Pride goes before a fall and Andrew was at the edge of a cliff.
To me, its sad to actually watch the downfall of someone mostly through ego, arrogance and sheer stupidity in not seeing oneself clearly. Before signing off and getting some sleep, the last thing I read was an email from a friend that announced that Andrew wants a "do over" interview and wake up to the official announcement that Andrew is stepping out of the public eye for the "foreseeable future". The man, wanting a "do over" wasn't thinking clearly or didn't see his previous interview for the fiasco it was. My first thought was "yeps... good idea Andrew. Get Piers Morgan this time That's the ticket". This tells me that someone grabbed the reins and *told* Andrew what was to happen next. Enough is enough.
I feel for Andrew at this time but cannot excuse what has gotten him to this point. This is without even throwing in what he may have actually *done* in his relationship with Epstein and Maxwell. That's a totally different kettle of fish to me now and is separate from my opinion of Andrew as a public figure, a member of the British Royal Family and even as a man.
As more and more organizations and charities were assessing their involvement and withdrawing their support of Andrew's incentives, that was the handwriting on the wall that Andrew and his behavior and demeanor are found wanting and questionable. Its not a "witch hunt" when people see a man's true colors and want nothing to do with him.
I would also think that perhaps Amanda Thirsk is clearing out her desk as she's become redundant to Andrew. This would also mean that Pitch@Palace is being dismantled (if there is actually anything left to dismantle). I feel for the many people that Pitch@Palace could have sincerely helped get ahead in the world and now will lose that opportunity.
Will Andrew talk to the investigators? I have no idea but the wording in the "official statement" do not ring true to me as coming from Andrew's mouth. Someone has carefully worded that for him. If he had felt any kind of remorse, guilt or sympathy for the victims of Epstein's perversions, it would have shone through in the first interview. It didn't.
I still believe Andrew should have stayed silent and thought the bumbling idiot, egocentric and arrogant prince by popular opinion than to open his mouth and actually remove all doubt about his character and the person he really is.
Maybe Andrew can go and lay low for a while with his friend Ghislaine Maxwell. I'm sure she'd appreciate his company.
I've been following the BRF since I was about 10...more years than I will admit.
It's not IF they can come back from this...
they can and they will.
Bet on it
.
The "Firm" and the monarchy has survived much worse than an arrogant prince with a high opinion of himself. None of what Andrew has done (or not done) damages the perception I hold of the Queen and her "Firm" and monarchy. My heart does go out to her as she probably has the worse kind of heartbreak seeing her second son go through all this. I'm willing to bet that it could be said that the Queen has "all the right stuff" and has done the right thing both as a Queen and as a mother.