Prince Andrew's Latest Outburst Explained

Beleaguered royal Prince Andrew has been advised to settle his sex abuse lawsuit out of court due to concerns he'll humiliate the family if he stands trial. A royal source revealed to The Sun that Prince Charles and his eldest son Prince William are leading the charge, noting, "There are deep, deep worries that this will get worse and worse for the family." Virginia Giuffre, who was also one of Jeffrey Epstein's accusers, alleges that Andrew sexually assaulted her when she was 17. The prince denies all charges. 

Charles and William were reportedly "deeply shocked" to learn that Andrew intended to fight the charges at trial in Manhattan, particularly considering his previous attempt to reckon with the accusations in an infamous BBC "Newsnight" interview — which made things significantly worse. Andrew was recently stripped of his royal patronages and honorary military titles by the Queen herself, leaving him to fight the lawsuit as a private citizen. 

As the source explained, "After the car crash of 'Newsnight,' no one thinks a seven-hour deposition is a good idea." Media lawyer Mark Stephens went even further, warning in an interview with The Daily Mail that a full trial could risk "bringing down the monarchy." Andrew is currently getting ready to give a sworn statement, and his lawyers are hoping the disgraced royal will be allowed to appear in court remotely from Andrew's Windsor home. 

The Duke of York is feeling the pressure from all sides, as evidenced by this revelation over a recent outburst.

According to The Sun, Prince Andrew let loose on a female gardener after being served with papers in relation to his sex abuse lawsuit. The senior royal reportedly took issue with some wrongly cut trees and yelled at the staffer in question, leaving her "shaken and upset." It was just days after Andrew received official notification about the case against him. 

His reaction was "over the top" according to a source, who confirmed the gardener wasn't at fault. As the insider argued, "Andrew is under a great deal of stress but it's no reason to take it out on staff doing their job." They added, "She had nothing to do with the damage and felt it was unfair. After all, it's only a few saplings."

The unnamed gardener was part of a team working on a selection of young trees at the Duke's mansion back in October 2021. According to a source, "Andrew spotted a problem with saplings. He started screaming and shouting, 'What have you done?'" The gardener had a good reputation for being "hard-working" and "conscientious." 

As the insider noted, "You just don't talk to people like that no matter who you are." This is just the latest in a string of revelations from former staffers about his allegedly "entitled" behavior. Among other things, a former maid claimed Andrew made her run up a flight of stairs to close some curtains that were easily within his reach.

Per Vanity Fair, Prince Andrew was initially removed from his royal duties back in 2019, following his appearance on "Newsnight." During that time, Prince Andrew not only denied meeting Virginia Giuffre, but also didn't apologize for his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein. However, after a U.S. district judge ruled that Giuffre's lawsuit against Prince Andrew can move forward, he has been further stripped of his military and royal titles; Prince Andrew will no longer be addressed as "His Royal Highness" in an official capacity.

According to sources, Prince Andrew is expected to "disappear from sight" and will not appear at any of the queen's upcoming Platinum Jubilee celebrations this June. "He knows that he cannot further tarnish the queen's reputation, and that is very much the view of the family. The way they plan to deal with this is to remove Andrew from official royal life and public view," a source told Vanity Fair. "This has been the queen's decision, but it is supported by other senior family members."

While Prince Andrew is reportedly very upset about his mother's decision, an aide shared that the queen knew that this is what must be done. "The queen has a great ability to compartmentalize and deal with problems in a considered and pragmatic way, but this is her beloved son and the decision she has made will be a very sad one for her," they said.

Should the case go to trial, there may be one surprising witness called to testify: Meghan Markle.

Although the Duchess of Sussex is only tenuously connected to Prince Andrew these days — he's her husband's uncle and Meghan is no longer a working royal — Virginia Giuffre's lawyer, David Boies, has good reason for wanting to call her to the stand. "One; she is in the U.S. so we have jurisdiction over her," Boies told The Daily Beast. "Two; she is somebody who obviously, at least for a period of time, was a close associate of Prince Andrew and hence is in a position to perhaps have seen what he did ... [or] to have heard people talk about it."

However, it may not come to that. Boies has indicated that Giuffre would perhaps be willing to settle out of court — but it's not just a question as to Prince Andrew making amends financially, but rather if he is willing to admit to his crimes. "I think that we would be unlikely to settle in a situation in which somebody just handed over a cheque," Boies told The Telegraph (via The Mirror). "So if Prince Andrew maintains 'I've never heard of this person' ... then I don't think that we would want to settle on that basis."