Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s links to Jeffrey Epstein have given the Royal Family a bigger crisis than King Edward VIII’s abdication, a biographer claimed today.
Andrew Lownie said public anger is greater about the former prince’s behaviour and his links to the paedophile financier than when the king stepped down in 1936.
Mr Lownie, who wrote ‘Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York’, compared current events to when Edward abdicated to marry US divorcee Wallis Simpson.
The author told the Oxford Literary Festival yesterday that Edward’s abdication was a ‘three-day wonder’ – and the public did not engage with the full details at the time.
Mr Lownie also cited how Edward’s support of Nazis was not yet common knowledge – and how he resigned voluntarily to marry a woman he loved, reported The Times.
The biographer – who also wrote ‘Traitor King: The Scandalous Exile of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor’ – compared this to Andrew being stripped of his royal titles and honours after allegations continued to be revealed about his relationship with Epstein.
Andrew, 66, was released under investigation on February 19 after being held for 11 hours in police custody on suspicion of misconduct in public office.
The former Duke of York was also stripped of his royal title and evicted from Royal Lodge in Windsor by his brother in the wake of the Epstein scandal.
Royal biographer Andrew Lownie is photographed at the Oxford Literary Festival yesterday
A photograph from the Epstein files which shows Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor (left) and Lord Peter Mandelson pictured in bathrobes alongside paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein (centre)
Edward VIII abdicated in 1936 to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson (pictured in 1942)
But Mr Lownie said it was unlikely Andrew will be prosecuted, because the royals will not want him in court saying: ‘Everyone knew about this – why am I being penalised?’
Andrew was spotted over the weekend for the first time since his arrest, cutting a solitary figure as he took his dog for a walk around Sandringham.
The King’s disgraced brother wandered about the countryside for 90 minutes near Wood Farm, part of Charles’s estate in Norfolk, where he now lives.
It was the first time Andrew had been pictured since photos were taken of him slumped in the rear of a Range Rover following his arrest four weeks ago.
Andrew appears to be desperately clinging on to his royal styling, however – hundreds of removal boxes stamped ‘HRH office’, ‘HRH sitting room’ and even ‘HRH meeting room’ were last week delivered to his new abode.
The five-bedroom house has been hastily upgraded in recent days, with security fencing, CCTV and broadband installed as well as works carried out on the grounds.
Last week, Scotland Yard’s chief said it was investigating a ‘whole range of sexual allegations’ against Andrew to see if they ‘merit a criminal investigation’.
Andrew was accused of having sex with Jeffrey Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre three times, including when she was 17, after being trafficked by the paedophile financier.
The former prince was arrested last month on suspicion of misconduct in public office over claims he shared sensitive information with Epstein when he was the UK’s trade envoy – but Andrew has not been arrested in relation to any sex offences.
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