Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s former protection officers could be asked to disclose what they observed while assigned to him as the probe into his links to Epstein grows. Palace records could also form part of any inquiry into who visited Andrew and when, legal and policing experts said.
Police are facing increasing calls from senior figures to launch a criminal inquiry into the former Duke of York following the disclosure of documents that appear to show that women were brought into the Britain from around the world on board aircraft belonging to, or chartered by, paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.
A former senior Crown Prosecution Service lawyer last night joined former prime minister Gordon Brown in calling on the Metropolitan Police to “urgently” launch an investigation into Mountbatten-Windsor and allegations that women were brought into the UK for sexual encounters.
London’s incoming victims’ commissioner also told The i Paper that investigations into “anyone” connected to Epstein should not be delayed.
This week, The i Paper revealed that Thames Valley Police has contacted US authorities as part of its assessment of allegations that a woman was sent to the UK by Epstein in 2010 and visited Mountbatten-Windsor’s Windsor residence, Royal Lodge. The development marks a significant step in what police have described as an ongoing assessment of relevant material.
No criminal charges have been brought in the UK. No formal investigation has been announced.
Flight logs for the ‘Lolita Express’
Mr Brown said he had asked the Metropolitan Police to open a criminal investigation into claims in the Epstein material that women were flown into London’s Stansted airport.
Flight logs show that Epstein took nearly 90 flights in and out of Britain between the late 1990s and 2018 on private, chartered and commercial flights. It is alleged that several of those flights were used to carry young women in and out of the UK for sexual purposes, earning Epstein’s jets the sobriquet “Lolita Express”.
Writing in the New Statesman, Mr Brown said: “The emails tell us in graphic detail how Epstein was able to use Stansted Airport… to fly in girls from Latvia, Lithuania and Russia.”
Scotland Yard did not immediately comment last night. It has hitherto declined to launch a full investigation into Epstein and his links to figures in the UK, including Mountbatten-Windsor.
Thames Valley Police is currently assessing fresh allegations that a second woman, who is not a British national, was sent to the UK by Epstein for a sexual encounter with Mountbatten-Windsor at the ex-prince’s Windsor residence, Royal Lodge, in 2010.
In 2014, Virginia Giuffre became the first woman to lay similar claims against the former Duke of York when she said she had been flown into the UK to have sex with him as a 17-year-old. Mountbatten-Windsor, who in 2022 reached a £12m out-of-court settlement with Giuffre, has consistently denied wrongdoing.
Palace visitor logs ‘did not record names’
A former royal protection officer, who was based at Buckingham Palace, told The i Paper he has contacted police with allegations that officers were instructed to ensure that official logs of visitors to Mountbatten-Windsor did not record the names of his guests.
Thames Valley Police is currently assessing allegations that a woman was sent by Epstein to the UK to spend the night with Andrew at his Windsor residence in 2010. Separately, it is also in talks with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) over allegations of misconduct in public office against Andrew-Mountbatten Windsor.
Nazir Afzal, the former senior Crown prosecutor, said the material contained in the so-called Epstein Files, more than three million pages released by the US Department of Justice, made it imperative for the British public to know whether the former prince had a case to answer over his long-standing relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, or whether the matter could now be definitively put to rest.
Afzal, the former chief crown prosecutor for North West England, told The i Paper: “I’ve been calling for an investigation for 10 years now. It’s absolutely shameful it hasn’t happened. Now we have, seemingly, a great deal more evidence or material anyway that didn’t exist at the time.”
Afzal said it could take “weeks or months” for the CPS to decide whether to prosecute in the event that a case was eventually referred to them by police. But he warned delays risk sending a message that royals and high-profile figures are afforded immunity.
He said: “It suggests that powerful people can manipulate the legal system and the investigative system to suit their end. We can’t have a system that’s determined by what your position is. It needs to be applied to everybody.”
Andrea Simon, who becomes London’s Victims’ Commissioner next month and is the former executive director of End Violence Against Women Coalition (EVAW), said: “Investigations into anyone connected to [Epstein’s] crimes shouldn’t be delayed any further.”
“The release of distressing details in the Epstein files of abuse perpetrated by some of the most powerful people in the world, may feel vindicating to some, but is also a reminder of what so many victims and survivors know – that powerful men can commit horrific offences and get away with it.”
Mountbatten-Windsor, who this month moved to the King’s Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, has remained silent amid the latest allegations against him but has consistently denied any wrongdoing in his relationship with Epstein.
Palace sources told The Daily Mail that the royal family are “deeply concerned” at the allegations against the ex-prince but that it is a “matter for Andrew and his conscience” to decide whether he should testify about the claims against him.
Protection officers have a ‘duty’ to give evidence
Several sources told The i Paper that information held by Metropolitan Police protection officers assigned to safeguarding Mountbatten-Windsor should be sought at an early stage by any investigation.
Paul Page, who worked as a protection officer at the Palace between 1998 and 2004, told The i Paper he has contacted Thames Valley Police with allegations that officers were not permitted to know the names of guests of Andrew. Such a move would be in contravention of security protocols requiring visitors to the Palace to have security clearance.
“I contacted Thames Valley Police to offer my services and provide information that they might feel is relevant to their investigation,” he said. “I identified myself as a former royal protection officer, gave them all my contact details and they told me that I will be contacted in due course.”
Commenting on the mounting pressure on Mountbatten-Windsor, Page said: “It’s a disaster of his own making. It’s definitely well deserved because he’s got no one else to blame but himself.”
Page said that evidence of Epstein’s activities has come to light in the recent DoJ release, adding that the former prince “should be questioned on that as a matter of course, notwithstanding the misconduct in public office” allegations.
Page, who was convicted of a £3m property scam in 2009, added that he had seen up to three women walking in and out of Mountbatten-Windsor’s residence in a single night while working as a protection officer. “It was to the point that we used to joke and say he should have a revolving door in his bedroom.”
The Thames Valley force is assessing claims that a woman sent by Epstein to Mountbatten-Windsor’s Royal Lodge residence in 2010 then subsequently came to the Palace for a tour and tea with Andrew. Last night the force said: “We continue to assess all relevant information and have no further comment at this time.”
According to one set of emails in the latest DoJ release, arrangements were also made for two of Andrew’s protection officers to stay with him at Epstein’s New York home in December 2010 – less than five months after the billionaire paedophile had finished serving a prison sentence for soliciting sex from minors.
Afzal said: “Their duty and their responsibility is not Andrew but to the state, and therefore, any evidence that they may wish to give or that they have, they should give.”
Richard Aitch, a former close protection officer, said it was “guaranteed” that officers in the role who had worked for Andrew would be interviewed. He said it was routine for protection officers to make written notes while working, including details about trips, venues and meeting beyond their duty shifts.
Jeremy Horder, professor of Criminal Law at the London School of Economics, said it was “extremely unlikely” that Andrew’s close protection officers could have witnessed offending. But he added: “But it may be that they’ve overheard things or seen, documents that might conceivably be of relevance. It’s a unique situation… we’re totally in new waters here.”
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