Queen ’embarrassed’ by Prince Andrew Epstein sex scandal but ‘will always protect her favourite son’
THE Queen is "embarrassed" by the Prince Andrew Epstein sex scandal - but "will always protect her favourite son", a royal insider has claimed today.
The 93-year-old is even more hurt by the scandal embroiling the Duke of York than the decision made by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to quit the Royal Family.
A senior source within the Royal Household today revealed the toll the scandal had taken on the Queen as the FBI dramatically hit out at Prince Andrew for providing "zero cooperation" into the Epstein probe.
The source said: "The Queen has been hurt by all the criticism of Andrew far more than the fuss about Harry and Meghan breaking away from the family.
"The reason, quite simply, is that Andrew has always been her favourite son, not least because she spent more time with him than any of her other three children."
The Queen has regularly shown her support of Prince Andrew over the past few months, going on rides with him on the Sandringham estate and bringing him to church with her.
She even used her 59-year-old son as a rock of support at the service just a few weeks ago - days after allowing Harry and Meghan to leave the Royal Family and move to Canada part-time.
The Queen has been hurt by all the criticism of Andrew far more than the fuss about Harry and Meghan breaking away from the family. The reason, quite simply, is that Andrew has always been her favourite son
Royal source
The royal source today pointed out how the Queen's relationship with Prince Andrew had grown since the time he was a child, saying she had been able to devote more time to being a mother by the time he was born in 1960.
They added: "Her family noticed that she had become warmer, more relaxed, which wasn’t always the case when she was bringing up Charles and Anne, who spent more time with their nannies than they did with their mother.
"She’s also very proud of how he conducted himself in the Navy, and his time spent at the Royal Naval College at Dartmouth (a special place for the Queen, as that is where she first fell in love with Prince Philip).
"And later, when he was serving on HMS Invincible, Andrew effectively became the Royal Family’s very own war hero because of his bravery in the Falklands.
"The Queen felt a huge surge of maternal pride about how he conducted himself, putting his life on the line for his country."
'WILLING TO HELP'
Prince Andrew last year insisted he was "willing to help if required"; in the FBI probe into Epstein.
But in a dramatic press conference held outside the disgraced New York financier's mansion, Geoffrey Berman, the US attorney for the Southern District of New York revealed the prince’s lack of cooperation.
He said: “The Southern District of New York and the FBI have contacted Prince Andrew’s attorneys and requested to interview Prince Andrew, and to date, Prince Andrew has provided zero cooperation.”
And even the break-up with Sarah Ferguson did not dim the Queen's favouritism for Prince Andrew.
The source added: "As for the noise surrounding Andrew’s friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, she feels embarrassed on his behalf. No mother wants to hear stories about a son’s sexual relationships with very young women.
"She feels particularly bad that Andrew has given up so much of the work, especially his charities and military roles, because he was carrying out those duties on her behalf - and doing them very well.
"She will always protect Andrew, and they often talk on the phone or when he is at Buckingham Palace, where he still has a flat.
"They speak far more with each other than Edward, Charles or Anne."
ROYAL DUTIES?
IT'S been two months since Prince Andrew vowed he would help in the investigation against his paedo pal Jeffrey Epstein.
But the Duke of York was today thrown into the spotlight as the FBI revealed they had received "zero cooperation" from the Queen's second son.
So what has the 59-year-old royal been doing while US authorities say they were desperately trying to contact him?
Instead of helping the FBI, he seems to have found the time to jet off to Spain for luxury golfing breaks, go horse riding with the Queen, help Princess Beatrice plan her forthcoming wedding, attend royal dinners and enjoy Kate Middleton's birthday bash.
While Epstein victim Virginia Roberts begged him to come clean in August last year, the royal was pictured enjoying a round of golf at the exclusive Real Club Valderrama in Sotogrande, southern Spain.
Prince Andrew finally sat down to answer the mounting criticisms three months later in November - vowing in the Panorama interview that he was "willing to help any appropriate law enforcement agency" in their investigations.
Yet he seems to have done everything but cooperate with the authorities.
In fact just two days later, stripped of his royal duties, he was seen riding with his mother, the Queen at Windsor.
The royal then kept a low profile - not conducting any official engagements since then.
Instead, the keen golfer has been apparently kept busy with family life with his daughter Princess Beatrice's engagement to Mapelli Mozzi.
However, the dad was not seen at the couple's engagement party in December.
Instead, he was only seen heading to Christmas lunch with the rest of the Royal Family at Buckingham Palace.
His schedule then saw him a week later attend the Sandringham church service with the Queen before joining the Royal Family celebrating Kate Middleton's 38th birthday.
The weekend just gone saw him busy with engagements - again spotted riding horses with friends on the grounds of Windsor Castle.
The FBI's accusations sparked fury from Epstein's victims, with the lawyer who represents five of them saying Prince Andrew's lack of cooperation was a "slap in the face".
Meanwhile Sigrid McCawley, who represents Ms Roberts Giuffre, said: "Prince Andrew should take most seriously the deeply held belief in this country that no one is above the law."
She added: "Prince Andrew's continued refusal to cooperate with the authorities after freely acknowledging that he would be prepared to answer enquiries raises even more questions about the role he played in the international sex trafficking ring Jeffrey Epstein and others operated."