Prince Andrew last night announced he was stepping back from public life in a move that followed a “car crash” BBC interview in which he tried to clear his name over criticism of his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.

In a statement, Andrew said it had become clear to him that his friendship with the late convicted pedophile had caused “major disruption” to the Royal Family’s work.

The Queen summoned Andrew to the Palace in order to tell him her decision, according to a friend of the duke. Speaking to the Sun, they added: “It was a devastating moment for both of them. His reputation is in tatters.”

Moments after her son’s announcement, the Queen put on a brave face as she presented her old friend Sir David Attenborough with a top international award.

Prince Andrew announced on Wednesday that he was stepping away from public life (AFP via Getty Images)

The monarch, 93, arrived at Chatham House just 24 minutes after Buckingham Palace issued the bombshell statement. She showed no sign of strain and seemed delighted to present Sir David and Julian Hector, head of the BBC Natural History Unit, with the Chatham House Prize for 2019 for their work to highlight ocean plastic pollution.

Her visit to the Royal Institute of International Affairs had not been announced in advance and there were gasps of surprise and delight as she was introduced to the audience in the packed Joseph Gaggero Hall.

In the statement, Andrew said that he was willing to help “any appropriate law enforcement agency with their investigations” into Epstein, who killed himself in prison in August while facing sex trafficking charges.

He said: “It has become clear to me over the last few days that the circumstances relating to my former 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.

“Therefore, I have asked Her Majesty if I may step back from public duties for the foreseeable future, and she has given her permission.

Andrew was interviewed for BBC Newsnight about his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein (BBC)

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“I continue to unequivocally regret my ill-judged association with Jeffrey Epstein. His suicide has left many unanswered questions, particularly for his victims, and I deeply sympathize with everyone who has been affected and wants some form of closure.

“I can only hope that, in time, they will be able to rebuild their lives.

“Of course, I am willing to help any appropriate law enforcement agency with their investigations, if required.”

Andrew has been heavily criticized following his BBC Newsnight interview with Emily Maitlis in which he discussed his links with the disgraced financier.

David Attenborough sits next to Queen Elizabeth during the annual Chatham House award in London (REUTERS)

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Pressure has been mounting in recent days over his royal role, with firms including telecoms giant BT and bank Barclays among a number of multimillion-pound businesses, universities and charities to distance themselves from him.

The duke told Ms. Maitlis that he stayed at Epstein’s property in New York for four days because he was “doing a number of other things”.

He added he was “not that close” with Epstein and that he only stayed at his house “because of his girlfriend” Ghislaine Maxwell.

The presenter asked: “Do you regret the whole friendship with Epstein?”

Andrew replied: “Now, still not and the reason being is that the people that I met and the opportunities that I was given to learn either by him or because of him were actually very useful.

“He himself not, as it were, as close as you might think, we weren’t that close. So therefore I mean – yes I would go and stay in his house but that was because of his girlfriend, not because of him.”

Regarding Virginia Giuffre, formerly Virginia Roberts, the duke said he had no recollection of meeting her and said he is “convinced” he was never in a bar with her in March 2001.

He said that on March 10, 2001, when Mrs. Giuffre alleges she had sex with him when she was 17, he was actually at a Pizza Express in Woking with his daughter Beatrice.

The duke said Mrs. Giuffre’s description of him as “profusely sweating” was another element wrong with her story because at the time in 2001 he had a medical condition that meant he could not sweat.

He said: “I have a peculiar medical condition which is that I don’t sweat or I didn’t sweat at the time and that was…was it… yes, I didn’t sweat at the time because I had suffered what I would describe as an overdose of Adrenalin in the Falkland’s War when I was shot at and I simply…it was almost impossible for me to sweat.

“And it’s only because I have done a number of things in the recent past that I am starting to be able to do that again.”

