Queen Elizabeth Was 'Deeply Concerned' About Ex-Prince Andrew's Friendship With Jeffrey Epstein Before She Died, New Book Claims

Queen Elizabeth did have a few qualms about her favorite son, the former Prince Andrew, and his ties to dead financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Author Hugo Vickers wrote in his new book that the Queen was "deeply concerned" about Andrew's dealings before she died in September 2022.

Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre accused Andrew, 66, of sexually assaulting her when she was 17 under the guidance of the financier. The late s-- trafficking survivor sued the ex-royal in early 2022, and they settled out of court for an undisclosed amount.

While the former Duke of York always denied the allegations, Elizabeth stood by her son, allegedly believing he had not "behaved improperly."

She allegedly didn't take more action because of her uncertainty.

"Andrew’s problems caused the Queen considerable distress in the last years of her life," Vickers noted. "She was deeply concerned about his future. One idea, developed in the last year of her life, was to set up a foundation that Andrew could administer."

"Despite his car-crash interview on Newsnight, and other apparent revelations, the Queen did not believe he had behaved improperly. It is fortunate that she did not live to witness the denouement," he went on.

In 2019, Andrew was interviewed by BBC anchor Emily Maitlis for Newsnight, where he spoke about Giuffre.

The chat was seen as such a disaster since Andrew denied ever knowing Giuffre.

He also alleged the infamous photo of him with his arm around her, taken in 2001, was fake and likely doctored. In April 2025, Giuffre died after committing suicide, with her posthumous memoir, Nobody's Girl, being released last October.

The late Queen reportedly contributed over $9 million to Andrew's settlement to help pay Giuffre back in 2022, according to The Sun.

About $4 million was also borrowed from Prince Philip's estate. “As far as anyone knows, Andrew still has not repaid a single penny of the millions he borrowed," a source told the outlet in February.

“Andrew’s not paid back a penny," they said. “The money from the royal family bought her silence but denied Virginia her day in court and the chance to openly challenge his account of what happened.”