Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, has recently returned home from Spain where he was enjoying a holiday at a golfing resort, in order to hold what the Sun described as “crisis talks” with royal officials regarding his relations with the late financier and paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
According to the newspaper, the goal of this discussion is to determine how to deal with "continued scrutiny" over Andrew’s relationship with the financier and with Virginia Roberts (no known as Virginia Giuffre) who previously claimed that Epstein forced her to have sex with the royal when she was merely 17.
A royal source cited by the Sun also revealed that the prince "knows he has to come back and face the music."
"The optics were not a good look, with so many stories about the Epstein accusers while he was on a sunny golf course in Spain. He’s having a series of talks with advisers this week about how to salvage his reputation going forward," the source remarked.
They added that Andrew’s former wife and current companion Sarah Ferguson also accompanied him on the way home and “remains entirely committed to him and is proud to stand by her man at one of his darkest hours.”
News of this development come as the FBI seized a photograph depicting Prince Andrew with his arm apparently draped around Roberts, according to The Telegraph.
The newspaper points out, however, that a source close to the Duke of York has already expressed doubt about the veracity of the picture, said to have been taken sometime in early 2001, claiming that the prince’s fingers are “much chubbier.
"Andrew’s fingers appear quite slender, like a girl’s fingers. They are also a strange shade of red. His real fingers are actually much chubbier, quite small and chubby," the source said.
