Prince Andrew is ‘terrified’ by another round of humiliation after The Daily Beast began publishing some of Michael Wolff’s Jeffrey Epstein tapes. Sources close to the disgraced prince fear his friendship with the dead pedophile could be thrust back into the spotlight.

A friend of Andrew’s told the Daily Beast: “Frankly, the duke is terrified that the whole matter of his friendship with Epstein is going to be excavated once again on these new tapes. He’s had to get used to living under the Sword of Damocles, and it’s not a very comfortable existence. These endless threats lurk in the shadows and occasionally, like now, rise to the surface.

“He feels that he has been very clear about his friendship with Epstein, he has apologized for it, he is ashamed of it, he has lost everything as a result of it.

“He is not a man prone to self-pity, but he could be forgiven for wondering, having given up all his royal titles and privileges, when he will be allowed to go on living his own life.”

In explosive recordings obtained exclusively by the Daily Beast this weekend, Epstein described himself as donald trump “closest friend” and claimed that the first time Trump slept with his now wife Melania “I was on my plane.” The private jet was nicknamed the lolita express.

Wolff has also said that Epstein showed her photos of Trump with topless young women sitting on his lap.

Epstein spoke with Wolff in August 2017 while the author was researching his book. fire and fury. Two years later, Epstein would be found dead in his cell.

The Trump camp dismissed the tapes as “false slander” and “election interference.”

Wolff has said he has about 100 hours of Epstein recordings.

Royal historian Andrew Lownie, who is writing a biography of Prince Andrew, told The Daily Beast: “Epstein was always rumored to have collected kompromat from his ‘friends,’ and many people suspect that the FBI is now behind it.

“You have to ask yourself: why would Epstein talk to Michael Wolff on tape? He must have always known that eventually these tapes would come out. These tapes could therefore be seen as his insurance policy from beyond the grave in case the kompromat were suppressed.

“If he spoke about Andrew on the tapes, they clearly have the potential to cause him serious harm.

“Andrew’s number one problem has always been his association with Epstein and continues to be his association with Epstein.

“It’s also a problem for Charles. There has always been a very real fear at the highest levels of the family that there is more to come regarding Andrew and Epstein. It might well explain why Charles is being so hard on him and has now completely cut off his financial support.”

Lownie has spoken to people who say they have seen Andrew on Epstein’s private island in the Caribbean and at his homes in Palm Beach and New York. He says; “Andrew was very close to Epstein. We have corroboration from witnesses from flight logs and photographs. “The revelation of the existence of these tapes will be a very worrying development for the royal family.”

A friend of the king told the Daily Beast: “Andrew is a private citizen and has no official role in the royal family, so what Jeffrey Epstein may or may not have said about him is irrelevant to the monarchy.”

A friend of Sarah Ferguson said the duchess and her children found it “incredibly harsh and unfair” that Andrew continued to be “hounded by the media” over “long-standing unfounded accusations.”

The friend told the Beast: “He and Sarah are very happy to be able to pay their own way at Royal Lodge. Andrew moves on with his life. “They just want to be allowed to do it.”

Another friend of Andrew’s said: “I’m sure he’s not welcome but he has no choice but to keep calm and carry on. Filming season has just started, so you’ll be busy filming and socializing for the next few months. People have been making up stories about royalty since the beginning of history and their friends know it. He has always insisted that he never met Virginia Giuffre and certainly never had sexual relations with her. Nothing has changed.”

A spokesman for the king had no comment. Prince Andrew no longer has formal representation before the press, but his lawyer did not respond to a request for comment.

Editor’s note: Joanna Coles, chief content officer at The Daily Beast, has an investment in Kaleidoscope, the creator of the Fire and Fury podcast.