Prince Andrew has been let down by Buckingham Palace over his handling of sexual abuse allegations, one of his closest friends has claimed.
Paul Tweed said there had been a series of failures in the legal and public relations strategies adopted by the palace and the duke's legal team, The Telegraph reported.
He argues in a new book that it was a mistake not to publicly address the facts after Prince Andrew's catastrophic interview on BBC Evening News.
Mr. Tweed also says it was a mistake not to engage with Virginia Giuffrei immediately after she made her accusations to prevent the legal documents from being served.
He suggests that the out-of-court settlement instead merely led to assumptions that Prince Andrew was forced to 'bribe' Ms Giuffre.
Prince Andrew, Duke of York, attends the Royal Windsor Horse Show in 2017
Prince Andrew with BBC journalist Emily Maitlis at Buckingham Palace on the day she interviewed him for Newnight in 2019
Prince Andrew with his father Prince Philip watching the horse races at Epsom Downs in Surrey in 2016
Maitlis questioned Andrew about his association with Epstein, and the prince denied allegations made against him by sexual accuser Virginia Giuffre
Tweed is a friend of the York family and joined them in the royal box at Ascot in 2016 and was invited to Princess Eugenie's wedding two years later in 2018.
His book, titled My Life as an International Libel Lawyer for the Rich and Famous, tells how he entered the royal orbit eight years ago when he was asked to advise Sarah, Duchess of York.
In one chapter, he addresses why he thinks the Duke of York was tried in the court of public opinion, saying the price Andrew has paid since the allegations “could hardly have been higher”.
The author said, however, that he does not wish to criticize the decisions made in the Duke's name and is not aware of all the advice his friend received.
Prince Andrew faced public outcry when he repeatedly denied allegations made by Ms Giuffre.
The Duke claimed he could not have had sex with Giuffre in 2001 because he was out with his daughter, Princess Beatrice, for a birthday party at Pizza Express in Woking.
He was also criticized for not saying he regretted his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted sex offender.
Prince Andrew and Virginia Roberts, now Giuffre, then 17 at Ghislaine Maxwell's London home
Andrew attending Royal Ascot with Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell (green dress) in June 2000
Andrew and his daughter Princess Beatrice at the Queen's funeral in 2022
In March 2022, he paid a multimillion-dollar settlement to his accuser, formally ending the civil sexual assault case she brought against him in the US.
As a result of being forced into effective retirement, he lost his £249,000 Sovereign Grant income but kept his palatial home, the 30-bedroom Royal Lodge in Windsor.
Prince Andrew was then asked to step back from royal duties by his father, the late Duke of Edinburgh.
A royal estate source previously told the Telegraph: 'There was no shouting or screaming, Philip told him in no uncertain terms that he had to step down for the good of the monarchy.
'Philip doesn't like trial by the media, but he is realistic enough to realize that Andrew's actions were a danger to the very structure of the royal family.'
They described the conversation as “tense” and that Philip told Andrew “he had to accept the punishment”.
Prince Andrew's disastrous interview was recently the subject of a Netflix film, Scoop, which followed the process by which the BBC secured an interview with Prince Andrew.
Emily Maitlis, who gave the interview, recently admitted that she thought she would be fired after the interview aired.
Andrew, the Queen and Prince Philip attending the Derby in 2013
Andrew and the late Duke of Edinburgh on the balcony of Buckingham Palace to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Britain in 2015
She said: 'You don't go into an interview with the royal family without thinking you might lose your job.
“But you know, this is an almost real possibility – the risks are high.
“We knew that if the tone was wrong, if the facts were wrong, if the interrogation was wrong – that would have been the end of me and the BBC team.
“Ultimately, the ramifications were different. But we were very aware of that.
She also revealed that Prince Andrew really wanted to spend even more time talking about sweat and Pizza Express.
Of Prince Andrew's request, she said: “As soon as we finished the interview, I politely said, 'Is there anything that wasn't included that you would like to discuss?' and Prince Andrew said, 'Well, actually, there were a few things. You didn't include my alibi.
“He wanted to talk about the fact that he had been at Pizza Express on the night in question.
'And it was a very complicated moment for us because, on the one hand, I knew that if he included some of the things he wanted to talk about, for example the sweat and the Pizza Express alibi, it wouldn't help. In fact, his case would make it look worse.
Emily added: “I felt kind of a responsibility to not let him get into it, but on the other hand, I also felt a responsibility to include the things he said that were important for him to say.”
Buckingham Palace declined to comment when approached by The Telegraph.
