Prince Charles Under Fire For Reportedly 'Bailing Out' Andrew Over Epstein
Prince Charles was accused of "bailing out" Prince Andrew over reports he is giving his brother most of a $9 million (£7 million) loan for his Jeffrey Epstein settlement.
The future king has been accused of giving Andrew a short-term loan to cover the cost of a settlement in the lawsuit brought by Virginia Giuffre.
The Duke of York is selling his ski chalet, but The Sun reported he may not complete the sale in time and needed to borrow in order to relieve financial pressure.
The U.K. tabloid suggested the Prince of Wales was covering the bulk of the sum but Queen Elizabeth II would also contribute, while no public funds have been used.
Prince Charles' representatives at Clarence House declined to comment on the allegations.
It comes after U.K. broadsheet The Daily Telegraph reported Queen Elizabeth II was making a contribution via her Duchy of Lancaster estate.
Andrew was accused of raping Giuffre when she was a 17-year-old sex trafficking victim but agreed to an out-of-court payment which must be made by March 17, 2021.
Graham Smith, chief executive of Republic, a British pressure group advocating the replacement of the United Kingdom's monarchy with a de facto parliamentary republic told
Newsweek: "The whole thing stinks really. The whole arrangement is to avoid Andrew having to go to court.
"We're now seeing the monarch and the heir bailing out Andrew so he doesn't have to face up to very serious accusations which have not been withdrawn and which he has not proven are incorrect," Smith said. "The accusations still stand.
"The questions still remain about where all this money is coming from and why they're so keen to bail him out to avoid what should happen, which is that he should be made to answer these questions in a court of law."
Nigel Cawthorne, author of Prince Andrew: Epstein, Maxwell and the Palace, told Newsweek any loan was not a good use of money but would not harm Charles' prospects as king in the long term.
He said: "Diverting money to Andrew doesn't seem terribly right to me. We could very well have a bankrupt royal family before we know it.
https://www.newsweek.com/prince-charles-bailing-out-prince-andrew-9m-jeffrey-epstein-pay-out-republic-1685803?amp=1