Prince Andrew’s reputation ruined: what will Queen Elizabeth’s ‘golden boy’ do next? Experts weigh in on the British royal’s ‘unprecedented’ lawsuit

In what appears to be a first for a senior British royal, Prince Andrew, the Duke of York – second son of Queen Elizabeth and ninth in line to the throne – has been sued in federal court in New York and accused of sex crimes. The accusations include being a knowing beneficiary of the alleged sex-trafficking of a teen girl by Andrew’s former friend, the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

As far as his public image is concerned, the damage to Andrew’s reputation is likely to be irreparable, according to experts, and so far his legal team’s strategy has been silence.

It could potentially be the right course, as his legal predicament might not be as dire as it looks owing to the intricacies of international law, said Mark Stephens, a specialist in international law with the prominent London firm Howard Kennedy.

“There’s no good outcome to this for Prince Andrew” in terms of his reputation, Stephens said. “The best option for him is to not make anything worse. [His lawyers] know this and he is being advised that the legal process is bristling with complexities” that could at least delay the case for years or even provide the prince with a legal escape route.

Virginia Roberts Giuffre, now 38, accuses Andrew of sexually abusing her at Epstein’s mansion in Manhattan in 2001 when she was 17, asserting it was an encounter arranged by Epstein for his royal pal and that Andrew knew it. Andrew has repeatedly denied her accusations, beginning in 2015.

At the moment, lawyers say, Andrew is already seen as guilty in the court of public opinion, of poor judgment at best and sex crimes at worst.

It’s “game over” for what’s left of Andrew’s reputation, according to Amber Melville-Brown, a British lawyer and partner in the media-and-reputation team at the international law firm Withers.