Russia found a far more credible suspect:

• One year later: All evidence still suggests MH17 shot down by a jet fighter
• BBC Russian report censored because it included eyewitness statements that MH17 was closely followed by Kiev military jet
• Could this be? Meet the pilot who shot down Malaysian Boeing MH-17

Sadly, the pilot implicated committed suicide. Whether from the pressure of the accusation or from a sense of guilt, or perhaps the elimination of participant in the crime, we will never know.

Pilot suspected of shooting down MH17 commits suicide

Ukrainian pilot Vladislav Voloshin, whom his colleague Yevgeny Agapov accused of involvement in the shooting down of Boeing 777 flight MH17, has committed suicide in Nikolaev.

Please note that Western mainstream media are specifically running the story as "Pilot, who was accused by Russia..." The allegations came from his colleague, who then was forced to leave Ukraine for Russia.

Two days after the MH17 disaster, Voloshin was awarded the Order of Courage of the Ukrainian air force. According to the testimony of Evgeny Agapov, who escaped to Russia, the Boeing 777 aircraft was allegedly shot down by an Su-25 of the Ukrainian Air Force, piloted by the aforementioned pilot: "A combat mission was carried out from an airfield in the city of Dnipropetrovsk." According to his testimony, he personally saw how Voloshin's aircraft was equipped with air-to-air missiles of the R-60 type before departure, which the Su-25 is not normally equipped with.

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A spokesman for the Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen, Lt. Col. Turki Al-Maliki, called the Houthi claims of intercepting and downing a Saudi aircraft "baseless and unfounded", cited by the kingdom's state-owned Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

Al-Maliki noted that what was published earlier in the day was in reference to a previous and unsuccessful attempt that took place on 1 July, 2018, describing the newly made claim by the Houthis as "a continuation of its deliberate falsification methodology".

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In a statement released today - the 72nd wedding anniversary of the Queen and Prince Philip - the Duke of York said it had "become clear" to him that "my former association with Jeffrey Epstein has become a major disruption to my family's work."

Her Majesty is said to have approved the extraordinary statement.

"I continue to unequivocally regret my ill-judged association with Jeffrey Epstein.

"His suicide has left many unanswered questions, particularly for his victims, and I deeply sympathise with everyone who has been affected and wants some form of closure.

The Queen has been snapped leaving Buckingham Palace in the last hour, after approving her second son's statement.

The Queen approved the statement from Andrew

His announcement comes as the fall-out from his Newsnight interview continues.

ITV Royal correspondent Chris Ship notes how Prince Andrew's statement about his friendship with Epstein differs from comments made in the interview.

He told Emily Maitlis on Saturday that he did not regret his friendship with Epstein because of "'the opportunities I was given to learn" from him about trade and business.

But in his statement he now he talks of continuing "unequivocally regret my ill-judged association with Jeffrey Epstein".

On Monday it was reported that Andrew "regrets not expressing sympathy" for the victims of Epstein during the car-crash interview on Saturday night.

The Duke of York said he has "great sympathy" for the victims of the billionaire paedophile.

So great he forgot to mention it.

The Prince suggested it hadn't seemed necessary to vocalise his sympathy for those abused by Epstein, according to the report by Mail Online.

"I regret that I didn't make it clear in the interview that I have great sympathy for anyone who was abused by Jeffrey Epstein," he reportedly told friends yesterday.

"When I said I was shocked I thought that was implicit. In 2010 none of us had any idea of the extent of his wrongdoing."

Considering the Royals communication with the UK's secret services, how is it possible that they are unaware of the numerous criminals that they have contacts with?

However that appears to contradict another report in the Sun which claims a 'close friend' said the Duke told the Queen at church on Sunday 'it's all been a great success'.

The Duke is said to "deeply" regret his friendship with the financier, a source told the Mail, though he said the opposite in the 45 minute interview and actually praised the "opportunities" the relationship gave him.

"As a father, he totally condemns any exploitation of vulnerable young women," the source is quoted as saying.

The Prince has received the anonymous support from his friends the day after the interview aired.

