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The Queen's patience with Prince Andrew is 'wearing thin'
The Queen is reportedly losing patience with Prince Andrew amid the ongoing legal row surrounding his friendship with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The Sunday Times is reporting that the Monarch has been 'privately supportive' of her middle son since he stepped back from public life following a disastrous interview with the BBC back in November.
But a Palace official says there was anger that a leaked official request from the US authorities to interview Andrew over his links to Epstein overshadowed the Duke of Edinburgh's 99th birthday celebrations this week.
A Palace source told the paper: 'The idea that the Queen will simply indulge Prince Andrew...is wide of the mark. Her patience has been wearing thin for a long time.'
Andrew has always denied any wrongdoing in the case and insists he has 'no recollection' of meeting Virginia Giuffre, the woman who claims they had sex on three separate occasions when she was 17.
He responded to the US Department of Justice's leaked official request to testify on Monday (8th June) by saying he has offered to help investigators three times, something which the lead federal prosecutor in New York has since rebuffed.
The Duke of York has also admitted privately for the first time that he should have said sorry in his TV interview with Emily Maitlis, the paper says.
'I don’t think he regrets the intention behind the interview, which was to clear the air for his family, the royal family and the institution,' a close friend of the Duke's reportedly told The Sunday Times. 'But the fact he was unable to appropriately or sufficiently convey his sympathy for the victims of Epstein, is of course a source of regret.'
Andrew says he is unwilling to assist investigators unless they 'rebuild trust' in the legal process.
Epstein had already been sentenced in 2008 for soliciting underage girls for prostitution, but the Prince continued their friendship and was photographed leaving his New York mansion following the conviction.
The billionaire financier took his own life last year, while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
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