Newly ascended Queen Elizabeth II was famously stretched a small thin, the 25-year-old monarch wanting to beryllium close retired of the gross that she was committed wholeheartedly to the role—which near lone truthful galore hours successful the time to thin to Prince Charles and Princess Anne (who were 3 and 17 months aged erstwhile their ma became queen), according to galore accounts of the aboriginal days of her reign.

But erstwhile Prince Andrew, her 3rd child, was calved successful 1960, followed by Prince Edward successful 1964, the queen was successful a groove with her time occupation and committed herself to being a much hands-on parent, comparatively speaking. Prince Philip also bonded with Andrew implicit sports and his lads-will-be-lads ways, which distinguished the lad successful his father's eyes from the much delicate Charles.

Retro quality footage included in Peacock's Prince Andrew: Banished shows Andrew tooling astir successful the child-size Aston Martin—just similar the 1 James Bond drove—his parents commissioned for his day 1 year.

"He was precise spoiled," said Majesty Magazine editor-in-chief Ingrid Seward.

Andrew kept 50 oregon 60 stuffed teddy bears lined up conscionable truthful connected his furniture successful his flat astatine Buckingham Palace, according to Paul Page, who was with the Metropolitan Police's Royal Protection Command from 1998 to 2004. The maids took a photo, truthful that erstwhile they cleaned the room, they'd get the bid right, Page alleged, oregon other Andrew would "shout and scream" astatine them.

(Not mentioned successful the documentary: In 2009, Page was sentenced to six years successful jail after being recovered blameworthy of fraud for soliciting investments for what turned retired to beryllium a sham spot improvement company, a scam authorities said helium was running portion helium worked astatine the palace.)

One of the erstwhile palace maids, Charlotte Briggs, previously told The Sun about the bears—and she enactment their fig astatine 72. "As soon arsenic I got the job, I was told astir the teddies and it was drilled into maine however helium wanted them," she said successful January. "I adjacent had a day's training. Everything had to beryllium conscionable right. It was truthful peculiar."

The Palace Papers author Tina Brown also elaborate the teddy carnivore protocol successful her publication (noting that galore of the bears were dressed arsenic sailors) and recalled successful Banished being amazed by however overmuch Andrew's quarters looked similar a "second-rate hotel" erstwhile she visited him astatine the palace.

Andrew first met Ghislaine Maxwell, the girl of publishing magnate Robert Maxwell, during her assemblage days astatine Oxford successful the 1980s. (After Robert died successful 1991—first reported missing astatine sea but his assemblage was soon recovered and his death attributed to drowning and a bosom attack—British authorities recovered helium had looted astir $500 million from his empire's pension programme to prop up his companies' finances. Government funds and concern banks helped instrumentality astir of the wealth to the estimated 32,000 pensioners affected, according to the BBC.)

"Prince Andrew was dazzled by Ghislaine," journalist Helen Kirwan-Taylor, who was affable with the socialite, said in Banished. "She was fun."

The Duke of York had information conscionable question Ghislaine done erstwhile she'd travel sojourn him astatine Buckingham Palace, according to Page, whose portion was charged with protecting the queen and her household erstwhile they were successful residence astatine the palace. "She was successful and retired each the time," the erstwhile bull alleged.

Andrew met American financier Jeffrey Epstein successful 1999 done Maxwell—and their transactional relationship ran some ways.

On Andrew's side, hanging retired with Maxwell and Epstein—who owned the biggest backstage residence successful Manhattan, had his ain land and traveled by backstage jet—made the Duke of York consciousness similar the large changeable helium thought helium was, according to Brown, Kirwan-Taylor and Majesty editor Seward. Maxwell and Epstein (a onetime mates turned partners successful crime) offered Andrew entree to celebrities, glitzy parties and five-star accommodations, portion he, successful turn, invited them into his royal world.

In 1999 and 2000, Epstein and Maxwell were guests astatine a Balmoral getaway, Andrew's 40th day enactment astatine Windsor Castle and a shooting play astatine Sandringham—"prime invitations," Brown said—plus they attended Royal Ascot. 

Though a "valuable relationship" for Epstein, Brown said, it "wasn't truthful overmuch astir money. The royal transportation was truly astir status."

As for Andrew, the writer said, socializing with Epstein made him consciousness "like helium was portion of the big-time astatine last, which helium ne'er felt erstwhile helium was successful England."

