Why are British Royals being accused of double standards over Prince Andrew, Meghan Markle?

 

Why are British Royals being accused of double standards over Prince Andrew, Meghan Markle?

Many are now questioning Buckingham Palace’s move against Markle, and asking why it has still not addressed the considerably more serious complaints against Prince Andrew, son of Queen Elizabeth II.

The probe against Meghan

This week, a report by The Times newspaper said that assistants working for Meghan two years ago had been bullied by her. It cited unnamed sources and claimed that an aide to Harry and Meghan had raised a complaint in October 2018, alleging Meghan had reduced some of her assistants to tears and treated others so badly they had quit.

The paper said Harry had urged the aide, who has now left their staff, to drop the complaint, and it never progressed. The Times said it had been contacted by former staff members who wanted the public to gain insight before the Winfrey interview aired.

After the Times report was published, the Royal Household said in a statement that it was “very concerned” about the allegations, adding that it “does not and will not tolerate bullying or harassment in the workplace”. It announced that its HR team would look into the allegations and that members of staff involved at the time would be invited to participate.

Harry and Meghan denied the allegations, with a spokeswoman calling the probe the “latest attack on [Meghan’s] character”.

 |Why Harry and Meghan’s Oprah Winfrey interview is in the spotlight

Andrew and Jeffrey Epstein

Critics have slammed the Royal Family for singling out Meghan Markle, while going soft on Prince Andrew, who faces allegations of having sex with a minor, and for his ties with the American hedge fund mogul Jeffrey Epstein, who committed suicide in prison in August 2019 while pending trial.

Jeffrey Epstein, a successful financier, was accused by the US Justice Department of running a racket in which girls as young as 14 were lured to his residences, where he would abuse them. Epstein allegedly made the girls give him nude and semi-nude massages, and engage in sexual acts with him.

Epstein’s close circle reportedly included former US Presidents Donald Trump and Bill Clinton, as well as Prince Andrew.

 |The case against Jeffrey Epstein

Accusations against Andrew

Prince Andrew, who holds the Duke of York title, is the third child of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip. Aged 61, he is the eighth in line to the British throne.

In 2001, Andrew became the United Kingdom’s Special Representative for International Trade and Investment, a position from which he had to step down in 2011 after being criticised over his ties with Epstein, as well as other controversial figures.

In 2015, an American woman named Virginia Giuffre alleged that she was trafficked to Prince Andrew when she was 17 by Epstein, who was holding her as a sex slave. Giuffre has said that she had sex with Andrew on three occasions in 2001, claims that Andrew has denied.

In late 2019, Andrew was highly criticised for an interview he gave to the BBC related to the Epstein case, as many viewers said he failed to show regret for Epstein’s victims. He was later forced to give up royal duties.

In 2020, it was reported that Andrew was a person of interest in the Epstein investigation in the US, and that the US Department of Justice had submitted a mutual legal assistance request to Britain’s Home Office to formally interrogate Andrew. US investigators that year openly accused Andrew of providing “zero cooperation” with the case.

The Royal Family’s “double standards”

In February this year, when it was confirmed that Harry and Meghan would be permanently stepping back as senior royals, it was announced that the two had lost their royal patronages, and that Harry would be stripped of his military titles.

Critics have said that this treatment of Harry stood in stark contrast with how Andrew was treated. Since 2019, although Andrew does not undertake any official duties, he continues to hold on to a number of military titles, including commodore in chief of the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm and admiral of the Sea Cadet Corps, as per the Express.

Meghan’s supporters, including ‘Suits’ co-star Patrick J Adams, have dismissed the bullying complaints as baseless, and slammed the Royal Family for launching a probe when Meghan is pregnant with her second child with Prince Harry.

 

Kidnappers storm Kaduna school, abduct students

 

Unknown gunmen on Friday stormed the Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation in Mando, Kaduna State and abducted students in the school.

Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Mohammed Jalige who confirmed the incident to newsmen said the exact number of students abducted is currently unknown.

Jalige said Investigations are ongoing, adding that the police is working with the Army to trace the kidnappers.

“They were abducted last night but we have no details of the number of students and I can’t say if they are all female.

“We are currently working with the Nigerian Army to trace the kidnappers and rescue the students,” he said.

Recall that gunmen had earlier abducted students and staff of Government Science Secondary School, Kagara, Niger State, and Government Girls Secondary School, Jangebe, Zamfara State

Details later…

Ronaldo, Aaron Ramsey to leave Juventus

 

Cristiano Ronaldo and Aaron Ramsey could be on their way out at Juventus, as the club prepares for a rebuild this summer, according to Fabrizio Romano.

The Serie A giants are set to hold talks with Ronaldo over his future.

Juve will now look to build around Federico Chiesa, Weston McKennie and Matthijs de Ligt as they move into a new era.

Ronaldo, 36, was signed from Real Madrid to help the Serie A champions win the Champions League. He is in his third season at the club and he is still yet to win it.

The Portugal captain has another year on his contract and the club’s director, Fabio Paratici, is not ruling out an extension, but says there is no rush to sort it out any time soon.

