EXCLUSIVE: Prince Andrew was reunited with his mother, Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II while keeping a low profile.
The Duke of York headed to Balmoral in the Scottish Highlands after spending five months in lockdown due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, according to reports. However, U.K.-based royal correspondent Neil Sean told Fox News that mother and son did not have a “crisis meeting’ to discuss the 60-year-old’s ongoing scandal involving the late Jeffrey Epstein.
“It’s simply not true,” Sean said. “What the real story is this: the senior members of the royal clan all get invited to Balmoral, the queen’s holiday home, each year. Last week, because of social distancing, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visited. And this week that honor falls to Prince Andrew.”
The royals might not have met to discuss a crisis strategy, but the conversation likely included what the Queen can expect to read regarding the Epstein case, Sean said.
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Britain's Prince Andrew (Reuters/Neil Hall)
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Sean pointed out that Andrew is incredibly close to Elizabeth, 94, and therefore the reunion is not a shocker. According to Sean, a palace insider told him that Andrew allegedly revealed: “I do miss the royal life and the good things that someone in my position was able to help make viable, so hopefully one day I will be able to make a return and carry on doing good.”
A representative for the British royal did not immediately respond to Fox News’ request for comment.
The news comes just days after it was revealed Andrew is still expected to receive the honor of having his birthday commemorated with the ringing of the bells at Westminster Abbey despite his scandal with the late convicted pedophile.
The church has recently released its official bell-ringing schedule, which showed that the Duke of York’s birthday on Feb. 19, 2021, will be honored. This past year, there was an outrage against the celebration for Andrew.
In November, Andrew announced he was stepping down from public life after a disastrous interview with the BBC about his friendship with Epstein.
Britain's Queen Elizabeth II leaves after attending the annual Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey in London, Monday, March 9, 2020. The annual service, organized by the Royal Commonwealth Society, is the largest annual inter-faith gathering in the United Kingdom. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
“It has become clear to me over the last few days that the circumstances relating to my former association with Jeffrey Epstein have become a major disruption to my family’s work and the valuable work going on in the many organizations and charities that I am proud to support,” the statement posted to the royal family’s Twitter account read in part. “Therefore, I have asked Her Majesty if I may step back from public duties for the foreseeable future, and she has given her permission."
The sit-down is still recognized as a total public relations disaster for the Duke of York.
Many in the media were quick to deride the prince for defending his friendship with Epstein and for failing to show empathy for the convicted sex offender’s victims.
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Photo from 2001 that was included in court files released last week shows Prince Andrew with his arm around the waist of 17-year-old Virginia Giuffre who says Jeffrey Epstein paid her to have sex with the prince. Andrew has denied the charges. In the background is Epstein's girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell. (Florida Southern District Court) (U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals)
Virginia Roberts, now Virginia Giuffre, has said Epstein forced her to have sex with Andrew in 2001 when she was 17. She says Epstein flew her around the world on private planes to have sex with powerful men, and that she had sexual encounters with Andrew in London, New York and in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
"It didn't happen. I can absolutely categorically tell you it never happened," the Duke of York said in his interview. "I have no recollection of ever meeting this lady, none whatsoever."
Elizabeth's second son added that his decision to stay with Epstein "was not something that was becoming of a member of the royal family and we try and uphold the highest standards and practices and I let the side down, simple as that."
Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell attend de Grisogono Sponsor The 2005 Wall Street Concert Series Benefiting Wall Street Rising, with a Performance by Rod Stewart at Cipriani Wall Street on March 15, 2005, in New York City. (Photo by Joe Schildhorn/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)
But he also said that he did not regret his friendship with Epstein because of the people he met and all the things he learned, another statement for which he was chastised by the media.
Epstein, 66, died in jail on Aug. 10, 2019, while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking and conspiracy charges that prosecutors alleged involved many girls over several years in the early 2000s.
Andrew’s decision to grant an interview that went into forensic detail about his well-documented ties to a sex offender was a high-stakes gamble in a country where royals traditionally don’t submit to such questioning. When royals speak at all, they usually offer carefully considered comments about charitable works.
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