TV host calls Prince Andrew 'tone-deaf' over desire to return to public life

Prince Andrew is looking at returning to his royal duties after he settled his sexual abuse case out of court. But ITV host Lorraine Kelly thinks he should keep a low profile for the time being.

"Surely he's not that tone deaf?" the TV presenter asked during a discussion about the Duke of York on Monday's episode of "Lorraine." She asked royal expert Russell Myers about the possibility of seeing Queen Elizabeth II's favourite son making a return to public life soon.

"I mean, I'm not sure to be honest with you. Listen, on the one hand, there are an awful lot more important things going on in the world," he replied.

Myers continued, "You would have thought that there wouldn't have been any noises coming from the camp." He said that assumptions over Prince Andrew slowly stepping back into his royal duties reportedly "stemmed over the last few days because there's been another cascade of people dropping him."

It came after he settled his "rape in the first degree" suit in a New York court with his accuser Virginia Roberts Giuffre for a whopping £12million. It is thought that the Duke of York borrowed money from his mother and older brother Prince Charles to fund the legal costs.

Prince Andrew had initially requested a trial by jury because he wants to prove his innocence and claimed that he has never met the plaintiff before. But according to reports, the Prince of Wales and Her Majesty urged him to pay up instead to avoid any more embarrassment for the British monarchy especially ahead of the Queen's Platinum Jubilee celebrations in June.

Myers claimed that rumours of the Duke of York's return to public life may have surfaced because "he still feels like he has a lot to offer public service." He shared, "One of his friends said to me just last week that he's still a young man, he's 62, he feels like he's got a lot to give. So, could this be the resurgence of Prince Andrew? But, awful, awful timing on this."

Kelly agreed with Myers and suggested that Prince Andrew should just lay low for the meantime. She thinks that "it would be much better for everybody involved if he was to sort of fade into the background and just leave it at that for now."