Toby Melville/Reuters, Reuters, Jeff Spicer/Getty Images for GFI
A composite image of Prince Andrew, Jeffrey Epstein, and Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York
- Though the late financier Jeffrey Epstein and Prince Andrew have a well-chronicled, controversial 20-year friendship, it has never been clear when and why the two's relationship petered out before Epstein's arrest and death by suicide this summer.
- New details reported by Vicky Ward for CNN suggest that the friendship expired in the spring of 2011, due to a legal scuffle between Epstein and Prince Andrew's ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, who in 2011 admitted to accepting over $9,000 from Epstein to help pay an employee she owed money to.
- In her 2011 statement made to apologize for the transaction, the Duchess of York referred to Epstein as a pedophile, saying "I abhor pedophilia."
- CNN reports that Epstein threatened a defamation lawsuit against Ferguson if the word "pedophile" was not retracted from her statement. He commandeered a legal team that eventually went on to sue the late financier for unpaid bills.
- Prince Andrew has been accused by one of Epstein's most prominent victims of being a willing participant in the alleged sex trafficking operation Epstein commandeered, and she has accused the prince of assaulting her on three separate occasions. Through Buckingham Palace, Prince Andrew has denied her accusations.
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Since the arrest of Jeffrey Epstein in June on charges of sex trafficking and conspiracy, along with his death by suicide in federal prison in August, the friendships he shared with powerful figures have come under increased scrutiny.
One of the most prominent friendships was between Epstein and Prince Andrew, who said in a statement through Buckingham Palace that he met the late financier in 1999 and saw him "infrequently and probably no more than only once or twice a year," staying in more than one of the convicted sex offender's residences.
Prince Andrew continued to see and be photographed with Epstein after his release from prison, when he was convicted on two counts of soliciting prostitution from a minor. In August, the Daily Mail unearthed photographs of the prince at Epstein's Manhattan residence in 2010.
Now, new details have emerged through Vicky Ward's reporting for CNN on when and why the two's friendship petered out, which she concludes was in the spring of 2011.
Apparently, Epstein threatened legal action against Prince Andrew's ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, after she referred to him as a pedophile in a statement acknowledging and apologizing for accepting over $9,000 from the financier in 2011 to pay off an employee she owed money to.