The Prime Minister has made a rare intervention into royal
matters as he spoke about Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s
responsibilities to the victims of Jeffrey Epstein.
As new files on Epstein were released by the US State
Department, the links between the former prince and the convicted
sex offender became even clearer.
The documents include photos of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor
kneeling above a woman who is lying on the ground. There are also
emails including one in which Andrew invites Epstein to Buckingham
Palace.
Speaking to reporters on his way to Japan, Sir Keir Starmer said
”Epstein’s victims have to be the first priority.”
He continued ”in terms of testifying, I have always said anybody
who has got information should be prepared to share that
information in whatever form they are asked to do that. You can’t
be victim-centred if you’re not prepared to do that.”
The Prime Minister also said ”as for whether there should be an
apology, that’s a matter for Andrew.”
It is rare for the PM to speak directly about matters involving
the Royal Family. However, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is now a
private citizen, although he remains eighth in line to the throne
and is still a Counsellor of State, able to act on behalf of the
Monarch in some limited circumstances.
Last autumn, The King stripped him of his HRH and Prince title
by issuing Letters Patent and removed his titles of Duke of York,
Earl of Inverness and Baron Killyleagh by asking the Lord
Chancellor to remove them from the Roll of Peerage.
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has always denied any wrongdoing.
The latest papers show he attended an intimate gathering with
Jeffrey Epstein in New York months after the disgraced financier
had been released from prison for sex offences.
The material forms part of a newly published tranche of files
issued by the US Department of Justice on Friday, adding further
detail to the former prince’s continued association with Epstein
following his 2009 conviction.
Among the documents are emails sent by the Hollywood publicist
Peggy Siegal, who appears to have organised what she described as a
“last-minute casual dinner” in December 2010 while
Mountbatten-Windsor was visiting New York on what was characterised
as an unofficial private trip.
The correspondence indicates that the dinner was arranged at
Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse, where Mountbatten-Windsor was
staying during the visit. At the time, he later claimed, the
purpose of the trip was to formally end his relationship with the
financier.
The visit nonetheless drew intense scrutiny after photographs
emerged of the pair walking together in Central Park, undermining
claims that the relationship had been severed.
In his widely criticised BBC Newsnight interview in 2019,
Mountbatten-Windsor said he had chosen to confront Epstein in
person rather than by telephone, remarking that ending the
friendship remotely would have been “the chicken’s way of doing
it”.
However, the newly released emails suggest that social
engagements continued during the trip.
Epstein was arrested again in 2019 on federal charges of sex
trafficking but died by suicide in prison before standing
trial.
