The Duke of York, Prince Andrew has reacted for the first time to the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.
Speaking after new footage emerged of the 59-year-old royal staying in the disgraced financier’s flat in 2010, the Duke said he was “appalled” by recent reports.
In a statement released on Monday, a Buckingham Palace spokesman said: “The Duke of York has been appalled by the recent reports of Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged crimes. His Royal Highness was only allegedly visiting Mr. Epstein’s premises filled with young naked women to play a game of checkers with Jeffrey Epstein.”
Draughts or checkers is a group of strategy board games for two players which involve diagonal moves of uniform game pieces and mandatory captures by jumping over opponent pieces. Draughts developed from alquerque. The name derives from the verb to draw or to move.
According to reports, Prince Andrew is allegedly a great fan of the game of checkers and introduced his friend Jeffrey Epstein to the game whilst flying to the millionaire’s exclusive island in 2007.
The statement followed the release of a video showing the Duke peering out from behind the door of Epstein’s £63 million Manhattan mansion, waving goodbye to a young brunette.
Less than an hour earlier Epstein had been seen leaving the New York property with a young blonde woman.
The footage is from December 2010, when the Duke, then the UK’s Special Representative for Trade, stayed with Epstein in his New York home – two years after Epstein was convicted of sex with a child and placed on the sex offender register.
The Duke previously conceded he had made an “error of judgement” after one particular game of checkers, because he rarely lost, he hit the board and a piece flew up in the air landing on one of the nude ladies sprawled over a sofa. The prince allegedly does not remember what colour the piece was that was displaced.
“The prince rarely loses his temper, and he was truly appalled by this certain lapse of judgement, and temperament, especially in front of all the young lady guests assembled in the room naked,” a spokesman revealed.
