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Scotland Yard and the UK’s Metropolitan Police have dropped their review into the sex-abuse allegations against Prince Andrew (61) and his late paedophile pal, Jeffrey Epstein.
The move comes after its officers spoke with Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who in August filed a civil lawsuit against the royal, accusing him of rape in the first degree.
She says she was 17 and being trafficked by Epstein and his British socialite girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell (now 59), when she was forced to have sex three times with the royal.
The Met had previously examined her allegations but did not open a full investigation, saying it was a matter for the US authorities.
However, after Virginia, who now lives in Australia, filed her lawsuit in New York, Met commissioner Cressida Dick said she’d asked her officers to review the claim, saying, “No one is above the law”.
However, their result was inconclusive and according to a Met spokesperson, “This review has concluded and we are taking no further action.”
READ MORE | How the queen is bankrolling Prince Andrew’s fight in his sex abuse lawsuit
The decision comes just as Andrew has returned home to Windsor from Scotland where he’d been staying with his mother at Balmoral.
The disgraced royal was spotted out horse riding on his estate amid reports he is privately preparing to hand over personal documents to his legal team in the US – a process that could see relatives and royal aides dragged into proceedings.
Meanwhile his fall from grace continues. His siblings – Prince Charles, Princess Anne and Prince Edward – are believed to have “closed the door” on him ever returning to the royal fold.
The queen famously stripped him of all his royal duties in November 2019 shortly after his disastrous BBC interview in which he denied ever having sexual relations with Virginia.
READ MORE | Prince Andrew runs to Mum as sex assault case kicks off
Sources say the scandal is casting a shadow on the queen’s reputation as she is being seen as “protecting” her son, particularly as she is privately funding his expensive legal bills.
“The queen has allowed him at Balmoral and is allowing him to sort of hide in her skirts. And I think that is for her image, particularly in America, it is damaging for her," royal correspondent Katie Nicholl told True Royalty’s The Royal Beat.
Future-heir-to-the-throne Prince William is also said to be “no fan of Uncle Andrew” and has reportedly branded him a “threat to the royal family”.
A preliminary hearing is due to be held next month in New York where Andrew’s legal team will push to have the case thrown out.
Sources: dailymail.co.uk, telegraph.co.uk
