Prince Andrew Wants to Avoid 'Publicly Accepting Guilt' for His Ties to Jeffrey Epstein

Prince Andrew's royal career fell apart after he was accused of assault by Virginia Giuffre, and although he has denied the allegations, the Duke of York's popularity continues to rapidly decline.

"What I think he feels is that if he moves out of Royal Lodge it's somehow publicly accepting guilt for which he has not been proved," royal biographer Hugo Vickers told an outlet while discussing Andrew's ties to Jeffrey Epstein. "The ideal situation would of course be that Andrew would volunteer to downsize and move somewhere else."

"Nobody wants him in a public way," Vickers noted.

In 2023, Andrew was asked to vacate his royal estate, but he has yet to move out.

Andrew's 2019 Newsnight interview, where he addressed Giuffre's claims, is often seen as the end of his royal life.

“Andrew wasn't let down by Buckingham Palace. He let himself down," royal commentator Lee Cohen told GB News when discussing the television special. “Other high-profile individuals like Bill Clinton haven’t faced the same examination.”

According to Cohen, Andrew's reputation was "severely impacted" by the episode.

Aside from Andrew's image, Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice were scrutinized for their dad's alleged behavior.

"They've grown into confident and accomplished young women. They're kind of d------- if they do, d------ if they don't in terms of wanting to do charity work or what may be seen as royal duties," royal editor Russell Myers said on "Pod Save the King."

Eugenie and Beatrice aren't working royals but often benefit from their titles.

"And I think when you look at their background, they have had a pretty privileged upbringing, of course, they are their father's children and they have been guilty by association at times," the expert continued.

"It's been a pretty rough ride for them and I think you can look back just a couple of weeks ago when Emily Maitlis said she was cornered by James Blunt, the singer, at a party basically saying 'these two girls have had a rough ride because of their father's misdemeanors and they don't deserve it,'" he noted.

Despite Andrew's fall from grace, Eugenie and Beatrice were able to take on additional royal engagements during Kate Middleton's medical leave.

'"The glaring spotlight will inevitably exacerbate tensions around their work-life balance and boundaries," PR expert Alison Lancaster told GB News. "Beatrice and Eugenie already have thriving careers — adding royal duties to that mix is a serious bandwidth consideration."

"Zara [Tindall] is an internationally competitive athlete, and royals love their landed sporting pursuits," she added. "Then there's the training and professionalization required, polishing everything from their speech skills to modern social intelligence."

Although Kate announced she is cancer-free in September, royal experts continue to wonder if the Princesses of York will be able to become working members of the family.

"These newly minted working royals will be rookie ambassadors for the monarchy," she stated. "One slip-up goes globally viral in seconds nowadays."

"Open communication, adhering to guidance, and deftly navigating personal and professional overlap are mandatory for long-term success," Lancaster added. "Royal promotions would involve singlehandedly redefining public perceptions of what a royal woman looks like in this century."

Vickers spoke to The Sun.