Queen Camilla’s worries over how Andrew Mountbatten Windsor’s behaviour would impact her work with sex abuse victims played a role in King Charles’s decision to strip him of his honours and titles, it has been claimed.
Camilla was appalled by Andrew’s ties to paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein and felt the continuous scandal was affecting her ability to carry out public duties, according to The Telegraph.
The Queen has worked for years to support survivors of sexual and domestic violence and highlight organisations supporting victims of rape and sexual assault.
It was recently revealed in a new book that Camilla fought off a man who groped her on a train when she was a teenager.
In a statement to mark the UN Day for the elimination of violence against women in 2020, she said: “Each one of us has a part to play, to do everything in our power to raise awareness, to ‘reach in’ to others, and to support, and be inspired by, those very brave survivors.”
The King stripped his younger brother of his Prince and Duke of York titles in a dramatic move on Thursday night, and a statement from Buckingham Palace stressed both his and Camilla’s thoughts were with victims of abuse.
The statement said: “Their Majesties wish to make clear that their thoughts and utmost sympathies have been, and will remain with, the victims and survivors of any and all forms of abuse.”
Andrew was also made to give up his 30-bedroom Royal Lodge home in Windsor and will move to the private Sandringham estate.
It is understood that the driving force behind the removal was “serious lapses of judgment” by Andrew, and the final decision was made by the King, with support from his wider family, including the Prince of Wales.
Earlier this month, it was agreed that Andrew would relinquish the use of his titles but would remain a prince and retain his dukedom ahead of the publication of the memoirs of the late Virginia Giuffre, who had accused the former duke of sexually assaulting her when she was a teenager. Andrew strenuously denies the allegations.
The Telegraph reported the Queen was “deeply uncomfortable” about leading anti-abuse campaigns, including domestic abuse charity SafeLives, of which she is patron, while Andrew remained a public figure.
The attack on Camilla in the 1960s was revealed in the book Power And The Palace: The Inside Story Of The Monarchy And 10 Downing Street by Valentine Low, a former royal reporter for The Times newspaper.
It is understood that the book was not approved by Buckingham Palace, and the Queen took a pragmatic approach to its publication, but did not encourage it.
A source close to the Queen said: “If some good comes of this publication, which is that the wider issues are discussed, it de-stigmatises the whole topic and empowers girls today to take action and seek help, and to talk about it, then that’s a good outcome.”
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