Prince Andrew has been saved from a sleeping pill overdose at his own home, US supermarket tabloid Globe reports, citing royal insiders.
Complete with the cover reading, “Prince Andrew attempts suicide”, the article claimed that the prince was found “lying face-down on the carpet” near a prescription bottle in his residence, Royal Lodge (Sputnik could not immediately verify the contents of the publication; it is quoted here from Australian magazine New Idea).
The Duke of York's pulse was reportedly “barely noticeable” at first, but his “functions began returning to normal” after the medics pumped his stomach.
The magazine linked the alleged incident to his involvement in the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. “In truth, Andrew has nothing left to live for and is facing the real possibility of being the first royal ever sent to prison,” Globe quoted a royal insider as saying, according to New Idea. “His future is grim, indeed.”
There has been no confirmation from the royal family or Andrew himself, and the lack of crucial details, such as whether Andrew had been hospitalised or put on a suicide watch, casts doubt on the credibility of this report.
Queen Elizabeth’s third child, Prince Andrew stepped back from public duties in November because of the controversy surrounding his past friendship with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
One of Epstein’s accusers, Virginia Giuffre, claimed that the well-connected New York hedge fund manager had sex-trafficked her to Prince Andrew and several other powerful men when she was underage almost 20 years ago. All of them have denied the allegations.
Prince Andrew gave an interview in which he provided several bizarre alibis to debunk Giuffre’s claims. Many critics have called the interview unconvincing at best, and multiple charities and organisations have cut their ties with the royal.
While the FBI is accusing Andrew of ignoring requests for an interview, he was reportedly snubbed by his royal siblings as he celebrated his 60th birthday last week. Some of the most high-profile no-shows were his siblings Charles, Edward and Anne, according to a Daily Mail reporter, and the organisers had to send out ‘follow-up’ invitations to make up for the invited guests who did not RSVP.
Prince Andrew had been on the list of royals whose birthday is marked by government buildings across the UK flying the national flag all day.
Some lawmakers and cities reacted with anger at the request to fly the Union Jack for Andrew, and the government told town halls this month that they were no longer required to do so because he is no longer a working royal.
