Emails released from Jeffrey Epstein’s estate on Wednesday contain messages from Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.

Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse… it does. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s final claim that he never met Virginia Giuffre has crumbled following the release of Jeffrey Epstein’s emails, which appear to confirm she was pictured with the disgraced ex-Duke.

Despite Andrew’s furious denials and turgid belief that the photograph was photoshopped, or in some way doctored, the image of his hand on the bare waist of the then 17-year-old Guiffre, while Ghislaine Maxwell grins like the Cheshire Cat in the background, has in some way always been accepted by the public.

Quite apart from the vivid descriptions Ms Guiffre gave in numerous interviews and her own posthumous book, Andrew has never been able to explain the picture away.

Andrew would not have to travel to the US to give evidence (Image: Getty)

The image of Andrew with Virginia Guiffre has been proven to be real (Image: PA)

He has failed to do so in statements. He failed to do so in his car crash Newsnight interview. And he has failed to do so in every opportunity that has arisen since. And now we know why.

In his own words, one email released among documents from Epstein’s estate on Wednesday shows Andrew saying, “I can’t take any more of this.”

In response to receiving a right of reply from the Mail on Sunday in 2011, the then-Prince asks Epstein: “What’s all this? I don’t know anything about this! You must SAY so please. This has NOTHING to do with me. I can’t take any more of this.”

It is blindingly clear that there is only one move Andrew has left to play before he spends the rest of his years hidden away on his elder brother’s estate – and King Charles really must push him to do it.

Andrew will move to the King’s estate in Norfolk (Image: Getty)

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As a British citizen, Andrew cannot be subpoenaed to give evidence in the US to the House Oversight Committee – but just think what the benefit would be if he did. He doesn’t even have to travel to the US, he has been told he can speak remotely, making the whole experience far less of an ordeal and less of a public spectacle.

His stringent denials and reports that he refused to acknowledge Epstein’s victims in his previous palace statements before King Charles and Queen Camilla stepped in have all added fuel to the fire.

For whatever reason, Andrew is protecting a monster, when he could step forward, speak out, and perhaps have even a glimmer of a chance to cleanse part of his image.