Prince Andrew is a hypocrite for letting his lawyers frame his Jeffrey Epstein accuser as motivated by money when Queen Elizabeth II is paying his legal fees, a royal author tells Newsweek.
Virginia Giuffre is suing Queen Elizabeth II's son, saying he sexually assaulted her while she was a 17-year-old trafficking victim.
However, the Duke of York's legal team launched an attack on Giuffre's credibility, arguing she "profited from her allegations against Epstein" in a court filing at the end of October.
Nigel Cawthorne, Andrew's biographer, told Newsweek: "Andrew can hardly use that strategy when he has his mother to pay for his defense.
"The money is supposed to be coming from the Duchy of Lancaster which was set up in the 14th century to supply the sovereign with an income for their public duties. Defending your wayward son in an American civil court action, I don't think it is a public duty. The queen has been caught with her hand in the till.
"One has to feel sorry for her, she's recently lost her husband and long-term companion and she hasn't put a foot wrong over all these years and she doesn't deserve any of this at all. I don't quite see what she can do actively apart from stay out of the limelight."
Andrew is preparing to try to get the case thrown out in January but even as his lawyers prepare their strategy, his name has been referenced several times in the high-profile trafficking trial of his former friend Ghislaine Maxwell.
Last week, a photo was released of Jeffrey Epstein with his arm over Maxwell's shoulder relaxing at the queen's log cabin at the 95-year-old monarch's Scottish retreat Balmoral.
Cawthorne told Newsweek: "The interesting question is who took the picture, was it Andrew himself taking it? They are certainly under pressure. It doesn't seem to be in his nature to be forthcoming about these things at all.
"Obviously a picture is worth a thousand words but we did know that Ghislaine and Epstein were brought into the royal world and indeed Harvey Weinstein at one bash."
Ingrid Seward, author of biography Prince Philip Revealed, told Newsweek Prince Andrew may play an increasingly big role in the queen's life following the death of her husband in April.
She said: "As far as the queen is concerned, Andrew's innocent. She obviously thinks that he's not guilty of what he's accused of, he's very guilty of being incredibly stupid. I don't think she's going to hide him away because he's also looked after her. He lives five minutes from her and he's the only one of the family whose got any time.
"He certainly sees her every Sunday for tea. I should think he sees her more often than that. With Philip gone he's there to go and pop up to see if mom's alright. Anything that goes on, she can pick up a phone and he's there."
The October court filing by Andrew's lawyers read: "For over a decade, Giuffre has profited from her allegations against Epstein and others by selling stories and photographs to the press and entering into secret agreements to resolve her claims against her alleged abusers, including Epstein and his ex-girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell.
"Most people could only dream of obtaining the sums of money that Giuffre has
secured for herself over the years.
"This presents a compelling motive for Giuffre to continue filing frivolous lawsuits against individuals such as Prince Andrew, whose sullied reputation is only the latest collateral damage of the Epstein scandal."
The Duchy of Lancaster website states: "The Duchy's main purpose is to provide income for the Sovereign as Duke of Lancaster, although the Sovereign is not entitled to any of the capital assets of the Duchy. Established over 700 years ago, the Duchy of Lancaster is a body created under Charter."
