In a poll of Royal Central readers, a significant majority of respondents say that the Duke of York should step back from royal duties following his calamitous interview with BBC Newsnight.
Of the 533 people polled, 83% say Prince Andrew should no longer carry out official engagements on behalf of The Queen.
Just 17% of respondents say he should carry on working at his current rate.
In our Instagram poll, 70% of respondents think the Duke should no longer undertake royal duties.
Although not all think he should step down.
One Instagram user thought he should continue duties and commented that he should continue his engagements until The Queen dies and then step down. Then the Duke can be a grandfather to any grandchildren.
The Duke has faced further criticism following the broadcast of his 50 minute interview with Newsnight, in which he said he did not regret his friendship with convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The Duke said: “We weren’t that close.
“I would go and stay in his house but that was because of his girlfriend, not because of him.
“The people that I met and the opportunities that I was given to learn either by him or because of him were actually very useful.”
Two weeks prior to the broadcast of their interview, Prince Andrew’s newly appointed media advisor quit his role after urging the Prince not to speak to Newsnight.
According to The Sunday Times, PR officer Jason Stein was hired in September to help repair Prince Andrew’s reputation following the heavy criticism he received over his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.
However, Mr Stein was only in the role for a few weeks, having left ‘by mutual consent’ after advising to Duke not to speak to Newsnight, warning it could backfire.
The spin doctor came at odds with others in the Duke’s office who were ‘pushing hard’ for the 59-year-old royal to speak out on television about his relationship with Epstein.
The public response to the interview has been overwhelmingly negative, with many accusing the Prince of not showing empathy and a lack of self-awareness.
