Can we unpack this "paedophile prince" business? I understand paedophilia to be an attraction to prepubescent people. I don't think there's any suggestion that the ladies Andrew has been involved in the trafficking of, the coercion of, the abuse of, the manipulation of, and possibly the rape of, are prepubescent? On the contrary, I rather assumed that the tastes of that circle ran to rather obviously pubescent ladies.
I think the gravity of Andrew's offences lies in the coercion, the abuse of highly asymmetrical power relationships, the abuse of his own power to exploit women in women in vastly more vulnerable positions.
I also think that it suits quite a lot of people to cast him as a paedophile because it distracts attention from just how widespread the tendencies he has indulged are in our society. It's not so long ago that it was pretty much completely acceptable for a healthy red-blooded male (sic) to lust after a sexy schoolgirl (sic). Page 3 openly indulged that tendency. In certain sections of business, not to mention the police, no Christmas party was complete without waitresses dressed as schoolgirls. And look at the whole MeToo thing.
I'd suggest that there are quite a few tabloid journalists, MPs, and others in powerful positions who are only too happy to play up the paedophilia aspect of the reporting of Andrew because it distracts attention from the overlap of their own approaches to life and his...
