Prince Andrew ‘furious at losing taxpayer-funded bodyguards’

Andrew is said to have complained about the decision to the Met and Home office

Prince Andrew is reportedly furious that he is set to lose his taxpayer-funded police protection within days. Reports on Sunday suggested that Andrew's £3m-a-year armed police guards will be axed from December in the wake of the Jeffrey Epstein scandal and his disaster Newsnight interview. As a working royal, Andrew was entitled to a taxpayer funded security detail who would accompany him on all trips outside Windsor, Berkshire, but in January this year, the late Queen stripped him of his royal duties. The move confirms Andrew faces a tough time under King Charles. Andrew had a friendship with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein and caused considerable embarrassment when he went on Newsnight and denied he sexually assaulted Virginia Giuffre, an accusation he later settled outside court for a sum said to be as much as $12m. [caption id="attachment_368678" align="alignnone" width="2048"] Melania Trump, Prince Andrew, Gwendolyn Beck and Jeffrey Epstein at a party at the Mar-a-Lago club, Palm Beach, Florida, in February 2000.[/caption] Andrew, reports on Sunday suggested, is understood to be complaining about the decision to drop his security detail to the Met Police and Home Office, as he will have to foot the bill himself. A source told the Sun on Sunday: "He is going to write to the Home Office and the Met Police to complain about losing his taxpayer-funded security." Andrew stepped down from public life in 2019 over his friendship with Epstein, and was stripped of his honorary military roles, including Colonel of the Grenadier Guards. Paul Page, a former armed protection officer who served the Royal Family for six years, claimed Andrew was a "horrible little man" who has "questions to answer" about his friendship with Epstein and convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell. Speaking to The Sun earlier this year, Page said: "Andrew has questions to answer – but I don’t think he will ever be in a position where he will have to answer them because of who he is. "He’s got the 'HRH' title in front of his name, Ghislaine hasn’t – where is she? Jail. Where is he? At home. "He’s a self absorbed, obnoxious, horrible little man who is disrespectful to those below him." Related links:

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