Camilla would ‘never’ meet Epstein victims during Andrew investigation

Queen Camilla was ‘never’ going to meet with Epstein’s victims due to the risk of ‘jeopardising’ the police investigation into Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, according to the Daily Mail’s Royal Editor Rebecca English.

Both the Queen and King Charles are wary of any sort of meeting during their upcoming US visit while the investigation into the former Duke of York’s alleged misconduct in public office remains ongoing, she added.

On the latest episode of the Daily Mail’s Palace Confidential, Rebecca sat down with host Jo Elvin and Diary Editor Richard Eden to discuss how the ensuing Epstein scandal has affected the broader monarchy.

Following reports that Camilla, 78, could be set to secretly meet some of Epstein’s victims in the next two weeks, Jo asked Rebecca what she ‘read into’ the ‘big elephant in the room’ that it was looking unlikely.

Rebecca responded: ‘Well it was never going to happen. Not that they don’t want it to happen, they don’t feel it can happen on this trip because obviously there is a live ongoing police investigation in this country which does involve the King’s brother.

‘They really don’t want to do anything that could in any way jeopardise it.’

Explaining why any comment by their Majesties could be detrimental, Rebecca noted that the late Queen had once made a remark about a live court case relating to former royal butler Paul Burrell. The case was withdrawn at the last minute.

‘Even if all sorts of insurances were given that Andrew wouldn’t be discussed, you can’t really control what people say after the meeting and they just don’t want to take the risk.’

The Queen has been a longstanding campaigner against domestic abuse and violence against women and girls.

And while a meeting with Epstein’s victims seems currently off the cards for the Queen, Rebecca was clear that ‘the indication is that they will try to meet with Epstein survivors at some point’.

She explained that due to Camilla’s ongoing pledge to raise awareness for Violence Against Women, she will be meeting with domestic abuse and sexual abuse survivors ‘at two or three engagements’ during her US visit from April 27 to 30. 

It comes after Labour peer Baroness Harman, the UK’s special envoy for women and girls, declared that the Queen should meet with Epstein victims to show them that she is ‘on their side’.

Refusing to do so ‘wouldn’t sit with what she does all the time, and what she’s been doing, since long before she became Queen,’ Ms Harman told LBC.

Ex-model Lisa Phillips, an Epstein victim, previously told Radio 4’s Today programme that she was ‘hopeful’ of meeting the Queen.

Ms Phillips, a prominent campaigner, said: ‘She’s always been supportive of the survivors and she’s taken a stand for us so she would be the more likely person to meet with us. So we are hopeful that maybe she will.

‘If I met her I would make sure she understands how important it is for survivors to get some sort of justice. We need transparency. Someone of her magnitude can make sure this moves on quicker.’

A source close to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s legal team said that a meeting with Camilla would have to be private but would be ‘a natural thing for her to do’.

‘Camilla realised early on how toxic his [Andrew’s] links to Epstein were and she was a driving force behind the move to strip him of his titles,’ said the source.

‘The King has always had a degree of sympathy for his brother and would wobble when it came to making difficult decisions, but Camilla has never had any doubts about the fact that Andrew had to be cut out of the family.’

Spencer Kuvin, a lawyer who represents several Epstein survivors, said: ‘Queen Camilla has consistently positioned herself as an advocate for women affected by abuse, and this is exactly the kind of moment where that commitment should translate into action.

‘A meeting with Epstein’s survivors would send a powerful message that their voices matter – not just in courtrooms, but in the corridors of power.’

Buckingham Palace declined to comment at the time. 

On his 66th birthday, Andrew was detained by officers during an 8am raid on his Wood Farm home and became the first senior royal to be arrested in modern times. 

It is understood Andrew was arrested in relation to allegations he passed sensitive information to convicted paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein while acting as a trade envoy for the British government.

He has denied any wrongdoing.  

King Charles issued an unprecedented statement confirming his ‘wholehearted support and co-operation’ with the investigation into Andrew just hours after he was detained.

In March, the Queen gave a powerful speech in defence of the victims and survivors of violence and abuse, saying: ‘Shame must change sides.’

Speaking as president of the Women of the World group at St James’s Palace in London to mark International Women’s Day, she told guests: ‘We stand with you.’

Camilla’s intervention is likely to have been seen as a thinly veiled reference to the Epstein case and Andrew’s alleged role. A Buckingham Palace spokesman said: ‘I think Her Majesty’s speech speaks for itself.’

At a later stage in the Palace Confidential episode, Rebecca suggested that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s quasi-royal tour of Australia had ‘left a nasty taste in a lot of people’s mouths’. 

Rebecca added: ‘I think there would be less objection in royal circles if they were going out as private members the royal family, as Zara does every year when she goes out to her magic millions event on the Gold Coast and is quite open, she’s there working. 

‘But it’s this whole pseudo royal tour that’s been around it. I mean, when you look at what they’ve done in the first couple of days, visiting a hospital and meeting with poorly children. You know,You know, tick, doing kind of mental health Harry kicking a football. Tick. 

‘When you see the pictures of Harry doing a wreath laying at the Australian War Memorial, you can you would literally have thought those photographs were taken when he and Megan visited Australia for the first time as working Royals in 2018.’

Jo added that she had been left particularly ‘puzzled’ by Harry’s assertions that this was the ‘kind of life that he said he didn’t want to be a part of’. 

‘But it’s the only life I think he knows,’ responded Rebecca.

She continued: ‘I think what’s what’s really annoyed people is they have had these, these clutch of very royal tour style engagements that have actually really placed as headline news in Australia and elsewhere. 

‘And on the back of that, they’re kind of piggybacking these commercial enterprises, and I think that has left quite a nasty taste in a lot of people’s mouths.’

Rebecca also added that while Harry has openly spoken favourably about the benefits of therapy during him and Meghan’s Australia visit, ‘it’s worth noting that he (Prince Harry) does actually have a paid gig as an ambassador for an online therapy organisation’.

While speaking at the InterEdge Summit at Melbourne Park on Thursday, Harry revealed: ‘After my mum died just before my 13th birthday – I was like: “I don’t want this job. I don’t want this role – wherever this is headed, I don’t like it”.

‘It killed my mum, and I was very much against it, and I stuck my head in the sand for years and years.

‘Eventually I realised – well, hang on, if there was somebody else in this position, how would they be making the most of this platform and this ability and the resources that come with it to make a difference in the world?

‘And also, what would my mum want me to do? And that really changed my own perspective.’

Meanwhile, Meghan opened up about the aggressive online bullying she has received for a decade.

‘Every day for 10 years, I have been bullied and attacked,’ she said during a circle discussion about social media and mental health at the wellbeing program Baytr.

‘I was the most trolled person in the entire world.’