Prince Andrew to step down as trade envoy, Buckingham Palace confirms

Andrew didn’t respond, but the answer seemed obvious, especially to his handlers in Buckingham Palace, who spotted more serious trouble ahead. Following Virginia Roberts’s allegations that she had been flown across state lines and international borders to commit the criminal act of prostitution, the F.B.I. set the wheels in motion to reopen its investigation of Jeffrey Epstein. As a result of a controversial plea bargain that Epstein struck with prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in southern Florida, he escaped more serious charges such as statutory rape, which could have sent him to jail for life. Instead, he served only 13 months in prison—most of that time on work furlough. If the F.B.I. decided to file new charges against Epstein, it seemed likely that Prince Andrew would be subpoenaed to testify in the United States.

With the prospect of even further humiliation to her and her son, the Queen decided to intervene by employing the most potent instrument at her command: royal symbolism. She summoned Andrew to Windsor Castle and in a private ceremony invested him with the insignia of a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order, the highest possible honor for “personal service” to the Queen. From now on, Prince Andrew will be entitled to use the letters G.C.V.O. after his name and wear a red-white-and-blue sash complete with the order’s star-shaped insignia, made from sterling silver, silver gilt, and enamel.

Under the protection of the Queen, Prince Andrew was untouchable.