King Charles paid an emotional visit to Manchester on Monday, October 20, visiting the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue after a deadly attack earlier this month. The outing marked His Majesty's first public appearance since Prince Andrew announced he was giving up his royal titles—and a spokesperson stressed that the public's focus should be on the "community impacted" instead of the "matters" currently making headlines.
On October 2, two worshippers were killed by a knife-wielding attacker at the synagogue, and The King met with community members and emergency services personnel who were there during the tragic event. Following his visit, a palace spokesperson said (via the BBC), "This is The King continuing with duty and service in his longstanding mission to bring communities together particularly in times of challenge."
The Buckingham Palace representative added that King Charles "hopes very much that the focus will be on the community impacted rather than any other matters." However, a royal source told the BBC that the Royal Family is prepping for "more days of pain ahead" as revelations from Virginia Giuffre's posthumous memoir will be revealed with its publication on October 21.
Prince Andrew was accused of sexually assaulting Giuffre when she was just 17 years old and being trafficked by late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. In July, an FBI probe into the Epstein case concluded that no further investigations would be launched "against uncharged third parties," including Prince Andrew.
However, recent emails have brought new information to light regarding Andrew and ex-wife Sarah Ferguson's friendship with Epstein. Per the BBC, some of these messages suggested that Andrew "had sought personal information about his accuser Virginia Giuffre from his police protection officers and that he had already had her social security number."
A palace source told the BBC that the Royal Family was treating the "ongoing claims" against Prince Andrew with "very great concern" and their thoughts were with the "whole network of girls and young women who were abused and treated appallingly."
Speaking to the Daily Mail, royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams said that with many more documents related to Epstein's dealings still unreleased, it could "be an almost endless stream of embarrassment" for the Royal Family.
"There will almost certainly be more public disgust at what is revealed," Fitzwilliams added. "When William becomes King he is likely to pursue a tough policy and we may never see Andrew or Sarah in public again at a royal event."
