The past five years or so have really shown me that whatever “support” there is for Queen Camilla in particular, it’s a mile wide and an inch deep. No one cares about her, and even die-hard royalists view her more like a chaotic neutral than a beloved queen consort. What’s also extraordinary is that I’ve started to realize that Camilla’s approach to her queen-consort role is also a mile wide and inch deep. She’s just been going through the motions, using her “work” to make the heir and his wife look lazy and insolent (which isn’t difficult). Well, after years of trying to fashion herself into an advocate for victims of sexual abuse, Camilla can’t be bothered to meet with Jeffrey Epstein’s victims during the upcoming royal state visit to the US.
The Queen will not meet victims of Jeffrey Epstein when in the United States for the state visit over fears it could disrupt a police inquiry. The Queen, who has faced growing calls to meet Epstein survivors, will find other ways to show her support for victims of sexual abuse instead, incorporating the theme into the trip’s itinerary.
Police in the UK said earlier this year they were deciding whether to launch a criminal investigation into the paedophile’s private flights into Britain, at least one of which allegedly was linked to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.
In the US, Congress is investigating Epstein and his crimes. Police raided a ranch once owned by him earlier this year, following allegations that serious crimes had taken place there.
US congressman Ro Khanna and the family of Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre previously called on the King and Queen to meet survivors during their visit.
But a Buckingham Palace source said it would “not be possible” for the King or Queen to agree to requests to meet Epstein campaigners in case it affected a police investigation or potential legal action.
“That is a risk that we simply can’t take, for the best interest for the survivors themselves,” the source added. The Queen, who has long campaigned against domestic and sexual abuse, will instead undertake engagements that include victims of domestic and sexual abuse more generally, as she has done in previous overseas visits.
One of the saddest things about this is that it would be such a big, important moment for Camilla where she actually practiced what she preaches. She could have tea with the survivors and offer her personal sympathy and show concern for them by platforming them and their stories. That’s the way to play it if you’re actually a modern royal who isn’t covering up your brother-in-law’s lengthy criminal history. She could argue that platforming survivors is what she’s all about, even when the perpetrators of abuse are connected to her husband’s family. The latest excuse – “That is a risk that we simply can’t take, for the best interest for the survivors themselves” – doesn’t make any sense for Camilla in particular since she’s not the sovereign and she didn’t give a sh-t about the survivors before Andrew was even arrested.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
