Most people want Prince Andrew banned from attending royal events including Remembrance Sunday, new poll finds
Most Britons think that Prince Andrew should be banned from all royal events, including ones that involve the entire royal family, a new YouGov poll for the Sunday Times has found. 51 percent of the respondents believe the Duke of York should not go to events like the Queen’s official birthday or Remembrance Sunday. 1,677 adults participated in the poll taken last Thursday and Friday.
It's been a tumultuous week for Prince Andrew whose "car crash" BBC interview sent his life into a spiral. He had to step down from his public duties after the catastrophic interview, where he said that he did not even recall meeting accuser Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who has alleged that she was forced to have sex with him when she was 17 years old. The Queen also stripped him of his annual £249,000 (approx $322,000) Sovereign Grant allowance given the outrage over his former friendship with pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.
"It has become clear to me over the last few days that the circumstances relating to my former association with Jeffrey Epstein has become a major disruption to my family's work and the valuable work going on in the many organizations and charities that I am proud to support," he said in an official statement, "Therefore, I have asked Her Majesty if I may step back from public duties for the foreseeable future, and she has given her permission," the statement read.
Denying the accusation, he had said in the interview "I have no recollection of ever meeting this lady, none whatsoever," the 59-year-old had said responding to journalist Emily Maitlis' question where she pointed out that Guiffre had said they had met in 2001, dined and danced together at the Tramp Nightclub in London. She had also said that they had sex in a Belgravia home that belonged to Ghislaine Maxwell, Andrew's friend and Epstein's alleged recruiter.
The survey found that 45 percent believe Giuffre’s allegations of forced sex with only 8 percent believing that he was telling the truth. 58 percent voted that they believe Andrew and pedo[phile Epstein's friendship had hurt the royal family. 30 percent of the pollers said Andrew should be stripped of his royal title, echoing the words of Piers Morgan. A whopping 72 percent also said that Andrew should make himself available to law enforcement investigating Epstein's sex trafficking charges.