Source: https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/prince-andrew-steps-back-from-public-life-the-queen-summoned-duke-to-buckingham-palace-to-strip-him-a4292461.html

The post The Queen ‘summoned Prince Andrew to Buckingham Palace to strip him of royal duties’ over Jeffrey Epstein scandal first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discusses Israel’s foreign policy at Chatham House, The Royal Institute of International Affairs, in London, on November 3, 2017. (AFP Photo/Adrian Dennis)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday resolutely rejected a one-state solution but stopped short, however, of explicitly endorsing Palestinian statehood.

In a comprehensive interview with the BBC as he wound down a trip to London, Netanyahu also praised US President Donald Trump for understanding the nature of Iran’s threat to the region, and said he hoped for “continuity” in UK-Israel relations if the Labour Party’s Jeremy Corbyn were to become prime minister.

“No, I don’t want a one-state solution, I’ll be clear about that. And I’m unabashed about saying that,” he replied to interviewer Andrew Marr’s question about the death of the two-state solution. “But I want to make sure that what we have next to us is something that will not threaten our lives. It really makes a difference what the other state is. Is it Costa Rica or is it North Korea? Is it another mini-Iran or is it Luxembourg?”

Advocates of a two-state solution do not specify what exactly they mean by that term, Netanyahu lamented.

“The other state, if it’s not demilitarized, if it doesn’t recognize the State of Israel, which the Palestinians still refuse to do, then it merely becomes a platform for continuing the war against the one Jewish state. And, therefore, I think you have to be more specific and say no, what we want is the recognition, finally, after a hundred years, after the Balfour Declaration, finally recognize the Jewish state.”

The settlements are a “side issue” in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with the core issue being the Palestinians’ refusal to accept a Jewish state in any borders, Netanyahu asserted. He added: “I think the idea that Jews cannot live in Judea is crazy.”

Asked whether he endorses a Palestinian state or whether the Palestinians will have to suffice with “a kind of self-governing territory inside a greater Israel,” Netanyahu replied: “I think they should have all the powers to govern themselves and none of the powers to threaten us.”

Today’s Middle East “is peppered with failed states and pre-failed states and collapsing states,” the prime minister continued, arguing that any territory evacuated by Israel would be conquered immediately by the forces of militant Islam.

US President Donald Trump, left, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu clasp hands after giving final remarks at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem before Trump’s departure, May 23, 2017. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Asked for his opinion of Trump, Netanyahu focused on the president’s view on Iran.

“I think he has leadership qualities and I think sees in the Middle East something different,” the prime minister said. While former US president Barack Obama saw the Islamic Republic “as a solution in many ways,” his successor “sees Iran as the problem,” Netanyahu said.

He added: “I think he definitely understands that Iran is the primary problem. It probably accounts for 95% of the problems we experience now in the Middle East and I think he gets it and it’s a good thing that he gets it.”

The interviewer also asked Netanyahu how he would react if Corbyn, the current leader leader of Britain’s Labour party and a staunch critic of Israeli policies vis-a-vis the Palestinians, were to be elected the UK’s next prime minister.

Netanyahu responded: “Well, first of all the British people decide who they want to govern them, but I hope that there will be a continuity of British policy with Israel because here’s something people don’t know — that cooperation has saved many lives.” Intense security and intelligence cooperation has saved many Israeli and British lives, he went on. “And it’s something I hope will continue in the future.”

Later on Sunday, Netanyahu met with UK Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis and senior leaders of Britain’s Jewish community.

“I think that our histories are intertwined, the history of Britain and Israel, and the Jewish community, from [Israel’s first president] Chaim Weizmann [who spent several decades in the UK] and others, has been intertwined in the history of Zionism,” the prime minister told the Jewish leaders, including representatives of non-Orthodox streams. “I thank you for that continuous bridge between Britain and Israel, between Zionism and Britain.”

PM Netanyahu meets UK Jewish leaders in London, , November 5, 2017 (Kobi Gideon/GPO)

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Source: https://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-rejects-one-state-solution-says-settlements-are-a-side-issue/

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