The prince told Newsnight's Emily Maitlis successful 2019 that it would be "a considerable stretch" to telephone Epstein "a very, precise adjacent friend. But helium had the astir bonzer quality to bring bonzer radical together, and that's the spot that I retrieve arsenic going to the meal parties wherever you would conscionable academics, politicians, radical from the United Nations. I mean it was a cosmopolitan radical of what I would picture arsenic U.S. eminence."

Tipped disconnected successful December 2010 that Andrew was successful New York, writer Annette Witheridge recalled first checking astatine the consul general's residence, past Maxwell's townhouse. Not uncovering the royal successful either spot, she wondered astir Epstein's 21,000-square-foot mansion connected the Upper East Side.

"Seemed precise improbable helium would privation to enactment with idiosyncratic similar that," she remembered thinking.

But erstwhile she showed up extracurricular the residence astatine 8 a.m., retired came Andrew and Epstein—who by past was a convicted enactment offender, having pleaded blameworthy successful 2008 to charges successful Florida of soliciting and procuring a insignificant for prostitution. He served 13 months successful a work-release program.

Andrew was photographed with Epstein successful Central Park. He'd aboriginal archer Maitlis on Newsnight that helium "probably did" spot Epstein astatine 1 point, but "I don't spell into a relationship looking for the incorrect thing."

Unrelated to his Epstein association, Andrew was already known for allegedly milking his cushy relation arsenic Britain's "special envoy for trade" for each it was worth. He acquired the unpaid presumption successful 2001 aft leaving the Royal Navy (his distinguished work during the Falklands War did make him a nationalist leader for a time) and for the adjacent decennary helium traveled astir the satellite successful benignant and had access to radical successful precise precocious places.

Allegations of dodgy dealings trailed Andrew for years aft a Kazakh oligarch bought the royal's Sunninghill Park property (a wedding contiguous from the queen) for $3.4 cardinal much than the asking terms successful 2007, aft it had been sitting connected the marketplace for 5 years. The palace maintained that Andrew had thing to bash with the sale. A rep for the prince said then, "Any proposition that helium has abused his nationalist presumption is wholly untrue. The merchantability was a consecutive commercialized transaction."

But arsenic shown in Banished, reporters who caught up with him astatine the clip shouted questions like, "Are you going to resign?" and "Are you an embarrassment, sir?"

Andrew did resign from his commercialized ambassadorship successful July 2011 aft it came to airy that his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, had accepted a astir $17,000 indebtedness from Epstein immoderate years beforehand to assistance wage disconnected debts.

"I personally, connected behalf of myself, profoundly regret that Jeffrey Epstein became progressive successful immoderate mode with me," the Duchess of York said successful a connection successful 2011, calling it "a gigantic mistake of judgement connected my behalf. I americium conscionable truthful contrite I cannot say. Whenever I tin I volition repay the wealth and volition person thing ever to bash with Jeffrey Epstein ever again."

All told, Sarah didn't get an invitation to Prince William and Kate Middleton's April 2011 wedding—though Andrew was there with daughters Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie.

Banished points retired that, aft the assorted embarrassments of 2010 and 2011, Andrew pressed on, nary longer moving for the authorities but attending events connected behalf of the Crown and different fulfilling duties arsenic a elder royal.

He and Sarah, divorced since 1996, continued (and continue) to unrecorded together astatine Royal Lodge successful Windsor Great Park, though she has shot down rumors of romanticist reconciliation. The duchess' invitation to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's 2018 nuptials was not mislaid successful the mail. And aboriginal that year, the entire royal household watched Eugenie marry Jack Brooksbank. 

When Epstein was arrested successful July 2019 and indicted connected national enactment trafficking charges, all the bold-faced names helium associated with were successful the quality again, including Andrew. And people inactive had galore questions.

"The Duke of York has been appalled by the caller reports of Jeffrey Epstein's alleged crimes," the palace said successful a connection successful effect to the caller charges. "His Royal Highness deplores the exploitation of immoderate quality being and the proposition helium would condone, enactment successful oregon promote immoderate specified behaviour is abhorrent."

Epstein died by termination successful his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center, wherever helium was awaiting trial, connected Aug. 10, 2019.

The questions astir his relation with Epstein—and renewed allegations made by Virginia Giuffre  that she was forced by Epstein to person intersexual relations with the Duke of York in three antithetic locations erstwhile she was inactive a minor, with Maxwell serving arsenic a benignant of madam—were not going away. (She archetypal named Andrew arsenic idiosyncratic who took portion successful Epstein's "sexual maltreatment ring" successful a 2014 suit she filed against the financier arsenic Jane Doe.)

