Andrew and Epstein is the story that will not go away

Every time you think the Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor story must have finished, there is another twist.

The latest batch of documents from the Epstein files includes emails that could further damage his reputation.

Or perhaps his reputation is already at rock bottom and this will only reinforce existing negative impressions.

Public opinion might be divided too, in reaction to this drip-drip of pictures and emails.

There might be some who have had enough of all these seedy headlines and do not want any more Andrew all over their Christmas dinner. They have already formed an opinion and this will only provide further confirmation.

While others will see these latest documents as evidence of the need to press even harder into Andrew's links to Jeffrey Epstein and his circle. What more is there to find, they will ask.

There are still outstanding calls for Andrew to give evidence to a US Congress committee and the US Department of Justice. And these latest emails will only add to the questions.

"Have you found me some new inappropriate friends?" someone called A in Balmoral asks Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's friend and companion who is now serving a 20-year prison sentence in the US for sex trafficking.

Maxwell replies: "I have only been able to find appropriate friends. Will let you know about some church meetings on those dates."

She signs off with "kisses", and the emails seem to be between people who are very close.

The identity of A, who also uses the name "Invisible Man", is not made clear and we do not know for sure it is Andrew. And there might be some quizzical looks at some of the language in the emails - for instance "Fall" rather than "Autumn", which is more like American English than British.

But there are lines in the emails that seem to tally with Andrew's biography, such as talking about when he left the Royal Navy.

Elsewhere in the files, there also seem to be documents detailing arrangements in 2002 for a trip to Peru, with calls from Maxwell for discreet introductions to friends when he is there, with the suggestion from Maxwell of "intelligent pretty fun and from good families".

All of that could be read in many different ways, innocent or otherwise. And appearing in these files is not any proof of guilt or misbehaviour.

But part of the challenge with this released information is to put apparently random pieces into some kind of context.

The email sent by "A" asking for "inappropriate friends" was sent in August 2001, which is five months after Virginia Giuffre claims she was forced to have sex with the then Prince Andrew in London at Maxwell's house.

That is a claim that Andrew has always strongly denied and he has always rejected any claims of wrongdoing arising from his links with Epstein.

However, further documents show that the US Department of Justice formally sought to question Andrew, asking in April 2020 for the UK government to assist in getting him to give evidence in cases linked to Epstein.

In the event that he would not voluntarily give evidence, the US authorities asked their UK counterparts to compel him.

There were also detailed questions about Andrew's relationship with Epstein from US authorities, including asking for details for any financial payments between them or any women associated with Maxwell or Epstein.

There could be more questions about what happened to that request. It arrived when the Covid lockdown had just begun and attention was elsewhere.

There has already been some embarrassment for Andrew from the Epstein files, with a picture of him lying on the laps of people in what is thought to be the saloon at Sandringham, with Maxwell in the background.

It is a room in Sandringham where the royals could be gathering this week to watch the King's message and they might have to erase that other image from their thoughts.

So far for Andrew it is more bad news, but perhaps similar to the previous bad news, of which there has been plenty.

A year ago there were multiple "What next for Andrew?" pieces, after his disastrous scandal surrounding his links to an alleged Chinese spy.

And it could not have been foreseen then how much further there was still to fall, with Andrew experiencing the most public loss of status for a royal in modern history.

No-one would have predicted the loss of his titles and his status as prince.

Next year there will be questions about his finances and his Crown Estate lease from the Public Accounts Committee.

And who knows how much more could emerge from this vast cache of Epstein documents?

This is a downward spiral - and every time you think it has ended, has kept going deeper.

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