Donald Trump said he feels “badly” for the royal family amid the continuing fallout over Andrew Mountbatten Windsor’s connections with paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Speaking to reporters on board Air Force One late on Sunday, the US president was asked about the King’s decision to strip his brother of his peerages and the title of prince.
“It’s a terrible thing that’s happened to the (royal) family,” Trump said.
“That’s been a tragic situation. It’s too bad. I feel badly for the family.”
Earlier on Sunday, Defence Secretary John Healey confirmed Andrew will be stripped of his honorary rank of vice-admiral, which he was awarded on his 55th birthday in 2015.
The rank is his last remaining honorary military title since he handed back the others in 2022 over the Epstein scandal.
The Defence Secretary would not comment on whether Andrew would be able to keep his medals, including the campaign medal he received for his service in the Falklands War, but said the Ministry of Defence would be “guided by the decisions the King makes”.
Ministry of Defence sources said they were examining whether Andrew would revert to the rank of commander, which he achieved during his active military service, or if he would lose his naval rank completely.
Andrew’s Duke of York title has already been removed from the Roll of Peerages.
Andrew has been associated with the Royal Navy since 1979, when he began officer training at Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth.
He subsequently served as a helicopter pilot and was part of the task force deployed to retake the Falklands following the Argentinian invasion in 1982.
He ended his active naval career in 2001 with the rank of commander, but later received honorary promotions including to vice-admiral in 2015.
The former prince denies sexually assaulting the late Virginia Giuffre, who alleged this happened on three occasions, including when she was 17, after being trafficked by Epstein.
Trump also had connections with Epstein, which British political campaign group Led By Donkeys examined in a film projected on to Windsor Castle ahead of his state visit in September.
The nine-minute film went over the history of Trump’s links to the convicted sex offender, including the release by US legislators of documents said to include a letter from Trump to Epstein to celebrate his 50th birthday.
The film was projected from a hotel room with a direct view over the castle as an act of “peaceful protest,” a spokesman for the campaign group said in September.
Four men arrested over the incident were released without charge.
Meanwhile, pressure is building on Andrew to give evidence before a powerful US Congressional committee.
Members of the House Oversight Committee have called for the former prince to reveal what he knew about the actions of Epstein.
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