12-07-2025
Prince Andrew is not off the hook despite FBI dropping probe into his Epstein links, victims' lawyer warns
PRINCE Andrew's reputation is damaged beyond repair and he will never be able to engineer a return to public life, according to one of Britain's top PR gurus.
Brand and culture expert Nick Ede, who runs East of Eden PR agency, called the shamed royal 'deluded' for thinking he could ever return to royal duties and urged him to give up and 'enjoy his life' in exile.
It follows the release of Scoop - a Netflix movie based on the 2019 interview he gave to Newsnight.
Nick said: 'There is no way back for him.
'I think you know this perpetual idea that he could still be back. Nobody cares. He hasn't got fans.
'There's nobody out there who's going 'We want to see Prince Andrew', not one single person. I think he has to realise that. But I think it's going to take a long, long time for him to actually understand. It's very deluded.
"In my opinion, the best thing that he could do is just enjoy his life. He's got gorgeous daughters. He has a great relationship with Fergie, he has a lovely house.
'Just live a quiet life.'
Reflecting on the interview five years ago - the fallout of which saw Andrew step back from royal duties "for the foreseeable future" - Nick compared the fallout to Frost vs Nixon and said he would have urged him not to do it.
He said: ' If I had been advising him, I would say, go quiet, be quiet, just go to ground. You know you're a prince. Enjoy the life that you lead, but do not open this can of worms, because that's what it is.
' There was no admission that a relationship with somebody like Epstein was terribly toxic. There was no idea that there were loads of victims of trafficking whose lives were completely ruined by Epstein. He didn't seem to think that the association he had with that man was anything but positive.
'I think his worst gaffe was obviously being in that interview and agreeing to it in the first place, for not realising that he's actually going to be interviewed by a very, very good journalist who is going to ask him questions which he might not like.
'But I think what this has done is really shown how archaic Prince Andrew is in his opinions and thoughts.
"Read the room. He's never read a room at all.'