The seeds of Andrew’s downfall were sown many years ago, when he began a friendship with financier Jeffrey Epstein in the 1990s.
Andrew once counted both Epstein and his former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell as friends, and the trio were seen on holiday together at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-lago club in Florida in 2000.
In the same year, Epstein and Maxwell attended a party at Buckingham Palace held to mark birthdays including the prince’s 40th.
Flight records show the then-Duke flew on Epstein’s private plane in May 2000.
In 2008, Epstein was sentenced to 18 months in prison for soliciting a minor for prostitution. But the prince continued to be associated with him.
In December 2010, Andrew was photographed with Epstein in New York’s Central Park after his release from jail.
In 2015, Buckingham Palace denied Andrew had committed any impropriety after he was named in court papers relating to Epstein.
Four years would then pass until Andrew addressed his former friend in his “no holds barred” Newsnight interview, which took place just a month after Epstein’s death in a US prison.
The infamous sit-down saw Andrew say he “did not regret” his friendship with Epstein and ultimately sparked his first move away from his royal life, as he stepped down from public duties just days after it aired.
More recently, fresh revelations about his correspondence with Epstein have caused Andrew problems.
Earlier this month, it was revealed Andrew told Epstein “we are in this together” in February 2011 – despite claiming he broke off contact with the paedophile in December 2010.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source news.sky.com ’