“There’s still another year of contract,” Paratici told Sky Sports.

“Cristiano’s contract renewal is not an immediate issue on the agenda, there’s time to talk about it.”

Solskjaer cautions Amad Diallo after scoring in 1-1 draw against AC Milan

 

Manchester United boss, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has warned Amad Diallo not to be carried away by his performance against AC Milan in the Europa League on Thursday.

According to him, the young forward should know he still has ‘loads to learn’ after the 18-year-old’s goal helped Manchester United to a 1-1 draw with AC Milan on Thursday evening.

United scored shortly after the half-time, but Simon Kjaer gave AC Milan a last-gasp equaliser.

Although Solskjaer was full of praise for the youngster, he stressed that the former Atalanta player is still nowhere near the finished article.

He said the player will need to work hard in order to cement his place in the United side.

“It’s creative, he plays with freedom,” he said to BT Sport.

“[It was a] great pass by Bruno who makes the goal. Amad, nice goal, [but] still loads to learn. He’ll be better after that.”

The result leaves the Premier League giants with work to do in the return leg at the San Siro next week.

1999 Constitution worsens insecurity in Nigeria – Senate President, Lawan

 

President of the Nigerian Senate, Ahmad Lawan, on Thursday, revealed that certain gaps in the 1999 Constitution formed by the exclusion of traditional institutions in the governance and security architecture of Nigeria remains mostly responsible for the deteriorating security situation in the country.

Lawan explained that the worsening activities of insurgents, criminals and bandits have placed the country in dire circumstances that need an urgent review of the 1999 Constitution along the lines of reorganizing the structure of governance to provide specific roles to traditional rulers in different communities across the country.

The Senate President disclosed this in Abuja when giving a speech to declare open a meeting between the National Council of Traditional Rulers and the Senator Ovie Omo-Agege-led Constitution Review Committee.

Lawan said: “I am here to show the commitment of the National Assembly in its entirety, to listening and supporting our royal fathers on the Constitutional Review currently going on, and in what many of us believe that’s the right thing; that we’ve our royal fathers properly and formally given some roles in the governance structure or the administration of our country.

“Probably, the 1979 constitution had envisaged specific functions for the traditional institutions, but I think we missed it after that, and maybe the 1999 Constitution didn’t take account of certain things that could’ve been helpful.

“Maybe before the 1976 local government reforms, the traditional institutions might have played some roles in ensuring that our communities were secured and safe.

“So, what do we need to do to bring our country into a safer climate and more secured life for our people and their property?

“I believe that we need to take a holistic assessment of our situation. Every community, every people makes law for itself to specifically deal with some challenges, and you do not have to copy what works elsewhere because your history may be different. So, we have a very peculiar history when it comes to our traditional institutions playing some roles in the affairs of our people.

“This’s an opportunity for our traditional institutions to ask for specific roles, but our desire as a National Assembly is to undertake this Constitutional Review because it’s part of a very important legislative agenda, and also our desire to continuously work as a Legislature with the Executive arm of government to create a safer and more secured Nigeria.”

 

We’re ready to help Nigeria end security crisis – USA

 

The United States of America has offered to help Nigeria end the lingering security challenges currently ravaging many parts of the country.

US said it was worried by the incessant abduction of school children in Nigeria recently, adding that it is ready to help end the abduction if requested by the President Muhammadu Buhari’s government.

Michael Gonzales, deputy assistant secretary of the US Bureau of African Affairs, made this known on Thursday during a press briefing organised by the bureau.

According to him, America was “disgusted” by the pattern of mass abductions which he described as an internal security threat.

He attributed the challenges to “monetary and economic factors” which according to him, motivate the criminal elements to embark on such activities.

According to him, “the United States is ready to provide appropriate support for the Nigerian government if requested to do so. Longer term, we seek to help develop the capabilities of the Nigerian security services in order for them to adequately respond to the internal threats that the country faces.”

He lauded President Buhari over the decision to replace the service chiefs as part of efforts to restore normalcy to the country, stressing that the United States was encouraged by the move.

He stated that the US Government was looking forward to partnering with the new Service Chiefs to continue building the capacities of the Nigerian military to tackle security challenges bedevilling the entire nation.

Nigeria records over 2,000 COVID-19 deaths

 

Nigeria has crossed the 2,000 mark for the number of COVID-19 related deaths in the country.

This was confirmed by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on Friday morning.

The country recorded 287 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 159,933.

The NCDC also reported eight COVID-19 deaths, raising the total fatality in the country to 2,001.

The new infections were recorded across 17 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) within the last 24 hours.

Lagos state recorded 107 new cases, followed by Kwara-26, Akwa Ibom-23, Bauchi-22, Ogun-21, Rivers-19, Kaduna-14 and FCT-11.

Other states that reported new infections included Abia-8, Edo-8, Ekiti-6, Kano-5, Gombe-4, Osun-4, Oyo-3, Plateau-3, Nasarawa-2 and Delta-1.