The Queen gave a brutal one word response when her son Prince Andrew told her about his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, a new biography reports. The claims were made in an upcoming book called Elizabeth: An Intimate Portrait by Gyles Brandreth, who was friends with Prince Philip.
The author claims that Her Majesty simply listened carefully to the Duke of York before simply stating that the friendship was “intriguing”, the Mirror reports. Brandreth also claims that the Queen had no “hesitation” in removing Andrew from his royal roles when the scandal continued to grow.
The writer said: “The Queen took a firm grip of things”. A court senior reportedly told Brandreth: “There was only a few days between flash and bang. Action was called for and she took it.”
It comes after reports King Charles summoned Prince Andrew to a tense meeting after hearing of his "persistent lobbying" of the Queen for a return to royal life, according to a source.
It was previously claimed that Andrew had been 'blindsided' by his older brother who told him he must accept he will never return to royal duties.
The disgraced Duke of York is said to have "always believed there was a way back" to his former role and thought he could "still be of value" to the Royal Family despite his association with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Charles and Andrew reportedly held an early-morning meeting at the King's Birkhall estate in Scotland just days before the Queen's death with the Duke of York's absence from future royal service confirmed.
And according to the Daily Mail's Ephraim Hardcastle column, Charles called the meeting after hearing of his brother's pleas to the Queen.
It says: "A source whispers that Charles had been tipped off by the Queen's senior staff that Andrew's persistent lobbying of the ailing monarch to restore him as a 'working royal' was taking its toll. Andrew knew that if his mother didn't rehabilitate him then all hope was gone."
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