Horrified Meghan Markle wanted to 'curl up under the table' when she heard Prince Andrew's controversial BBC interview
Prince Andrew's comments in a disastrous interview have reportedly put Meghan Markle in an uncomfortable position, according to sources close to her team.
The Duke of York made the ill-advised comments as a response to 'Newsnight' presenter Emily Maitlis asking the Prince if he had sex with Virginia Roberts, now Virginia Giuffre, or any other woman trafficked by Jeffrey Epstein.
According to the Daily Mail, Prince Andrew replied: "No, and without putting too fine a point on it, if you're a man it is a positive act to have sex with somebody. You have to take some sort of positive action and so therefore if you try to forget it's very difficult to try and forget a positive action and I do not remember anything."
The Duchess of Sussex, who has been a vocal supporter of the rights of women and girls, is reportedly uncomfortable by the Duke's justification, according to a report by The Telegraph.
A source close to Markle's team reportedly said: "The interview left everyone watching it wanting to curl under a table. It just got worse and worse and worse." Prince Andrew's alleged victim, Giuffre, had claimed in court documents that she "was forced to have sexual relations with the prince when she was a minor."
The Duke of York's world has been turned upside-down in the days since he made those comments. He has reportedly resigned from his role with his flagship business project Pitch@Palace and he has been forced to step down from life as an active working royal.
The Duke's private secretary, Amanda Thirsk, has reportedly been removed from her palace-funded role so that she can serve as the chief executive of the freshly rebranded Pitch, in addition to managing the Duke of York Inspiring Digital Enterprise Award.
The Prince was expected to travel to the Middle East this weekend as part of his Pitch project but those plans have now been scrapped, reportedly due to pressure from the rest of the royal family.
Prince Andrew's friendship with Epstein has led to a number of organizations including The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) announcing that they would no longer be involved with the troubled royal. But the Duke of York's troubles are far from over as Giuffre is scheduled to be interviewed on BBC's 'Panorama' early in December.