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Callarogus Shark Media. Hello and welcome through Pallas Intrigue. I
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am your host, Mark Francis. Newly released documents from the
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US Department of Justice reveal further details about the relationship
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between Andrew Mountbatten Windsor and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein,
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including emails exchanged well after Andrew had publicly claimed he
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had ended contact. The documents include correspondence from twenty ten,
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after Epstein had been released from house arrest following his
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guilty plead to child sex offenses. In an email dated
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September twenty nine, twenty ten, Epstein told Andrew he was
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in London and suggested they meet, saying they need private time.
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Andrew replied that he was having lunch with a Saudi Prinson,
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a secret intelligence firm, before adding we could have dinner
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at Buckingham Palason lots of privacy. In a follow up message,
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Andrew wrote, delighted for you to come here to b
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P Come with whomember and I'll be here free from
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sixteen hundred dish to twenty hundred bps, understood to refer
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to budging in ballas. The newly released material also includes
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an email exchange from twenty ten, in which Epstein offered
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to introduce Andrew to a twenty six year old Russian woman,
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whom he described as clever and beautiful. In December twenty ten,
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Epstein told Andrew he had a female friend he thought
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the Duke would enjoy a meeting. Andrew replied that he
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was in Geneva but would be delighted to see her,
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and asked what information about himself had been shared. Epstein responded,
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She's twenty six, Russian, clever, beautiful, trustworthy. He added that
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he had given her Andrew's email address. Additional correspondence shows
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Andrew and Epstein exchanging messages on Christmas Day twenty ten,
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including family photographs. After a December twenty ten trip to
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New York, which Andrew later described publicly as an effort
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to formally and unequivocally end the relationship, he wrote to Epstein,
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it was great to spend some time with my US family.
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Looking forward to joining you all again soon. The email
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trail continues into twenty eleven. In February twenty eleven, Andrew
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wrote to Epstein, this week is all about me, adding
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time to put something back into me before the rest
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of the world starts sucking it out in all their
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greed and demands. The message was sent at a time
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when Andrew appeared to be thanking Epstein for help resolving
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an issue involving unpaid wages linked to his ex wife,
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Sarah Ferguson. In the same exchange, Andrew also referred to
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entering his annual retreat for the next eight days. The
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timing places the email more than a year after Andrew
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had said he had cut off contact with Epstein, raising
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further questions about the accuracy of those claims. The emails
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also include discussions that appeared to touch on financial matters.
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In July twenty ten, Epstein referred to contacts who were
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super flush with cash, mentioning someone with twenty billion dollars
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and hungry for deals. Andrew replied by referencing potential purchases
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from government of up to three point eight billion each.
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In another exchange, Andrew wrote, so long as they delegate
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any responsibility to invest, then there are no problems. The
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released documents also contain correspondence involving Sarah Ferguson. In two
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thousand and nine, she described Epstein as the brother I
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have always wished for, and later wrote I urgently need
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twenty thousand pounds for rent today. The landlord has threatened
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to go to the newspapers if I don't pay any
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brain waves. That amount equates to approximately twenty six thousand dollars.
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Epstein later claimed he had helped her financially for fifteen years.
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One of the files in the release also includes a
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photograph showing Andrew clothed on all fours over a woman
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lying on the floor. Andrew has always denied any wrongdoing.
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Other emails showed sustained efforts by US authorities to secure
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Andrew's cooperation with their investigation into Epstein. In February twenty twenty,
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an investigation team wrote to Andrew's lawyers, please advise as
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to whether Prince Andrew will agree to be interviewed and
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if so, when such interview will take place. Despite Andrew's
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public statements expressing willingness to assist, no interview to place.
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Legal correspondents and the COVID nineteen pandemic were cited as
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contributing factors. Andrew was stripped of his royal titles last
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year and is in the process of leaving Royal Lodge
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and Windsor Buckingham Palaces. Said he is no longer a
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working royal, Andrew, who has consistently denied any criminal behavior
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more palace. In just a moment in The Express, Jasmine
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Carey writes, while this newly released photograph does not suggest
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any wrongdoing from Andrew, who has always denied allegations regarding
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his friendship with the late convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, it
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is not a good look. Even if he wasn't a
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member of the royal family, a photograph like that would
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be enough to make anyone cringe. So who knows what
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King Charles is thinking this morning as he wakes up
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to see such a photograph of his younger brother. While
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it could be argued that Andrew has already been punished
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enough for similar scandals, losing his Royal Lodge, home and
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royal titles, surely it's now time for King Charles to
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wipe the slate with him completely. I mean, it's not
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a good look for the monarch to pay for his
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brother's new home and renovations when he's appearing in photographs
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like this, is it? I would go as far as
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to say Andrew should now be banished from royal life completely.
