London
Britain’s Prince Andrew stepped down from public duties on Wednesday, saying the controversy surrounding his “ill-judged” association with late US financier Jeffrey Epstein had caused major disruption to the royal family’s work. Andrew, Queen Elizabeth’s second son, denies an allegation that he had sex with a 17-year-old girl procured for him by his friend Epstein, who killed himself in a US prison in August while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. The scandal has escalated since Andrew did an interview with BBC TV, aired on Saturday.—Reuters