Around the Fourth of July holiday, the FBI suddenly pulled the plug on their years-long investigation into Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. The Trump administration’s FBI and DOJ declared that there is no “Epstein client list,” which came as a surprise to Prince Andrew and all of the other men who have been directly or indirectly implicated in the sex-trafficking saga. Absolutely no one believes that the FBI would have done any of this if Donald Trump wasn’t all over the client lists, call sheets, flight records and first-hand victim statements. But Trump and his merry band of perverts and rapists are now declaring victory. That includes Prince Andrew, who is looking forward to getting back to business, apparently. From The Daily Beast:

Andrew is “relieved” that the Epstein saga is behind him: The historian Andrew Lownie, who next month will publish Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York, a meticulously researched biography of the prince and his family, told the Daily Beast: “Andrew wants money. He wants to enjoy a certain lifestyle, and he can do that with the contacts he has made over the years. Epstein has always been a side show; the real story is financial corruption by a senior member of the royal family. I think there are grounds for Andrew to be investigated by the [U.K.] National Crime Agency…The way it works is that he lends his name, opens his contact book, brings people together, and takes a percentage.”

Andrew’s questionable business deals: Andrew is widely reported to have sought a 1 percent fee for putting together contacts in a deal for water services in Kazakhstan, although Buckingham Palace denied it and the deal subsequently fell apart. Andrew was also reported to have sought a 2 percent cut of investment deals that start-ups made as a result of being part of the Chinese edition of his Pitch@Palace incubator, which the prince set up in 2014 to link start-up with investors. He stepped down from running it when he relinquished his royal duties in 2019 over the Epstein scandal. “For people in China, the Gulf, and the Asian republics, it is prestigious to have him involved,” Lownie said.

Andrew still has an active social life: Andrew has continued to enjoy a busy social life, largely anchored around shooting. He continues to be a prized guest at many pheasant, partridge, and grouse shoots up and down the land. As one shooting source told the Daily Beast, there are many who are happy to “bathe in his title.” His shooting social life has carried on despite his media mauling, not least because his brother the king has allowed him to continue to host a so-called family day at the Windsor shoot to which he invites over a dozen friends. In posh British shooting culture, it is considered bad form to accept shooting hospitality without being able to return it, so being allowed to host a day effectively guarantees Andrew’s continued participation in that elite social circuit.

Andrew’s friends think he was railroaded: One shooting acquaintance told the Daily Beast: “The British upper classes are inherently sympathetic to the royal family, and Andrew has always maintained he was the victim of a stitch up and that he was railroaded into making the deal with Giuffre. He insists he has no recollection of ever meeting her let alone having sex with her. Many of the royal family’s friends believe him, and many who don’t believe he was entirely blameless do however believe that you are innocent until proven guilty.”

Andrew won the battle for Royal Lodge as well: Andrew occupies the property on the basis of a long lease, and simply sat tight and relied on this document when his brother’s aides made him an offer he could refuse, to move into Frogmore Cottage, the luxurious former home of Meghan and Harry which is, disgracefully, still sitting vacant. Charles emerged from the debacle—a fight he had picked despite being compromised by his cancer diagnosis—weakened and humiliated.

Andrew can’t wait to travel to America: A friend of the prince said: “It’s no secret that it has been a rough couple of years for Andrew but he is a hard working guy and he has been working away on deals in the gulf quietly in the background. Now, he can put all his focus into business matters. Of course, he is relieved the FBI have now closed the Epstein files as it means he can travel to America if he wants or needs to. It’s over.” Another friend said: “The whole thing has been incredibly unfair. He has never been found guilty of anything and has been traduced in the media. He just wants to get on with his life and his business ventures.”

[From The Daily Beast]

Yeah, again, Andrew avoided traveling outside of the UK for the past six years mostly because he was scared of process servers and/or being picked up by the FBI or another law enforcement agency for questioning in the Epstein situation. Circa 2019-2022, the FBI was very clear about wanting to question him directly. I would imagine that other law-enforcement agencies around the world are also interested, unless the FBI catastrophe has spread internationally. As for Andrew getting back to business as usual… I imagine he’ll spend more time in the Middle East and Asia and avoid North America and most of Europe. I also think that King Charles will probably allow Andrew to come back in some way and be more visible.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.