Historian AN Wilson described the Duke’s conduct as a “major crisis for the monarchy … perhaps the gravest since the abdication of Edward VIII in 1936.”
In the Mail on Sunday, he added: “The King and the Prince of Wales cannot be seen to support or underwrite Andrew any more. “His very existence as an official royal is a scandal. So they must cast him out, for if they show him mercy, they are themselves implicated, and we are only a hair’s breadth away from a republic.”
It is claimed the email exchange came in the wake of the picture being released in the publication of the Duke with his arm around Virginia Giuffre, who was 17, in the London home of socialite Ghislaine Maxwell.
Ms Giuffre at the time said she had suffered sexual abuse at the hands of Epstein for four years. Her introduction to the duke took place on a six-week trip to Europe.
Ms Giuffre said that, following tea at Maxwell’s mews home, they headed to Tramp nightclub in Mayfair.
“Ghislaine served tea from a porcelain pot and biscuits. She knew Sarah Ferguson and they talked fondly about Andrew’s daughters,” she said.
“Then Ghislaine asked Andrew how old he thought I was and he guessed 17 and they all laughed.
“Ghislaine made a joke that I was getting too old for Jeffrey. She said, ‘He’ll soon have to trade her in’.”
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.telegraph.co.uk ’