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No perks had come from being the king's brother, no
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protection of a home on the royal estate, and definitely
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no allowance if this is something he is getting to me,
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I just don't think there is any adequate justification for
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the photograph. Of course it does not actively imply wrongdoing.
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But what is a man, a prince at the time
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doing being photographed on all fours over a woman splayed
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on the floor like that? What even is the context?
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Because I can't see a twister mat underneath him, which
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to me would be the only reason why I'd ever
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expect to see someone publicly in that position over someone else.
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For Sky News, Rhiannon Mills writes, We've known for some
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time about the closeness between the Yorks and Jeffrey Epstein,
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but if genuine, these emails give a new level of
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insight about their interactions with the convicted pedophile, what they
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share with him, and just how much they saw him
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as a friend and close confidante. From the emails, we
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can see he was apparently welcomed into the fold and
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the inner sanctum of their palace life. From the discussions
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about him lending them money and the exchanges about Andrew
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being set up with women, you can see he was
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clearly trusted with their innermost secrets. It is the obsequious
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turne with which they write to him which will inevitably
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anger the victims. It feels like Andrew and Sarah were
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dependent on him, whether for money or contacts. It appeers
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Epstein had made it that way, made himself invaluable to them,
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which chimes with Sarah Ferguson's claim last year that she
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had to appear loyal because he was blackmailing her. But
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away from what's written in the emails, it's when they
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were written that is also exposing. Just look at the dates,
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and they appeared to challenge Andrew and Sarah's recollections of
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when they apparently tried to cut ties with Epstein. It
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has to be pointed out that Andrew Mountbatten Windsor and
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Sarah Ferguson are inevitably at the top of everyone's search list.
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It means that we are inevitably going to report more
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on documents related to them, and with other high profile
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in individuals also linked to Epstein, they will no doubt
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find that unfair. Perhaps the strongest opinion came from our
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royal inside a deep crown who writes What strikes me
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most forcefully is not the scandal itself, but the accumulation
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of evidence that the monarchy's central defenses have been comprehensively breached.
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These people, Epstein and Maxwell were photographed at Sandringham, at
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Royal ascot hunting at Balmoral. Maxwell attended Princess Beatrice's eighteenth
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birthday celebration at Royal Lodge. These are not public spaces.
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These are the families sanctuaries, their most intimate redoubts. Someone
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always knew, security services knew, private secretaries knew. Yet the
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machinery of monarchy designed to protect the crown instead protected
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Andrew's access to his proclivities. That is not an accident
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of poor judgment, That is institutional rot. Charles has stripped
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Andrew of his titles, evicted him from Royal Lodge, and
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relegated him to the internal exile on the Sandringham estate.
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But Andrew remains eighth in line to the throne bease,
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as removing him requires an act of Parliament. Charles could
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request such legislation, he will not, because what require the
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monarch to formally acknowledge that one of its own is
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unfit for the throne. This is not accountability. This is
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damage control masquerading its principle. William, however, is a different
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proposition entirely. When he ascends to the throne. I expect
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swift action Andrew's exclusion from the succession, formalized through parliamentary
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action or financial support, severed in complete cooperation with any
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ongoing investigations. William understands what his father apparently does not.
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The monarchy's survival depends on its ability to command moral authority.
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The difference between Charles and William can be summarized thus,
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Charles believes in managing problems. William believes in eliminating them.
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The monarchy exists by consent. That consent is not automatic,
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it is not guaranteed, and it's not inexhaustible. Every new
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revelation about Andrew depletes the reservoir a public good will
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just a bit more. Charles's demonstrates that he lacks the
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capacity for the accountability required. One can only hope William
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possesses it, and that he inherits a throne still worth
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the effort of saving. And there you have it. Like
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to email us who addresses the palaceintric at gmail dot com.
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Please follow us on Spotify Apple or the app of
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your choice and check us out on Facebook, Instagram. I
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am Mark Francis my thanks to John McDermott. This is
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palace intrigue and good terms.