Despite his villainous behaviour, anyone feel a teeny bit sorry for Andrew?

[busymomtoone]

Before I get totally flamed, I despise his attitude, and the things he appears to have done - particularly the subsequent lying and apparent determination to shield/ hide misdemeanours. However, seeing the photo of his release today looking a broken man after such huge public downfall , plus thinking of him going back to an empty house on his birthday with no family support - even though I initially felt he deserves every indignity and consequence - there’s still a teeny part of me that just can’t help feeling just a little bit sorry for him. If it’s true that he was taken to a brothel at age 11 , whilst it would in no way excuse abusing others , it means he has also been a victim of abuse. Additionally it seems the Queen and his entourage have never ever said no to him in his whole life- so to reach his 7th decade before any consequences hit makes me question how resilient he will be able to be. Obviously main sympathies are always rightly with any victims , but even the most hardened and perpetual criminals often retain family support, he seems to have nobody. ( albeit if his own making ) or am I just being too soft?!

Strongest you are being unreasonable vote I’ve ever given on mumsnet,
wish their was a better vote to say hell no, not one teeny tiny ounce of sympathy, he helped to make a paedophile richer get your head around that.
Save your sympathy op for the victims, young girls trafficked for the “amusement” of rich powerful men I wish there were no redactions used in the Epstein files ( for Trump ) and hope we see a list of all who took part in this sordid web.

I don’t feel remotely sorry for him but i have long felt sorry for his daughters.

Not in the slightest

my sympathy is for the victims

I also do not want him to be the fall guy, many many men deserve to face justice including the president of the US and some men who we previously thought were good guys

It's awful isn't it. The amount of victim blaming as well is alarming. Posts saying the girls weren't children and were 17 as if that somehow makes everything OK. These were trafficked girls. Their age is completely irrelevant.

I agree with an earlier post too in that I hope this the start of people stopping fawning over people in entitled, inherited positions of power. I think it needs a question of what usefulness the Royal family actually provides in todays society and why we continue to pay for them.

The late Queen and if reports are true King Charles all loaned Andrew money to pay off Virginia Guiffre. So I really take their current stance that their "thoughts are with the victims" with a massive pinch of salt. They've been pretty quiet about it over the last few years. I still struggle to see why anyone defends them at all.

And as for seeing sorry for some pampered prince all alone on his birthday with no family support? If any of my brothers had been friends with a known sex trafficker, I can't say I'd be providing them with any support far less rushing round to see them on their birthday.

I'm not commenting on the OP but what I will say is that if the case comes to trial, there is no way that it could be fair. Every single potential jury member will have an opinion and know all there is to know about alleged offences.

No. Are you nuts? He raped trafficked girls and allegedly took part in the torture of children. This is in the Epstein files.

I don’t feel sorry for him at all.
I do think he’s been naive, arrogant and cosseted his entire life which has led him to believe he didn’t do anything wrong.

He’s highly unlikely to ever face criminal proceedings or even be formally questioned, for anything to do with Epstein.

The most, if anything, he’ll face court for is misconduct in public office.

He’ll have top flight barristers defending him, and probably walk away from it.

So, no, I don’t feel sorry for him.

Honestly, I think the purpose of that photo was to illicit sympathy along the lines set out in the OP - look at how he’s fallen, how hard it must be for him etc.

Do you find yourself thinking the same about other rich people who are held to account for their actions? How about poor people?

The Royal PR machine wants you to focus on his ‘downfall’ and the fact he was arrested on his birthday, so the money keeps coming in. The reality is we are dealing with a man who has been born into unimaginable privilege and luxury, with staff catering to his every whim, who has never had to pay a bill in his life. Even his ‘fall’ has resulted in him living, rent free, in a detached house in the Norfolk countryside with staff. I don’t feel sorry for him. I feel angry with the system of privilege that exists in this country that somehow means he still gets his living arrangements paid for at a time when many people in this country are struggling with a cost of living crisis, and will no doubt stretch to the best legal team money can buy. Joe Bloggs wouldn’t get any of that.

He’s been born into a life in which he simply cannot lose. This investigation will rattle on for ages, and in the end will probably be quietly dropped or he’ll get a little slap on the wrist. The Royals are not like us, our society is inherently unequal and the unfairness is baked in. Open your eyes and reserve your sympathy for the true victims in all of this.

If the 11 year old story is true I can understand you feeling sorry for 11 year old him, and I would too.

Transferring that sympathy onto the horrible man he has reportedly become is what the kids would call "toxic empathy".

He isn’t arrested for sex with underage -he’s arrested for passing on government confidential info

FFS are you illiterate? I was referring to them both having a shared sense of privilege with no consequences, NOT the crime. I even referred to Crack on twisting what I said.

I also said I had absolutely no sense of pity for him.

Weirdo.

I don’t agree with this PP’s reasoning at all about SA not being so bad if it isn’t rough. It isn’t like that at all. But I do agree that it won’t have been specifically Andrew who drove her to suicide. He was one of many.

It was her father who destroyed her life from very early on, and then he allowed her to be abused by many other men. This is what my F did to me. I’m not angry with the other men (although it made me angry when one of them was investigated and not charged), it’s my F who I blame for it all.

Because that isn’t primarily about the SA, it’s about the betrayal by the person who is supposed to protect you.

None of this is saying that the other men aren’t despicable, btw. They deserve everything they get. It’s sickening for me that yet more child abusers are getting away with their evil crimes.

Have you read Epstein files at all? What a wierdo feeling sorry for him

No

Fuck off, show me where I minimised what Andrew has done, go on. I said I didn’t feel sorry for him. Mumsnet is full of idiots than scan read and then pile on.

I agree, the police are not allowed to name victims until they are charged so how did the story break?

You feel sorry for an alleged child rapist? Do you have sympathy with all children abusers, or just the really rich privileged ones?

God no. Not even a little bit.

Nope. Not one iota.

If it were a different crime then maybe.

But I will never feel sorry for anyone who gets caught for willingly hurting women or children. And definitely if some of this stuff in the files is true. I feel like he’s got off lightly to be back home.

It’s not an odd take though, is it? His daughters are going to be going through a rollercoaster of emotions. Just because a family member does a horrific thing, it doesn’t mean you’re still not going to have certain feelings for them. That’s called being human. Plus it’s not just him mentioned is it? It’s their mother too.

People feeling sorry for him and excusing his behaviour is part of the problem, I am sure if he wasn't in a rich boys club with his mother making excuses for him he would of had his downfall a lot earlier in life

He hasn’t been arrested for crimes against women and children though, he’s been arrested for misconduct in a public office.

No. Hopefully others will realise position, wealth, sex and power won't protect you if you abuse others, especially the vulnerable.

I also believe society has a case to answer for not believing victims, turning away and especially the powerful - including government and upper class - for covering up abuse, buying or bullying silence, instead of calling it out.

They offer quite a lot of protection most of the time, I think.