When Prince Andrew resigned from his job at the Royal Navy, his older brother, Prince Charles, offered him a job to work as his aide. But the Duke of York refused to be under the Prince of Wales for the very reason that he didn't want to be the one family member that the future King of England could rely on.
According to reports, Prince Andrew instead took a job as an international trade emissary with senior Labour MP Peter Mandelson sometime in 2001. Ten years later, Prince Andrew resigned from this post in light of his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex offender.
Now, royal experts are convinced that had Prince Andrew chosen to stick with his brother, his fate today could have been a lot different. Had he worked closely with Prince Charles then he might not be in the predicament he is today, with a woman accusing him of sex abuse just like Epstein.
Prince Andrew's friendship with Epstein apparently started in 1999. The Guardian reported that they were introduced by British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's girlfriend at that time.
The royal and the billionaire would often cross paths since their first meeting until Epstein was tried for solicitation of prostitution involving a minor in 2006. Four years later after Epstein was released from prison while on bail, he and Prince Andrew were photographed in Central Park.
Prince Andrew stated in an interview with BBC that he met with Epstein after his prison release to put an end to their friendship. However, reports from The Telegraph revealed that the Epstein, who is a billionaire, paid off the debts of Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York and Prince Andrew's ex-wife.
The Duchess of York issued a public apology over her association with her ex-husband's friend. She also said she will repay Epstein and cut off her associations with him as well.
Since the controversy came out many years ago, Buckingham Palace released several statements on behalf of Prince Andrew. One statement had him admitting he made a grave error of spending time with Epstein despite his sex offender conviction. Prince Andrew also said that he has not personally seen, witnessed nor suspected any disturbing behavior from his friend after his conviction.
In another statement, the Duke of York wanted it known that he is "appalled" by the crimes of his friend. But this came out right after Prince Andrew was spotted in the home of Epstein in New York.
Epstein's other cases remain pending in the U.S. court following his suicide early this year. Prince Andrew could be subpoenaed to shed light on what he knows about Epstein's activities as there are still many unanswered questions.
