Prince Andrew, whose full name is Andrew Albert Christian Edward, has visited China many times and is deeply recognized for China's development and progress, recalling his first visit to China in 2004, calling it a "fascinating experience" and hoping that Sino-British cooperation will bring more development opportunities.
When Prince Andrew led a delegation from LinkedIn countries to the China International Import Expo held in Shanghai, he said: "The Expo allows me to see the changes in China, and China is becoming more and more open and innovative. "This is his most recent visit.
In 1960, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Andrew, Duke of York, the son of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, were born, and in 1979, Prince Andrew served in the Royal Navy and later entered the Royal Air Force Academy to learn flight techniques.
Scandal-ridden
In 1982, Prince Andrew joined the formation and served on the aircraft carrier "Invincible", and in the same year, war broke out in Britain, and Prince Andrew personally rushed to the front line to participate in the battle, which impressed the British masses.
Fearing that the prince would face danger to his life at any time when he went to war, the British government had planned to arrange a civilian job for Prince Andrew and no longer need to be on the front line, but Queen Elizabeth II insisted that Prince Andrew stay in the formation.
Prince Andrew, as a pilot, went to the front line with the aircraft carrier "Invincible", completed combat missions on the battlefield many times, and personally acted as a "decoy" to lure the enemy deeper, putting life and death at risk.
When the Invincible triumphed, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, went to the port to welcome their son home.
Prince Andrew's most talked about deeds is not his exploits, but a huge scandal.
In December 2019, the British BBC broadcast an interview in which Epstein, a victim of the Epstein assault case, sought help from the British people, saying that she had been abused by Prince Andrew three times when she was 17 years old.
Prince Andrew's response to the case in an interview in November: "I have not met or had a relationship with Virginia Roberts, and on the date of Virginia Roberts' complaint, he was outside to a children's party and went home immediately after the end" is not true.
As soon as the interview was broadcast, it immediately caused an uproar in public opinion, and a number of witnesses spontaneously came forward to accuse Prince Andrew, including according to the British "Daily Mail" report, Prince Andrew once invited a masseuse to his bedroom for service.
Masseuse Monica Gianneroni described her first visit to Buckingham Palace, a unimpeded journey that was not searched or asked to register, but was taken directly to Prince Andrew's bedroom.
Speaking of this, she told the media: "Although I am a masseuse, I also have my own professional ethics, and when I learned that the place of work was in the bedroom, I was very worried. ”
Upon arrival, Prince Andrew greeted Monica in person in his robe, shook hands with her kindly, and then went to the bathroom himself, and when he came out, according to Monica, he was "untied".
"When Prince Andrew came out of the bathroom, he was lying naked on the massage table, and I didn't know where to look." Monica recalled.
At the same time, Monica said in the interview that she was also introduced by Epstein to Prince Andrew, and after this massage, Epstein and Prince Andrew had invited her to the yacht party to provide services, out of vigilance, she refused, otherwise she was likely to become one of the victims.
In addition, Monica showed a cheque issued by Buckingham Palace to prove the veracity of her remarks.
In response to the source of public opinion , Virginia Roberts' allegations broadcast on the BBC , Buckingham Palace issued a rare statement denying the matter.
The woman complained to the court that Epstein had violated her rights, that Prince Andrew had acted only as a third party in the matter and had not been included in the defendants, and that the authorities had not made any complaints or allegations against Prince Andrew.
Buckingham Palace claimed that this was an ordinary civil lawsuit and that there had been no final decision, that Prince Andrew was not involved, and that the allegations against Prince Andrew in the case were by no means true.
The case, which Virginia Roberts had already revealed in March 2011, was told in a document filed in a Florida court in the United States that she had the full story.
Virginia Roberts said that she had been "prey" to Epstein at the age of 15, providing $200 per "service" under the title of masseuse, and Epstein repeatedly lent her to her friends, business partners, political friends, and the people she "served" included British politicians, national leaders and so on.