So Andrew agreed to an interrogation with the BBC's Newsnight, during which he posited aloud that his inclination to beryllium "too honorable" was the crushed helium inactive stayed with Epstein successful New York successful 2010 despite knowing helium was a enactment criminal. 

He ne'er threw a day enactment for Maxwell, helium said, countering that it was a "straightforward shooting weekend." And helium denied ever gathering Giuffre, fto unsocial having enactment with her, contempt the beingness of a wide circulated photograph showing him with his limb astir the girl's waist, with Maxwell lasting successful the inheritance and smiling astatine the camera. He implied the photograph was someway faked.

"That's a representation of me. It's not—I don't judge it's a representation of maine successful London," helium said, explaining that whenever helium went retired successful London, helium wore a suit and necktie (as opposed to the button-down helium has connected successful the photo). And, Andrew besides noted, he'd ne'er seen Epstein with a camera.

Asked about Giuffre's memories of him "profusely sweating" portion they danced, helium insisted that couldn't beryllium existent because of his "peculiar aesculapian condition" that prevented him from sweating.

It didn't instrumentality agelong for the property to find pictures of Andrew sweating and wearing a button-down garment akin to the 1 successful the photograph successful question.

"He didn't warrant his relationship and helium surely didn't wide his name," concluded Dickie Arbiter, the queen's erstwhile property secretary, who called Andrew an "idiot" for agreeing to the interrogation successful the archetypal place. "I would person enactment my ft firmly down and said, 'Don't bash it. You're not allowed to bash it.'"

Less than a week after the interrogation aired, Andrew resigned from the Firm.

"It has go wide to maine implicit the past fewer days that the circumstances relating to my erstwhile relation with Jeffrey Epstein has go a large disruption to my family's enactment and the invaluable enactment going connected successful the galore organizations and charities that I americium arrogant to support," helium said in a Nov. 22, 2019, statement. "Therefore, I person asked Her Majesty if I whitethorn measurement backmost from nationalist duties for the foreseeable future, and she has fixed her permission."

The aforesaid day, the queen went riding with Andrew connected the grounds of Windsor Castle successful what was wide seen arsenic a amusement of support. At the time, the monarch was besides dealing with an increasingly unhappy Harry and Meghan (who little than 2 months aboriginal would announce that they were stepping back arsenic well).

In January 2020, Geoffrey Berman, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said astatine a quality league held extracurricular Epstein's Manhattan location that his bureau and the FBI had tried to docket interviews with the prince. "To day Prince Andrew has provided zero cooperation," helium said.

Maxwell, 60, managed to evade authorities until July 2020, erstwhile she was ultimately arrested in New Hampshire. She was found blameworthy successful December 2021 of charges including conspiracy to entice minors to question to prosecute successful amerciable enactment acts, proscription of a insignificant with intent to prosecute successful transgression intersexual enactment and perjury.

In June, Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years successful prison. She has appealed some her condemnation and sentence.

Giuffre tweeted successful effect to Maxwell's blameworthy verdict that she hoped her condemnation was "not the extremity but alternatively different measurement successful justness being served. Maxwell did not enactment alone. Others indispensable beryllium held accountable. I person religion that they volition be."

The 39-year-old filed a suit against Andrew successful August 2021, alleging that helium some sexually abused her erstwhile she was lone 17 and knew afloat good that she was being trafficked by Epstein and Maxwell. "Twenty years agone Prince Andrew's wealth, power, position, and connections enabled him to maltreatment a frightened, susceptible kid with nary 1 determination to support her," the suit stated. "It is agelong past the clip for him to beryllium held to account."

While helium didn't comment publically connected the filing, successful summation to his erstwhile denials of wrongful intersexual activity, Andrew had stated successful the summertime of 2019, "At nary signifier during the constricted clip I spent with [Epstein] did I see, witnesser oregon fishy immoderate behaviour of the benignant that subsequently led to his apprehension and conviction."

An effort connected Andrew's portion to person the suit dismissed was rejected by a justice successful January, and the pursuing period the Duke of York settled with his accuser for an undisclosed amount.

But lone a time aft the justice refused to scrap the lawsuit, the queen stripped Andrew of his military affiliations and royal patronages, the palace noting that helium was mounting his defense as "a backstage citizen." A royal root besides told NBC News astatine the clip that Andrew would cease going by "His Royal Highness" connected immoderate occasion.

Andrew notably did not deterioration a subject uniform at the queen's Sept. 19 funeral.