What “duties” do you have when you’re seventh in line for the crown or whatever Andrew happens to be now?

There are 10,000 more important Epstein questions but here’s one I’d like an answer to: What was Andrew thinking when he posed for that now-infamous old photo of him with his arm around the bare waist of a very young Virginia Roberts, a leering Ghislaine Maxwell clearly visible in the background? Because that photo exists, this has become a (long overdue) international scandal with the public understandably credulous about Roberts’s accusations. But if that photo *didn’t* exist, I bet the palace would have issued a short statement calling Roberts’s claims “preposterous” and been done with it. There would have been no trainwreck Andrew interview with the BBC, no demands for a criminal probe, certainly nothing like today’s announcement that he’s stepping back from his duties. The photo turned this from a standard “she’s probably lying” public reaction to a “he’s probably lying” one.

All he had to do was not pose for that photo. It speaks volumes about his arrogance and the bubble of impunity within which he operated that he did it anyway.

If the Epstein saga brings down the British monarchy, that’ll be a small consolation prize for never having gotten to see that degenerate face justice.

A statement by His Royal Highness The Duke of York KG. pic.twitter.com/solPHzEzzp

— The Duke of York (@TheDukeOfYork) November 20, 2019

He doesn’t “sympathize with everyone who has been affected.” He had a chance to demonstrate that in his BBC interview and failed totally, preferring to fault himself for perhaps having been too honorable in maintaining a friendship with Epstein after his buddy had done time for sex offenses.

That’s like O.J. saying his big regret from the Ron and Nicole murders was tying up traffic during the police chase. And that it’s only because he cares so much about highway safety that he (or rather, Al Cowlings) didn’t drive faster.

I have good news for you, though. A second trainwreck Andrew interview might be in the works:

There are reports currently circulating that Andrew could even be considering another interview, although Buckingham Palace says it is “not aware” of anything in the pipeline.

“There are rumors swirling that Andrew wants to do another interview,” said a source. “Andrew hasn’t drawn a line under it. He wants the chance to put right the things he didn’t say. Newsnight gave him the chance to show some remorse. He was asked if there was anything else he wanted to say. It was an open goal—he didn’t grasp it, and I think he sees that now.”

There won’t be another interview. The whole point of having him step back from his duties, I assume, is to make sure he’s not in any situations where he might be asked an uncomfortable question and fail to suppress the urge to deliver another hugely embarrassing answer. If you can’t even fake empathy when the circumstances call for it, the only option is to hide.

No doubt British media will move on to some frothy nonsense involving Meghan Markle before he knows it.

Anyway, the big question: Who’s going to play Epstein in season 12 of “The Crown”? Either Richard Gere or Ted Danson could pull it off today but they’ll be way too old once that gets made. A friend pointed out to me that anti-Trump GOP candidate Joe Walsh is a reasonably good Epstein lookalike. Maybe he’ll give acting a try after he loses the primary 100-0.