As the tributes pour in for singer Meat Loaf, who passed away this week, a resurfaced account he once gave of an interaction he had with Prince Andrew has captured attention.
Andrew, the third child of Queen Elizabeth II, has gained notoriety over the last several years thanks to his ties to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, with whom he once rubbed elbows.
One of Epstein’s highest-profile accusers has long alleged that Andrew sexually abused her when she was just 17 under the supervision of Epstein and his recently convicted accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell. Andrew has categorically denied her allegations.
The accuser, Virginia Giuffre, filed a lawsuit against Andrew in New York — before he was stripped of his royal titles by Queen Elizabeth herself this month.
Giuffre has rebuked Andrew for seemingly thinking he could get away with his crimes thanks to his royal status, and in 1987, the prince allegedly told Meat Loaf he was untouchable.
The Daily Mail reported that, according to Meat Loaf, he and Andrew once got into a bit of a tussle. The two were filming for a one-off charity event when the prince accused the rockstar of flirting with his then-wife, Sarah Ferguson.
“Fergie wasn’t exactly flirting with me, but she was paying attention to me, and I think Andrew got a little — I could be wrong, I’m just reading into this — I think he got a little jealous,” Meat Loaf, whose real name was Marvin Lee Aday, told the Guardian in 2003.
“Anyway, he tried to push me in the water. He tried to push me in the moat,” he continued. “So I turned around and I grabbed him and he goes, ‘You can’t touch me. I’m royal.’
“I said, ‘Well, you tried to push me in the moat, Jack, I don’t give a s*** who you are, you’re going in the moat,’” Meat Loaf claimed.
He also said he had a “great time” at the event, but based on what he heard, the queen wasn’t too thrilled about what happened and “hated him” for hassling her son.
The Mail noted that the legendary singer made a number of wild claims, including that he’d once given a ride to murderous cult leader Charles Manson and that the Secret Service had used his car during John F. Kennedy’s assassination, so I’d certainly recommend taking this story with a grain of salt.
That said, it is consistent with another glossy tabloid story this week from a former Buckingham Palace maid who revealed the verbally abusive, entitled behavior with which Andrew was allegedly wont to treat the staff.
According to The Sun, Andrew once asked Charlotte Briggs, “Can’t you f***ing do anything right?” after making her close a small gap in some curtains that he was sitting just yards away from.
“This man fought for his country in the Falklands but couldn’t stand up to close his own curtains,” she said. “It was utterly ridiculous but spoke volumes about him.
“Andrew definitely put a downer on things. He thinks he’s above everyone,” Briggs said, adding that, in contrast, other royals such as princes Charles and Edward were “wonderful.”
Giuffre hinted that she’d had a similar experience with her alleged abuser’s behavior when she filed her lawsuit last year, explaining in a statement, “I am holding Prince Andrew accountable for what he did to me” because “the powerful and rich are not exempt from being held responsible for their actions.”
Meat Loaf, as he told it, certainly didn’t care that Andrew was a royal when he stood up for himself in 1987 — and in 2022, Andrew will face his accuser as a private citizen as Giuffre stands up for herself and victims everywhere.
Seems rather fitting, don’t you think?