Trump Expresses Sympathy for Royal Family as Prince Andrew Loses Titles Over Epstein Connections

Andrew reportedly first met Epstein in 1999 through the former's then-girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell.

US President Donald Trump expressed sympathy for the British royal family on Sunday following King Charles' decision to strip his younger brother Andrew of his royal titles and remove him from the Windsor home due to his connections with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

"It's a terrible thing that's happened to the family. That's been a tragic situation, and it's too bad. I mean, I feel badly for the family," Trump stated.

Last week, Buckingham Palace announced that Andrew would now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor. The Palace's statement revealed that Andrew was formally served notice to surrender the lease of his Royal Lodge mansion on the Windsor Estate and would be relocated to alternative private accommodation on the Sandringham Estate in eastern England.

Furthermore, the UK government announced plans to remove Andrew's honorary title of vice-admiral, his final remaining military rank. In 2022, Andrew had already been stripped of his honorary military titles by his mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, after Virginia Giuffre, Epstein's primary accuser, filed a lawsuit against him.

UK Defence Minister John Healey confirmed: "We've seen Andrew surrender the honorary positions he's had throughout the military. Guided again by the King, we are working now to remove that last remaining title of vice-admiral that he has."

The Former Duke of York reportedly established his connection with Epstein in 1999 through Ghislaine Maxwell, who was Andrew's girlfriend at that time. Epstein received an 18-month prison sentence in 2008 after being convicted of procuring a minor for prostitution. Despite this conviction, Andrew and Epstein were spotted together walking through New York's Central Park in 2010.

Although Andrew had previously claimed to have ended his friendship with Epstein, recently disclosed emails from April 15, 2010, revealed that Andrew told Epstein it would be "good to catch up in person" months after Epstein's release from jail for sex crimes. These emails showed Epstein suggesting that Andrew meet with Jes Staley, a former JPMorgan Chase executive who received a lifetime ban from the UK banking sector in June for misleading regulators about his relationship with Epstein.

Andrew responded: "I have no immediate plans to drop by New York, but I think I should at some stage soon. I'll look and see if I can make a couple of days before the summer. It would be good to catch up in person."

Andrew has faced increasing pressure following the publication of Giuffre's memoir and reports about his rent-free arrangement at Royal Lodge earlier this year. Giuffre, who died by suicide in April, had alleged that she was forced to have sex with Andrew on three occasions, including when she was 17 years old. Andrew has consistently denied these allegations.

Trump has also been associated with Epstein, with both Democrats and some Republicans calling for his administration to release government files related to the Epstein case. While Trump has acknowledged knowing Epstein socially, he maintains that they had a falling out before Epstein died in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on charges of sexually abusing multiple teenage girls.