U.K. prince under pressure to dish on Epstein
Royal should provide details to investigators, victims’ lawyers say
LONDON— Britain’s disgraced Prince Andrew is facing mounting calls to provide information to U.S. law enforcement agencies and to lawyers who are investigating crimes committed by American sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his associates.
Lawyers for Epstein’s victims believe Andrew may have valuable information about the late financier’s sex offences. When Epstein died in August, he was facing charges of trafficking in underage girls who provided sexual favours to the powerful men visiting his luxury properties in the Caribbean, and elsewhere. The prince stepped down from his royal duties on Wednesday with the approval of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, after a weekend interview in which he tried to justify his well-documented ties to Epstein backfired spectacularly.
Charities and British educational institutions that had fundraising ties to Andrew — the royal website lists dozens — had quickly begun to question if he could actually hurt their brands.
Andrew still may face legal questioning about allegations that he had sex with a girl provided by Epstein when she was just 17, a charge he has denied and that she insists is true.
U.S. attorney Gloria Allred, who represents some of the women abused by Epstein, said Thursday that Andrew should contact U.S. authorities “without conditions and without delay.” Andrew announced in his statement Wednesday that he is “willing to help any appropriate law enforcement agency with their investigations, if required” but did not volunteer to provide evidence.
It is not clear if U.S. authorities are investigating Andrew for any possible wrongdoing. Many of the court papers related to the Epstein case are still sealed and unavailable to the public.
British legal experts, meanwhile, are divided over whether Andrew enjoys immunity from prosecution as a senior royal.
Some say Andrew should to reach out to U.S. officials in an effort clear his name rather than wait for a subpoena or legal action that would force him to testify.
British lawyer Mark Stephens said Andrew will eventually have to testify under oath to answer Virginia Giuffre’s charge that she was encouraged to have sex with Andrew three times when she was 17.
“The question is where he answers,” Stephens said. “There is no reason why the FBI or indeed the lawyers for Virginia Roberts (Giuffre’s name before she was married) couldn’t come to the U.K. to take his evidence.”
Stephens said it was doubtful that Andrew could provide useful evidence on other cases related to Epstein’s crimes, which have led to a number of civil suits against his estate.
“There are much better witnesses,” he said.
Epstein, 66, died on Aug. 10 while in jail on sex-trafficking charges in what New York’s medical examiner ruled was a suicide.
France also has an open investigation into sex claims against an Epstein associate.
In his interview with the BBC on Saturday, Andrew denied having sex with Giuffre, saying he didn’t remember meeting her despite a published photograph that appears to show the prince with his arm around her.
He said he regrets not cutting ties with Epstein after the financier pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting a minor for prostitution in Florida under a deal that required him to serve 13 months in jail and register as a sex offender.
But the prince notably failed to express any sympathy for Epstein’s victims. And he defended his previous friendship with the billionaire investor because of the contacts it provided when Andrew was preparing for a role as Britain’s special trade representative.