Although retired from royal duties, the late Prince Philip had to quickly respond and handle Prince Andrew’s scandal.

Although retired from royal duties it is said Prince Philip had to step in (Image: Getty) 

When Prince Andrew was caught up in the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, the then head of the family, Prince Philip, 98, had to quickly respond, despite having retired from royal duty.

Advising his son on how to best handle the situation was “one last family intervention” he felt he must execute, as written in royal expert, Tina Brown’s book ‘The Palace Papers’.

After the infamous BBC Newsnight interview with Emily Maitlis in 2019, Prince Andrew was summoned to Sandringham to meet his father, and the talk resulted in the late Duke of Edinburgh asking his son to “step down” from royal duties.

A royal estate insider previously told the Telegraph: “There was no screaming or shouting, Philip told him in no uncertain terms that he had to step down for the sake of the monarchy.”

They added that Prince Philip realised Andrew’s actions were “a danger to the very fabric of the Royal Family”.

Prince Philip reportedly summoned Prince Andrew to talk following his BBC interview (Image: Getty)

The insider reportedly described the interview “tense”, with Philip telling Andrew he “had to take his punishment”.

Prince Andrew & the Epstein Scandal’ was aired on Newsnight on the BBC in November 2019, it questioned his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein and also questioned the Prince’s relationship with Virginia Roberts Giuffre who alleged he sexually assaulted her.

The Duke consistently and vehemently denies the allegations. In 2022, He reached an out-of-court settlement with Virginia, who had brought a civil case against the Prince for sexual assault. The settlement was not an admission of guilt and Andrew accepted no liability.

No longer a working royal, Prince Andrew has lost his HRH status, was stripped of his military titles and patronages and has stepped down from royal duties following the interview.

Andrew’s Newsnight encounter has been dramatised in the new Amazon Prime show titled ‘A Very Royal Scandal’ which stars Michael Sheen as the Prince and Ruth Wilson as news presenter, Emily Maitlis.

Since Charles became King, he has put Prince Andrew under increasing pressure to leave his £30million mansion, Royal Lodge, in Windsor.

The King had been funding private guards at the residence since Andrew’s police protection was removed in 2022 amid the Epstein scandal.

Last month, it emerged that the 10-strong team of guards had been told they would not be required reportedly on the King’s orders.

Since then, speculation has arisen as to which residence Andrew could move to, with a potential move into Windsor’s Frogmore Cottage which was the former home of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex before their move to California.

Frogmore Cottage is situated in the existing security cordon of the royal Windsor estate and was refurbished by Harry and Meghan in 2019.