King Charles says royals would cooperate with police as his brother Andrew’s Epstein ties draw new scrutiny

King Charles III indicated Monday that the British royal household would cooperate if police come asking questions on his youthful brother, the previous Prince Andrew’s ties to Jeffrey Epstein.

“The King has made clear, in phrases and thru unprecedented actions, his profound concern at allegations which proceed to come back to mild in respect of Mr Mountbatten-Windsor’s conduct,” a spokesperson for Buckingham Palace mentioned in a press release. “Whereas the particular claims in query are for Mr Mountbatten-Windsor to deal with, if we’re approached by Thames Valley Police we stand able to assist them as you’d count on.”

The assertion from the royal household got here because the police pressure for the area surrounding a lot of London confirmed it was assessing info suggesting that Mountbatten-Windsor had shared confidential authorities info with the late American financier and convicted pedophile when the then-prince was a British commerce envoy.

The knowledge was reported to the Thames Valley Police by the anti-monarchy marketing campaign group Republic, citing paperwork launched by the U.S. Division of Justice as a part of the discharge of recordsdata associated to Epstein, who was convicted of soliciting intercourse from a minor and accused of kid intercourse trafficking when he died by suicide in a New York jail cell.

The police informed CBS Information that the data within the report was being assessed “in step with our established procedures,” to find out whether or not a proper felony investigation into Mountbatten-Windsor’s actions was warranted.

Republic has accused Mountbatten-Windsor of suspected misconduct in public workplace and breaching legal guidelines on the retention of official secrets and techniques — fees that carry a attainable life jail sentence in Britain.

King Charles has taken quite a lot of measures to punish and isolate his youthful brother since particulars of Mountbatten-Windsor’s shut ties with Epstein first emerged final yr, together with stripping him of all of his royal titles and duties and evicting him from his royal mansion on the Windsor property close to London.

New details about Andrew within the Epstein recordsdata

Whereas the earlier allegations have largely centered across the former prince’s alleged encounters with younger girls together with Epstein, the accusations by Republic deal with his actions as a British commerce official.

Emails among the many hundreds of thousands of paperwork launched by the U.S. Justice Division on Jan. 30 seem to point out the previous prince handed on confidential reviews on his visits as an official British commerce envoy to Singapore, Hong Kong and Vietnam, together with particulars of funding alternatives.

One electronic mail thread reveals that after his journey to Asia, on Nov. 30, 2010, Mountbatten-Windsor forwarded official reviews on his visits, despatched to him by his then-special adviser Amit Patel, to Epstein, simply minutes after he obtained them. There was no message from the then-prince to Epstein accompanying the forwarded message.

One other electronic mail trade between the boys, the next month, seems to point out Mountbatten-Windsor sharing recordsdata he describes as “a confidential transient” on potential funding alternatives in southern Afghanistan the place British forces had been primarily based on the time.

Then-Prince Andrew mentioned he was sharing the paperwork with Epstein to hunt his “feedback, views or concepts as to whom I may additionally usefully present this to draw some curiosity” within the alternatives described within the transient.

The allegations echo related revelations from the newest tranche of Epstein recordsdata that recommend former British Ambassador to the USA Peter Mandelson shared confidential authorities info with the late American financier. The London Metropolitan Police confirmed an investigation into his actions earlier this month. 

The choice by Prime Minister Keir Starmer to faucet Mandelson for the important thing diplomatic publish has introduced big strain on the U.Okay. chief to resign, although following the resignation of his chief of workers on Sunday, and a gathering along with his cupboard on Monday, Starmer appeared extra more likely to dangle onto his job, not less than in the meanwhile.

Prince William and Kate “deeply involved”

Mountbatten-Windsor’s conduct with younger girls, as documented in Epstein-related recordsdata launched by each the U.S. Division of Justice and the U.S. Congress final yr, haven’t drawn any felony fees, and the previous prince has all the time denied any wrongdoing.

Pictures of him with girls have continued to emerge within the recordsdata, nonetheless, following his transfer in 2022 to settle out of court docket with Epstein survivor Virginia Guiffre, reportedly for hundreds of thousands of {dollars}, retaining intense strain on the royal household. Guiffre died by suicide final yr.

In a press release launched Monday, King Charles’ first son Prince William and his spouse Catherine, the Prince and Princess of Wales, mentioned they had been “deeply involved by the persevering with revelations” about Mountbatten-Windsor, and “their ideas stay targeted on the victims.”

It was the primary public remark from the inheritor to the British throne on the scandal over his uncle’s actions.