Yahoo News Prince Andrew urged to pack his bags and quit public life
Speaking at a roundtable discussion about the 'Future of the Monarchy' hosted by Yahoo News UK's royal executive editor Omid Scobie, the panel suggested the disgraced Duke of York should have disappeared from public view following allegations of sex abuse against him from Virginia Giuffre.
Joining Omid were author and co-founder of the Women’s Equality Party, Catherine Mayer; King Charles’ biographer and royal editor at The Evening Standard Robert Jobson; and journalist and broadcaster Afua Hagan.
Watch the full clip above.
Video transcript
- Robert, do you think the royal family are bracing themselves for more embarrassment from Prince Andrew? Because in the recent months, we've seen kind of a soft hand towards him. He was alongside the King at the Easter Sunday church service. He's not as out of sight as perhaps I would imagine aides would like him to be.
ROBERT JOBSON: The best thing that Prince Andrew could do at the age of 60-odd is to get his golf clubs and go-- and just retire because-- and stop worrying about whether-- they've done a deal. They've done this deal. Whether it's right or wrong, I don't know. I don't agree with it. I think it should have been the full course of the law.
But as they both took that decision, then I think it's time for him to pack his bags and not have anything more to do with the royal family. He's the least popular member of the royal family. And he shouldn't really even be at the coronation, in my view. I think that he should just accept that his choice of friendship, a convicted pedophile, was unacceptable in the public--
- Two convicted pedophiles.
ROBERT JOBSON: Well, and a sex trafficker I think she was named as.
- Underage sex trafficker.
ROBERT JOBSON: Yeah.
- Splitting hairs here.
ROBERT JOBSON: No, no, but I mean she wasn't convicted of pedophilia. She was convicted of sex trafficking. So all I would say is that friendship was unacceptable. And it's time for him to either go and fight the case legally and get it dealt with once and for all or have nothing more to do with the royal family.
