Andrew 'refused to sign off statements supporting abuse survivors', King's friend claims

A friend of King Charles and Queen Camilla has claimed that Andrew Mountbatten Windsor routinely refused to sign off statements that supported survivors of abuse following his disastrous Newsnight interview in 2019. The disgraced royal was stripped of his prince and Duke of York titles by the monarch last week over his links to paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein. In a statement announcing Andrew's exile , the heads of the family publicly shared their "thoughts and utmost sympathies" with "the victims and survivors of any and all forms of abuse". In an interview with The Sunday Times , a friend of the King and Queen revealed that references to victims were removed from all previous statements drafted by courtiers and issued by Buckingham Palace. Any such communication had required Andrew’s sign-off, the source added. The former prince denies sexually assaulting the late Virginia Giuffre , who alleged the offences happened on three occasions - including when she was 17 - after being trafficked by Epstein. The friend told the paper the King had "lost patience" with his brother and that Thursday's shock announcement was "no longer a statement by committee, it’s a statement from the King". They added there had long been a sense from the royal family that "voices of the victims needed to be heard in these pronouncements, because they feature so heavily in this saga". There were worries that the allegations levelled at Andrew would affect the credibility of the Queen and the Duchess of Edinburgh’s work campaigning against sexual abuse. Pressure is now building on Andrew to give evidence before a powerful US Congressional committee. Members of the House Oversight Committee have called for the former prince to reveal what he knew about the actions of Epstein and his accomplice and ex-partner, Ghislaine Maxwell. As well as being stripped of his royal titles, Andrew has been evicted from his residence of 22 years - the Royal Lodge in Windsor. It has been claimed Andrew is set to get a six-figure payout and an annual payment as part of his "relocation settlement" after being forced out of his Crown Estate home. The former prince will receive the one-off payment to cover his move, followed by the regular stipend to prevent him from "overspending in his new life as a commoner", The Guardian newspaper reported. The yearly payment privately funded by the King would be worth several times his £20,000-a-year Navy pension, the paper added.