Courtesy of NYT:

Prince Andrew announced on Wednesday that he would step back from public life, seeking to contain a firestorm over his ties to the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein that threatened to scorch the entire British royal family.

The prince’s extraordinary statement capped a tumultuous four days since his televised interview about Mr. Epstein, which brought a storm of negative coverage, prompted companies with ties to the prince’s charities to distance themselves from him, and rekindled calls for him to testify to the F.B.I. about his tangled history with Mr. Epstein, who was accused of sex trafficking.

“It has become clear to me over the past few days that my association with Jeffrey Epstein has become a major disruption to my family’s work and the valuable work going on in the many organizations and charities that I am proud to support,” Prince Andrew said in a statement issued by Buckingham Palace.

“Therefore, I have asked Her Majesty if I can step back from public duties for the foreseeable future, and she has given her permission,” said the prince, who is also known as the Duke of York and is the second son of Queen Elizabeth II.

The duke, 59, had hoped that the interview, broadcast Saturday by the BBC, would put to rest lingering questions about his ties to Mr. Epstein, as well as accusations that he had sex with a teenage girl who had been supplied to him by his friend.

Instead, after the duke submitted to 50 minutes of polite but relentless grilling by the BBC journalist Emily Maitlis, his unsavory association with Mr. Epstein — fodder for tabloid newspapers and society magazines — had mutated into a full-blown scandal, one that eclipsed the British general election on front pages.

Viewers of that BBC interview found Prince Andrew to be lacking in sympathy toward Epstein’s victims and found some of his answers weird. 

 I personally would like to see a number of Epstein’s wealthy and famous associates interviewed on camera as I think that it is highly likely that many of them are hiding their own improper sexual conduct with some of his victims. 

My own list would include his partner in crime Ghislaine Maxwell. lawyer Alan Dershowitz, former Democratic politician Bill Richardson, Donald Trump of course, and yes, even Bill Clinton.

I think it is quite likely that one, or perhaps more than one, of these people, were responsible for Epstein’s “suicide.” 

I don’t want this case to go cold as I believe there is much more to learn about Jeffrey Epstein, the documents found at his island retreat, his relatiosnhip with the very powerful, and of course his suspicious death.