The Harry, William, and Meghan drama has dominated Royal headlines these past few days, but that doesn’t mean Prince Andrew is off the hook.

He would probably have known that The Prince and the Paedophile was due to air this week, although chances are the Channel 4 documentary wasn’t aired on any tellies in Buckingham Palace.

Still, it was widely watched around Britain, with the Telegraph saying it made for “uncomfortable viewing”.

Sounds about right, given the subject matter:

Presented by Cathy Newman, the programme dug deep into Epstein and Andrew’s 12-year association, comparing Epstein’s address books and flight logs with the Duke’s schedule. The results weren’t flattering for the Queen’s second son.

The pair met on at least a dozen occasions, often for days on end. Locations included Epstein’s Palm Beach mansion (home to his “massage room”, where many girls were abused for the first time) and his private island, where it has been claimed the Duke took part in an orgy (the Duke of York has strongly denied this and the claim was ruled inadmissible in the court in which it was made). In return, Epstein was invited into the heart of the British establishment, with visits to Windsor and Sandringham.

The 2001 photo of Virginia Roberts Giuffre with Prince Andrew remains one of the most damning bits of evidence out there, which is why his supporters have claimed it’s a fake.

Here’s how that review wraps up:

The overriding impression, as so often with famous sex offenders, was of Epstein’s hubris. He seemed to believe that his wealth and influential friends made him untouchable. While there may be no solid evidence against Andrew, he was perhaps guilty of similar hubris, along with poor judgment. He was either badly advised or wilfully ignored that advice.

…There were new interviews with US investigators and an anonymous friend of Epstein, but [Virginia Roberts Giuffre’s] testimony was taken from her explosive NBC interview a month ago.  However, the documentary was forensically made and raised more questions about Epstein’s queasy activities.

In the lead-up to the doccie being aired, Channel 4 released a number of clips from the show:

Some of the other more damning moments via NewsAU:

“The third time I had sex with Andy was in an orgy on Epstein’s private island in the US Virgin Islands. I was around 18 at the time,” longtime accuser Virginia Roberts Giuffre wrote in the Florida court docs.

“Epstein, Andy, approximately eight other young girls and I had sex together. The other girls all seemed and appeared to be under the age of 18 and didn’t really speak English.

“Epstein laughed about the fact they couldn’t really communicate, saying that they are the ‘easiest’ girls to get along with,” claimed Giuffre…

With the help of private investigator and former Florida detective Mike Fisten, Dispatches has forensically examined Epstein’s address book and flight logs and compared them against Prince Andrew’s schedule, revealing the two men met 10 times over the course of their 12-year friendship and would sometimes spend several days together.

It also notes that Epstein had 13 phone numbers on which he could contact Prince Andrew.

“If looking at the section in London, you could pick out the Duke of York, which is Prince Andrew,” Mr Fisten said.

“And when you look at that, under Duke of York, it shows Buckingham Palace, London. He has 13 phone numbers to contact the Duke.”

If you have 13 numbers, chances are you’re up to no good.

I’m not sure whether or not the full documentary will ever air on South African television, but it’s worth keeping an eye out online for it.

[sources:telegraph&newsau]