‘I’m sorry mummy’: UK papers blast Prince Andrew as Epstein pal steps down from public duties

British newspapers are dominated by wall-to-wall coverage of Prince Andrew’s reckoning, following his dismissal from public life by the Queen as a result of the ongoing Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking scandal.

Several high profile companies dropped their affiliations with the prince in recent days following his disastrous attempt to explain his relationship with the disgraced sex offender in an interview with the BBC. 

During the car crash question and answer session, the prince claimed he has a medical condition which prevents him from sweating and also raised eyebrows by saying that he was with his daughter at Pizza Express at the time he was alleged to be having intercourse with one of Epstein’s victims.

However, following “crisis talks” with both the Queen and his brother Charles, the Prince of Wales, Prince Andrew officially stepped down from all public duties. 

The Daily Mail described the prince as an outcast along with the subheading “Duke’s Disgrace,” after a “dramatic intervention” by the Queen. 

The Mirror depicted a grovelling son, with the words “I’m sorry mummy,” adding that the prince would now lose what the paper dubbed as “his £249,000 a year handout” for public services rendered, as businesses and charities alike distance themselves from him. They opted to juxtapose a shell-shocked photo of the Duke of York with a tender photograph of the Queen and much-loved naturist and documentarian David Attenborough. 

The Express opted for a more visceral headline, suggesting that Prince Andrew was “shamed into stepping down,” by a monarchy whose reputation has been badly damaged by the prince’s “friendship with a paedophile.”

The Daily Telegraph on the other hand, opted for the limp-wristed, softball approach with: “Duke departs from public life.”

Andrew, whose official title is Duke of York, said Wednesday that it had “become clear” that his “ill-judged association” with convicted sex offender Epstein has caused “major disruption” to the Royal Family and its work. 

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