Prince William and Princess Catherine have broken their silence about the Epstein files.
The couple didn’t speak to the media directly. Rather, a spokesperson for Kensington Palace released a statement on their behalf.
“I can confirm that the Prince and Princess of Wales have been deeply concerned by the continued revelations,” the spokesperson said. “Their thoughts remain focused on the victims.”
This is the Prince and Princess of Wales’s first public comment about a long-running scandal that has involved the Royal Family directly for several years through former prince Andrew’s friendship with convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, and accusations by Virginia Giuffre that Andrew sexually assaulted her as a teenager who was trafficked by Epstein.
The timing of this statement is noteworthy: Neither Will nor Kate said anything publicly when King Charles formally stripped Andrew of his royal titles last year.
However, Prince William is heading off on a royal tour of Saudi Arabia this week — and given that his father was heckled last week at a royal engagement by someone asking “How long have you known about Andrew?”, this appears to be an attempt to get in front of any similar questions.
It may also be an attempt to avoid what happened to Prince Edward, Charles and Andrew’s brother, last week. He became the first royal to publicly comment on the revelations when a CNN journalist interviewing him at a panel event directly asked him how he was “coping” with the situation.
“Well, with the best will in the world, I’m not sure this is the audience that is probably the least bit interested in that,” Prince Edward responded. “They all came here to listen to education solving the future. But no, I think it’s all really important always to remember the victims and who are the victims in all this.”
In turning the focus back onto the victims — something Andrew has been criticized for failing to do — Prince Edward and the Waleses are echoing the language used by the King and Queen when they announced Andrew was losing his last remaining royal titles in the aftermath of Giuffre’s posthumous memoir.
“Their Majesties wish to make clear that their thoughts and utmost sympathies have been, and will remain with, the victims and survivors of any and all forms of abuse,” the Oct. 30 statement read in part.
Among the censures “deemed necessary” in that statement was Andrew’s eviction from Royal Lodge, the royal residence he has lived in essentially rent-free for decades. Last week, multiple outlets reported that he had officially moved out and into a cottage on the privately owned Sandringham Estate.
Andrew, who denies any wrongdoing, has not commented on the latest round of Epstein revelations. Nor has his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, whose friendly emails to Epstein were also included in the files released.
There has also been a notable silence from Andrew’s daughters, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie. Both women — who would have been in their late teens and early 20s at the time — are mentioned several times in the Epstein files, including in emails from their mother.
