Prince Andrew could be banned from fun activities such as shooting on royal estates after a bombshell email contradicted his claim to have cut off all contact with Jeffrey Epstein.
As calls mounted for Andrew to be stripped of his title of Duke of York, royal insiders revealed that stopping the exclusive gatherings was one option being considered. It comes after the Mail on Sunday revealed a deeply damaging message he sent to the US financier telling him 'we are in this together' a day after the paper first published the notorious picture of the Duke with his alleged teenage sexual assault victim.
Andrew told Epstein in February 2011 he was 'concerned' about the impact the revelations would have on his friend, but reassured the vile billionaire that the pair would 'rise above' press scrutiny. It finally disproves the Duke's claim in his now-infamous interview with BBC 's Newsnight that he 'never had any contact' with Epstein after the pair were pictured walking together in New York's Central Park in December 2010. Just last month the MoS exposed how the Duchess of York wrote Epstein a gushing message calling him her 'supreme friend' - despite telling journalists she would never have anything to do with him again.
The furore has once again raised questions about Andrew's role and lifestyle after he was stripped of his royal duties and use of his HRH title by the late Queen. Now sources have told the Daily Mail that one option being considered is to stop him from hosting shooting parties on royal estates. Andrew was pictured hosting one at Windsor in January 2024 - days after humiliating new court documents relating to Epstein reportedly caused the Duke to 'lock himself away in a room'.
He continues to live at his 30-room Royal Lodge mansion there despite repeated calls for him to be removed. However it is understood that the Duke and Duchess of York will not be welcome at the Royal Family's Christmas celebrations at Sandringham. A YouGov poll over the summer found two-thirds of people favoured stripping Andrew of his remaining titles.
However a private members' bill proposed by York Central MP Rachael Maskell to give the Monarch the powers to do so ran out of time before the general election. Yesterday the Labour backbencher renewed her call for the link between the city and the disgraced Duke to be severed. 'The tragedy is that victims and survivors suffer every day and every time new revelations are made about this horrendous web of abuse and those associated with Mr Epstein,' Ms Maskell told the Daily Mail. 'Honesty and candour seems to be absent in so many people's accounts, furthering the trauma of those who have suffered.
'While the Duke of York carries the name of my city, the ambassadorial connection of such a title does not represent our values here in York. 'It is my simple call for the "Removal of Titles Bill" to enable a break in that connection and for the monarch to remove the title directly or via a grand committee of Parliament.'
In the email to Epstein a day after Andrew was first pictured arm around the waist of 17-year-old Virginia Giuffre, the Duke wrote: 'I'm just as concerned for you! Don't worry about me!'
'It would seem we are in this together and will have to rise above it. Otherwise keep in close touch and we'll play some more soon!!!!'
Historian AN Wilson told the MoS Andrew's behaviour was 'perhaps the gravest' crisis to hit the royal family since the abdication of Edward VIII in 1936.
Vindicating his warning, Graham Smith of campaign group Republic yesterday called on police and MPs to 'throw open the files' and 'fully investigate' what senior royals knew about the scandal. 'The public deserve a full, unrelenting investigation into this shameful saga,' he added. Andrew has so far not commented on the email.
Epstein was found dead in his jail cell in 2019. In 2022, the Duke reached a reported £12million civil settlement with Ms Giuffre - who committed [self-murder] earlier this year - with no admission of guilt.