Virginia Roberts, 17, was 17 years old and accompanied Epstein to "serve" Prince Andrew on his private jet and on a private island.
Epstein asks her to report in great detail on Prince Andrew's illegal actions against her, and she suspects that Epstein is trying to survive so that he can threaten to control her in the future.
In court documents, the accusers all appeared anonymously, but the British Daily Mail, The Daily Mirror and others all pointed to her as Virginia Roberts, married, settled in Australia, and had 3 children.
Virginia Roberts had taken a photo with Prince Andrew, and later the photo went viral on the Internet, in which Prince Andrew's hands were wrapped around her waist, and the two postures were very intimate, and it was later revealed that Prince Andrew's massage was "uninformed" Anderson, a masseuse Who also confirmed that the background of the photo was consistent with the room she visited prince Andrew.
According to U.S. investigators, multiple witnesses on the matter have refused to speak, and U.S. Florida court documents show epstein suspected of "actively interfering with witnesses" and using oppressive tactics against women and their subordinates who claim to have been his "prey," forcing them to provide further evidence and testimony.
In addition, Epstein himself declined to testify, and when asked whether he had provided Prince Andrew with an underage woman and allowed him to have sex, and whether he had been on a plane with Prince Andrew and had an underage woman in the cabin, Epstein declined to answer.
In August 2019, Epstein committed suicide while awaiting interrogation in prison.
A long tug-of-war
Although Prince Andrew has been denying the crime, in 2006, the FBI had more than 40 female victims in its investigation of Epstein, the youngest of whom was only 12 years old, and Epstein was only sentenced to 18 months, and Prince Andrew had already been photographed as having a close relationship with Epstein.
The Daily Mail reported that Epstein had a large mansion called the "Fallen House", which was full of toys, and the cleaner said that Andrew needed to prepare a massage bed for him whenever he came here, and his room was full of soap.
As early as August 2008, Epstein was sentenced to prison and released after serving 13 months in prison, and after Epstein was released from prison, the media filmed Prince Andrew strolling with him and talking happily.
In July 2011, Prince Andrew was found staying at Epstein's New York mansion and was photographed by reporters walking together in New York's Central Park.
A legal document states that Prince Andrew and another university professor who had also been "served" had lobbied the U.S. government not to sue Epstein.
Britain's "Sun" revealed that Prince Andrew had spent a vacation with Epstein, when the 40-year-old prince andrew, who already had two children, not only patronized the red light district, but was also photographed hanging out with women on yachts.
In May 1996, Prince Andrew divorced Sarah Ferguson, who had two children, and Prince Andrew was caught in a sex scandal, and the British media dug up his various scandals.
The Daily Mail even listed a number of "gossip girlfriends" after Prince Andrew's divorce and gave him the title of "Prince of Flowers", including some American stars, supermodels, swimsuit models and so on.
All of the above indications show that Prince Andrew and Epstein are in a very close relationship.
And Prince Andrew in front of social media to create himself as a very upright member of the royal family, almost no bad habits, not to mention the wind and moon place, but with the facts of the case exposed, it is obviously not so, in addition to the proven false statements, the authenticity of Prince Andrew's other remarks still needs to be examined.
On June 9, 2020, CNN reported that the prosecutor investigating Epstein's case twice publicly accused Prince Andrew of not cooperating with the investigation, and even "turned the prosecution away", Prince Andrew openly created the illusion of cooperating with the investigation, but the actual action in private was to refuse the invitation to interview many times.
In 2021, Virginia Roberts filed a lawsuit in the U.S. court, saying she was one of the victims of U.S. financial tycoon Epstein.
In addition to charging Prince Andrew, he also accused him of being abused by Prince Andrew at the home of Epstein's assistant 20 years ago, and that Prince Andrew beat her after forcing her, when she was not yet 18 years old.
