Trump laments the “tragic” situation in the British royal family amid pressure from the Epstein scandal

US President Donald Trump said he felt sorry for the British royal family after King Charles stripped his brother Andrew of his princely title amid mounting pressure over the latter's ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Reuters reports.

“It's a terrible thing that happened to the family,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One after being asked about King Charles' action. “It was a tragic situation and it's a shame. I'm sorry for the family,” he said, according to Agerpres.

Buckingham Palace announced Thursday that Charles stripped Andrew, 65, of his princely title and forced him out of his Windsor home in an attempt to distance the royal family from him over his links to the Epstein scandal. It was one of the most dramatic moves against a member of the royal family in modern British history.

Trump, a former friend of Epstein's, has faced his own problems surrounding the fall of the disgraced financier, with Democrats — and some Republicans — demanding his administration release government files related to the Epstein case.

While acknowledging that he had known Epstein socially years ago, Trump said he had distanced himself from him long before Epstein's death in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on charges of sexually abusing several teenage girls. Hundreds of women have said Epstein abused them.

In September, Democrats in the US House of Representatives released a birthday note that Trump allegedly wrote to Epstein more than 20 years ago. The letter, whose authenticity is denied by the White House, includes the phrase “May every day be another wonderful secret.”