The 'Grand Old Duke of York' Is Back In the Headlines
'The grand old Duke of York, he had 12 million quid, he gave it to someone he never met, for something he never did'
Prince Andrew is all over the news again for his new bid to renege on his millionaire settlement with Virginia Giuffre that ended her civil sex assault suit.
He is said to have amassed an enormous war chest for legal fees to that end. It also surfaced that King Charles I 'will not oppose any legal action Andrew might take to clear his name'.
'The Duke of York has consulted lawyers in an attempt to get Virginia Roberts to retract her allegations and possibly secure an apology (…). He was inspired to act after Ms Roberts dropped her lawsuit against [lawyer Alan Dershowitz] she accused of sexual assault, admitting that she 'may have made a mistake' in identifying him.'
This will make people hate him even more, myself included. But, come to think of it, why wouldn't he do it? Put yourself in his Royal shoes.
Epstein died in jail on the MDC. 'Suicided'. Cameras not working - yeah, right. Jean Luc Brunel died in jail in La Santé, Paris. 'Suicided'. No cameras filming it - so it goes.
Ghislaine Maxwell is serving a 20-year sentence, but - as we will see ahead - totally domesticated in support of 'Andy' - that's life.
Kevin Spacey is still on trial for sex crimes in the UK, but is on his way to cultural reacceptance - has already done a movie and taught a master class in Italy. And he hasn't had to give back his commendations - see what I mean?
And Charles, of course, is King - even though he had a lifetime friendship with Britain's most famous pedophile Jimmy Saville - quod erat demontrandum.
So why, the Grand Old Duke of York may be thinking, is he alone to bear the brunt of events from decades ago? It's a detestable reasoning, for sure, but sounds plausible that he be thinking along those lines.
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Andrew reached a deal on the eve of his deposition in the Virginia Giuffre suit because it would have besmirched beyond recovery his late mother's Jubilee.
But it turned him into an outcast from the Royal Family, and he was stripped of his dear military titles.
Now, the things he set in motion are starting to happen: for one, Maxwell 'gave her first filmed interview from the Florida jail. […] She said the claims against her 'dear friend' Andrew are baseless'.
'I have no memory of them meeting and I don't think that picture is real. It is a fake. I don't believe it's real for a second, in fact I am sure it's not. There has never been an original and further there is no photograph.'
That's pathetic, since judicial evidence has arisen that shows that Maxwell has admitted in the past, in an email to Alan Dershowitz, that the picture was indeed real.
Besides, 'several high-profile forensic experts who have examined the photo, in which Andrew has his arm around a young Ms Giuffre, have said they believe it to be real.'
Members of the Maxwell family also appear to be lending a hand, as they came to public to state that the bathtub in Ghislaine's London apartment - were Virginia Giuffre alleges to have had sex with Andrew - 'was too small for them to engage in sexual activity', being only 1,35m by 38cm (or 53 x 15 inches).
Now, the gag clause in the Andrew-Giuffre agreement expires in early March. And there is serious concern that King Charles' coronation could be negatively impacted by her bombshell memoir.
Giuffre has signed a book deal worth millions, and it is widely expected that it could be released mere weeks before the coronation.
As a knowledgeable publisher told the Daily Mail, 'There will be no bigger occasion for her book than the crowning of the king.'
The cornerstone of any innocence claim Andrew needs to make involves convincing the public that the picture who proves his crime is a fake. And he will have a tough time doing that, as evidence mounts of its veracity.
The 'silver bullet' picture was first published by The Mail on Sunday in February, 2011. It was taken in 2001 by Jeffrey Epstein, using a yellow Kodak camera belonging to Virginia.
She first showed the picture to reporter Sharon Churcher and photographer Michael Thomas, who took more than 30 frames of the original picture.
Thomas: 'It looked like it was ten years old. It wasn't crisp because it had been developed in 2001. She had held on to it for ten years by the time I saw it. For Ghislaine Maxwell to come out and say it was fake is ridiculous. I held the photo. It was a normal photograph. It was a physical print. It exists. I saw it and that's what I photographed and that's what you see now.'
Thomas feels insulted when people allege the photo was not real. 'When they say it's fake, they are saying that I'm involved. They are basically accusing someone of faking it and me being party to it. It's not fake – and it never has been.'
The experienced photographer also turned the picture over and took three shots of the flip side. A stamp reads: '000 #15 13Mar01 Walgreens One Hour Photo'. 'Experts say this proves the original photo was developed at Walgreens […] in one hour on March 13, 2001.'
'Crucially, the date displayed on the picture perfectly fits with the known timeline of Miss Roberts' movements. Flight logs obtained by the Daily Mail in 2019 show that Miss Roberts arrived in London on March 9, 2001, and departed for the US two days later. The photograph of Andrew and Miss Roberts is believed to have been taken on March 10.'
Thomas: 'People are now saying it was just a copy and there was no original photo. Well, I saw the photo. And it was a photo with the information of when and where it was processed on the back.'
The truth matter not much to privileged people like the Duke of York. So, all the confirmation in the world will not stop him on his tracks in the effort to regain his privileges and his honor.
As for Virginias Giuffre, she is an absolute fighter, but she also has not enjoyed good health as of late. I say a prayer for her and for all the sex trafficking victims in this hard, hard world.
Last - but not least - take a look at this other picture above.
Many people have seen it: Harvey Weinstein, Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. What many don't realize is that this picture was taken at the masked ball celebrating the 18th birthday of Princess Beatrice, eldest daughter to Prince Andrew. Yes, because nothing spells royalty better than to celebrate the coming of age of your daughter assembling a great team of world-class sex offenders.