For some, he appeared less than conciliatory during the BBC Newsnight special.

At one point he described his relationship with Epstein as "seriously beneficial" because it gave him the opportunity to meet people and help prepare for a future role as a trade envoy.

The comment led Green Party co-leader Sian Berry to suggest he was "not a very empathetic interview"

The politician said: "The Me Too movement, it's thrown up so many incidents of women being exploited and abused by men in positions of power and when there are allegations like this they do need answering no matter who someone is."

Not just women, men and children too: UK 'Establishment': Unmasking psychopathic faces - Pedophilia and murder in VERY high places

She added: "It wasn't a very empathetic interview, if that's an okay thing to say, with the victims, and I think he should have been more apologetic..."

Catherine Mayer, founder of the Women's Equality Party, to say he was "too stupid to even pretend concern for his victims."

The Duke denied he slept with Virginia Giuffre on three separate occasions, twice while she was underage, as she alleged while under oath.

Anna Rothwell, from criminal law firm Corker Binning, questioned how sensible it was for Andrew to give the interview from a legal perspective.

She said: "Prince Andrew is not entitled to any form of immunity by virtue of his position as a member of the Royal family .

"His friendship with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein is under investigation by the FBI and he is vulnerable to extradition.

If only the law applied equally.

"It is therefore very unwise for the prince to give any account to the media, especially one which so starkly exposes the closeness of his relationship with Epstein, and again betrays yet another appalling lack of judgment."

Ingrid Seward, editor-in-chief of Majesty magazine, told BBC Radio 4's World at One programme the Duke could find himself out of the core royal family, if reports are correct that the monarchy will be slimmed down when Prince Charles becomes king.

She said: "It was a very probing interview he's not used to being questioned in that way and I think he seemed unable to really answer her questions with any conviction.

"I think myself and most other people think that the interview was a mistake.

It was only a mistake if you want the truth to remain concealed.

"I think the Duke of York is very anxious to carry on with the work that he's doing, but of course he's totally smeared by this Epstein business and until that is dealt with I think he's going to find it very hard to carry on as normal.

"He will of course, because that's what people do, but I think it's always going to be in the background."

She went on to say: "I think if there's a slimmed down monarchy I very much feel Andrew won't be a huge part in it."

In October, the Swedish Royal house stripped some of its youngest members of their royal status - slimming down the monarchy in a similar fashion Charles is said to be in favour of in the UK.

The King of Sweden King Carl XVI Gustaf made the move that will see five of his grandchildren lose their HRH status and be removed from the official Royal House.

The two sons of Prince Carl Philip and Princess Sofia and the three children of Princess Madeleine and Chris O'Neill will no longer have any official royal role.

They will no longer perform any royal duties associated with the Head of State - nor will they be expected to.

And they won't benefit from the taxpayer-funded sum that goes to members of the Royal House.

And yet contacts and status are worth an awful lot, so it's likely they'll go without.

'Echoes of Edward VIII'

Social historian Professor Judith Rowbotham compared the developments to the abdication of Edward VIII.

"I suppose the nearest would be the Duke of Windsor in some way. There are plenty of parallels there," she told the PA news agency.

"I'm far from surprised because the Duke of York was ill-advised to undertake the interview."

But the research professor at the University of Plymouth said Andrew made a wise choice by not drawing the matter out for any longer.

"I don't think it's a monarchy in crisis. Even with a slimmed down monarchy, you have a large royal family, humanly-speaking somebody is always going to do something that gets well and truly disapproved of," she said.

"It could have escalated into a more major crisis if the Duke of York had not done the honourable thing."

Professor Rowbotham suggested the difficulties the royal family, including the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, had faced in 2019 were not as bad as the Queen's annus horribilis of 1992.

This scandal is probably worse than the time the Queen had to announce a fire, a divorce, and a book released by Princess Diana.

"Back in 1992, it was an annus horribilis. This has been a 'few weeks horribilis'," she suggested.

She added that Andrew's decision would be one of personal sadness for the monarch.

"I think it will be a great sadness for the Queen," she said.

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