‘We shouldn’t ask them to be SAINTS’: The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby appears to DEFEND Prince Andrew over Jeffrey Epstein ‘sex slave’ scandal
- Asked about the royals Archbishop Justin Welby said ‘everyone makes mistakes’
- In an interview with the Big Issue he said he was ‘astonished at what a gift they are to this country’ adding the public should not expect ‘superhuman saints’
- It comes after the Duke of York’s car crash interview about the Epstein scandal
The Archbishop of Canterbury appeared to defend the Duke of York today, saying of the royals’ duty to live up to a higher moral code: ‘Everybody makes mistakes, everybody is human.’
He stopped short of commenting on any particular royal but added the country should not ask the royals to be ‘superhuman saints’ and saying he was ‘astonished at what a gift they are to this country.’
It comes after the Queen and Prince Charles stripped Prince Andrew of his royal duties following his car crash Newsnight interview about the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.
Epstein’s former teen sex slave Virginia Roberts alleges she slept with the Prince on three occasions including once as a 17-year-old. The Prince denies the accusations.
The Most Rev Justin Welby shared his Christmas message with The Big Issue on Monday, in which he reflected on the state of vulnerable people in the country, which he said has become worse over the last nine years.
The Most Rev Justin Welby shared his Christmas message with The Big Issue on Monday, in which he reflected on the state of vulnerable people in the country
The archbishop was also asked about the Duke of York scandal, and his thoughts on whether the royal family have to adhere to a higher moral code than the rest of society.
‘I think generally speaking they do serve in a way that is extraordinary in what is literally, for them, a life sentence,’ he said.
‘I think to ask that they be superhuman saints is not what we should do because nobody is like that.
‘Everybody makes mistakes, everybody is human. I am not commenting on any member of the royal family except to say that I am astonished at what a gift they are to this country.’
Andrew pictured with Virginia Roberts in 2001. She claims they had sex when she was a teenager trafficked by Jeffrey Epstein. He says they did not
In a disastrous Newsnight interview the Duke seemed to suggest he could not tell whether it was his arm in the photo – an image which has been in wide circulation for nearly a decade
Jeffrey Epstein killed himself in his jail cell while awaiting trail
He said there are more rough sleepers, an increase in foodbank users and a rise in the use of ‘vitriolic language’, while people’s tolerance of minority groups has decreased, with these groups experiencing a ‘much harder time’.
‘We have had an MP murdered. I am not saying we are in a crisis, I am just saying the direction of travel is not what we want,’ he told The Big Issue.
The archbishop revealed he saw the Pope last week, and they talked about football, God and praying.
The Archbishop of Canterbury’I know nothing about Argentinian football, but I was teasing him about it. We talk about peace-building round the world,’ he said.
‘We make jokes and laugh. It’s just a conversation.’
Asked what his Christmas message for the country was, the archbishop said: ‘Don’t fear. Deal with fear. In the New Testament, among the letters from John, it says ‘perfect love casts out fear’. So love, don’t fear.
‘Because the kind of love that God shows is a love that doesn’t expect return. That forgives failure. That loves people despite their ups and downs.
‘That kind of love changes the world in a dramatic and wonderful way.’