A heckler accosted King Charles III on Monday and pressed him about Prince Andrew’s ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The king was greeting well-wishers who gathered outside of Lichfield Cathedral in England on Oct. 27, when a man began shouting from within the crowd.
He asked the king specifically how long he had known about Andrew’s friendship with Epstein, and if he asked police to cover up for his brother.
The king did not answer, and the man was shouted down and pulled out of sight. Some in the crowd then chanted “God Save the King.”
Andrew has been facing allegations that he had sex with at least one underage teenager trafficked by Epstein since 2019.
He was later sued by Virginia Giuffre, who alleged that she was forced to have sex with Andrew multiple times when she was just 17 years old. They reached an out-of-court settlement in 2022 which legal experts estimate to have cost as much as US$10 million.
Giuffre’s book, “Nobody’s Girl,” was published last week and details three alleged sexual encounters with the prince, who she described as being “entitled – as if he believed having sex with me was his birthright.” She died by suicide in April at the age of 41.
Andrew, 65, has long-denied the allegations, but stepped down from royal duties after a disastrous interview with BBC News in 2019.
Under pressure from Buckingham Palace and the British government, he was stripped of his role as patron of 230 charities and earlier this month announced that he would stop using the title Duke of York.
Some U.K. politicians also want Andrew evicted from Royal Lodge, the 30-room mansion near Windsor Castle where he lives alongside his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, who will no longer be known as the Duchess of York. The pair have shared the home since 2008.
Questions have been raised about how Andrew pays for the house, which he rents on a long lease from the Crown Estate, a portfolio of properties that is nominally owned, but not controlled, by the monarch.
U.K. tabloids have reported that Andrew has agreed to relinquish the Windsor Castle estate in exchange for two homes. According to The Sun, Andrew demanded Harry and Meghan’s former home, Frogmore Cottage. Meanwhile, Ferguson is said to be eyeing Adelaide Cottage after Prince William and Kate leave next month for their new pad.
Tabloids have also reported that William has amped up the pressure on Andrew and threatened to strip his cousins, Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice, with the removal of their titles if he doesn’t move out of Royal Lodge.
Buckingham Palace was not immediately available for comment.