Virginia Roberts stated that she asked Prince Andrew to take responsibility for everything he did for himself, and hoped that other victimized women would not continue to swallow their anger and be brave enough to speak up and defend their legal rights.
On January 19, 2022, it was reported that Prince Andrew's official account was closed, leaving only the "account does not exist" prompt to prove that this account once existed, and on his personal account, he also indicated his ordinary citizenship.
The British "Independent" once described Andrew's case as "the biggest scandal in the British royal family after the death of Princess Diana", the BBC commented that the reaction of Buckingham Palace this time can be said to be very rapid and very cruel, indicating the determination of the British royal family to break off relations with the accused Andrew.
On January 27, 2022, the British "Daily Mail" reported that Andrew fully denied Virginia Roberts' allegations, making "41 denials" in legal documents, taking a tough stance and asking a jury to participate in the case.
The Daily Mail said that Andrew's "41 denials" against Virginia Roberts' allegations, although it seems very confident, but whether this is the case is debatable, such as his denial of friendship with Epstein's girlfriend, and also denying a relationship with Virginia Roberts, but the two pose intimately in the photo, not like he said "unfamiliar".
In the same month, Buckingham Palace issued a statement that, with the approval and consent of Queen Elizabeth II, the Duke of York, Prince Andrew, had been stripped of his military rank and royal patron status, and had been deprived of the right to use the title of "His Highness", and his position in the royal family would be replaced by members of the royal family, although the title of Duke of York would remain.
On February 15, 2022 local time, Andrew reached an out-of-court settlement with Virginia Roberts.
According to foreign media reports, on March 8, 2022 local time, the judge in charge of the juvenile girl case signed an official document, and Andrew's lawsuit was formally dismissed.
Virginia Roberts can continue to appeal, and Andrew acknowledges Virginia Roberts' victim status and Epstein's crimes, but does not admit that he violated Virginia Roberts, and expresses regret associating with Epstein, promising to make a substantial donation to Virginia Roberts' victims' organization.
At this point, this protracted case has finally come to an end.
But the case was widely involved, spanned over time, and had a wide range of influence, and the reputation of Andrew and the British royal family plummeted.
Some news reports and commentators have pointed out that Andrew will hardly appear in the public eye in the future, that Andrew's actions have damaged the status and image of the royal family, and that he will lose his credibility as a member of the royal family.
The British people also said: "When the scandal of the royal family is exposed, we can glimpse the flaws in the personality of these people and the lack of humanity." "Such a person really doesn't deserve to be a member of the royal family."
In order to completely sever ties with Prince Andrew, the famous "Duke of York Jockey Club" was reportedly to change its name, and this event was founded in 1958 and held every May.
The Daily Telegraph indicated that Andrew would be with members of the royal family at the Garter Medal ceremony, his most recent public appearance, but the public agreed that even with Elizabeth II's permission, the Duke of York's hopes of returning to the spotlight were already slim.
So far, the latest news about Andrew is the news that "Andrew tested positive for covid-19".
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"British Prince Caught in Sex Scandal Case, Many Witnesses Silenced": Modern Express (Nanjing)
"Woman accuses Prince Andrew of sexual assault: he didn't tell the truth": The Paper
"The Aftermath of Epstein's Sex Scandal: Britain's Prince Andrew Prosecuted in New York": China News Network
Tough Tone! Prince Andrew has denied sexual assault allegations 41 times, British media: how debatable the confidence is" : Global Times
"Prince Andrew's sexual assault lawsuit formally dismissed or hundreds of millions of dollars have been paid": Upstream News
Stripped of his rank and royal patronship, Prince Andrew: Stunned: China News Network
"Prince Andrew's Civil Sexual Assault Case Reached An out-of-court Settlement": CCTV news client
"Prince Andrew and sexual assault plaintiff out-of-court settlement, British media: he is difficult to return to public view": Global Network
Draw a line? Andrew's royal Twitter account is closed, and the Duke of York's horse race is to be renamed": Global Times