BUCKINGHAM Palace aides have ridiculed Prince Andrew with a twist on an old nursery rhyme following his £12million sex abuse settlement, sources claim.
The ditty, allegedly chanted in the royal household, also mocks Andrew’s denials that he ever met his rape accuser Virginia Giuffre.
Aides are said to have jokingly shared lyrics riffing on the famous nursery rhyme about a previous Duke of York, reports The Sunday Times.
They say: “The grand old Duke of York, he had 12 million quid.
“He gave it to someone he’d never met, for something he never did.”
The jibe references the infamous Newsnight interview with the BBC’s Emily Maitlis in November 2019 – where Andrew said he had “no recollection” of ever meeting Ms Giuffre.
He also said he has no memory of the well-known photograph of him with his arm around Ms Giuffre’s waist at Ghislaine Maxwell’s house.
Andrew also previously questioned whether it was his own hand in the image.
Virginia sued Andrew in New York claiming paedo tycoon made her have sex with the prince three times when she was 17.
Despite his lawyers saying he wanted to clear his name at a jury trial, Andrew settled the sex abuse case out of court for an alleged £12million this week.
The Sunday Times also claimed that sources close to Andrew say there is “genuine regret he was ever involved with Epstein.”
They added: “He is remorseful, particularly about the impact it has had on his mother and his family.”
The same sources say the £12million settlement figure is “out by millions”.
It was also reported that Andrew will make a public appearance at a thanksgiving service for Prince Philip at Westminster Abbey on March 29.
After this, the Queen will decide whether he can attend future “family” events based on how much of a distraction he proves to be.
That includes her jubilee service at St Paul’s Cathedral on June 3, which Andrew won’t have any formal role at.
This comes after reports that Andrew will use a family LOAN to fund his £12million financial settlement – after Charles persuaded his disgraced brother to pay off his sex abuse accuser.
The Prince of Wales ordered the disgraced Duke of York to “shut it down” and pay up fearing his upcoming video witness statement with Virginia Roberts Giuffre‘s lawyers would be a “car crash”.
Royal sources say the heir to the throne met with the Queen last Tuesday at Windsor Castle and then wrote to his younger sibling urging him to “see sense”.
They feared Andy would be “skewered” by Virginia’s lawyer David Boies as he was by Emily Maitlis in his awful Newsnight interview in November 2019 which caused him to step down from public duty.
The cash-strapped Duke of York, 61, is still waiting for the proceeds of selling his £17million Swiss chalet – with the sale expected to be completed “within weeks”, according to sources close to the prince.
It means Charles, 73, and the Queen, 95, will instead dip into their personal funds to make sure Andrew can make the settlement and charitable donation before the deadline on March 17.
Andrew will be asked to pay back his “bridging loan” when he sorts out his tangled finances.
The remarkable turnaround comes just three weeks after Andrew demanded a sex abuse jury trial in New York claiming the case was “a marathon not a sprint”.
