, then, a bad week for Prince Andrewâand thatâs before you get to him allegedly authorizing an accused alleged Chinese spy to leverage his royal name in an attempt to raise an eye-watering $3 billion for an investment fund that would have doled out cash to companies allied with his Pitch@Palace entrepreneursâ scheme.
Permission for the alleged spy to raise the money in Andrewâs name was uncovered in a document found on Yangâs phone by British intelligence services and revealed by the London Times today.
The document said the fund would âleverage the role of the royal familyâ to âplay a significant role in supporting Chinaâs efforts to build international partnerships.â
âThe foundation will rely on the traditional friendly relationships of the British royal family with certain countries to foster friendships and mutual trust between these parties and Chinese partners,â the Times reported that the document said. âThe royal family, being above party politics and unaffected by election cycles, can pursue long-term visions and exert stable, enduring influence.â
The fund intended to establish a âgolden triangle of friendship among the Duke of York, Middle Eastern nations and Chinaâ and to âbreak unproductive technological and talent blockades against China.â
Another newly released document shows that Andrew was viewed by the Chinese state as a âvaluable communication channel.â
Yang was banned from the UK in February 2023. He denies any wrongdoing.
Andrewâs office said in December: âThe duke met the individual through official channels, with nothing of a sensitive nature ever discussed. He is unable to comment further on matters relating to national security.â