The three scenarios for Andrew when Epstein files are released ...Middle East

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor should give evidence to American lawmakers about his relationship with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein if he holds out any hope of rehabilitating his image, a royal expert has said.

The former prince is under growing pressure from both Democrat and Republican members of the House of Representatives about the full nature of his links with the disgraced financier.

A Democrat member of the oversight committee, which is conducting an inquiry into how the US government handled the investigation into Epstein, accused the former duke of York of “hiding” after 16 lawmakers sent a letter asking him to voluntarily testify.

On Wednesday, President Trump signed the ‘Epstein Files Transparency Act’ after facing mounting pressure from members of his own party. Under the new law, the House Oversight Committee will receive access to the Justice Department’s files related to its Epstein investigation within the next 30 days.

The invitation for a “transcribed interview” is one of three scenarios that may unfold for Mountbatten-Windsor – ranging from a deposition to Congress to his potential removal from the line of succession – as the fall-out from the Epstein saga continues to reverberate on both sides of the Atlantic.

Andrew, who was last month formally stripped of his remaining royal titles by King Charles, has not complied with previous requests by American legislators to provide a formal deposition on Epstein, who died by suicide while awaiting trial in 2019.

But Dr Ed Owens, a leading royal historian, told The i Paper that being seen to engage with American investigations offered the former prince an opportunity, albeit fraught with further reputational risk, to begin to recover what remains of his reputation.

Mountbatten-Windsor, who faced an accusation of sexual assault by Viriginia Giuffre, a victim of Epstein’s sex trafficking, has long denied any wrongdoing in connection with the financier and his activities.

Owens said: “I think that Andrew’s quickest road to some kind of public redemption would be to engage with the American authorities and to shed some light on what he knew about Jeffrey Epstein and what he saw behind closed doors.

“The problem he faces is the perception that he has too much to hide because Andrew not only befriended this man but spent a lot of time in his company. I think there is an understanding on his part that he is never going to restore his status but he has an opportunity to put the record straight.”

Pressure on Andrew to testify before Congress 

In one fundamental respect, the King’s brother can simply brush aside the interest of US lawmakers because they have no power to require him to cross the Atlantic – whether physically or virtually – to answer their questions.

While Congress has the power to subpoena American citizens, it has no right to compel foreign citizens living beyond its jurisdiction to give evidence or answer its questions.

Suhas Subramanyam, a Democrat representative who sits on the oversight committee, earlier this week acknowledged that he and his colleagues are powerless to bring Mountbatten-Windsor before them.

But, there is a growing argument in Washington that the royal has a moral duty to answer questions about his links to Epstein. Subramanyam said financial records, which included a notation “massage for Andrew”, were among the issues that lawmakers wanted to raise with the former duke.

He told The Guardian: “It seems like every time we find more evidence, Prince Andrew seems to be in the documents. And so I think if he is hoping that the story will just go away by ignoring us and being silent, he will be sorely disappointed.”

Owens said Andrew had a variety of options to co-operate with legislators if he chose to do so.

He said: “Testifying would come at some personal risk to Andrew that he might find himself in yet still more difficult waters. But there may be ways in which he could have some sort of conversation with Congress, possibly on a remote and informal basis, that would not start raising issues about self-implication. I don’t think they’re expecting him to testify like some sort of mafia don.”

While Buckingham Palace would not stand in the way of any attempt by Andrew to engage with the American authorities, it is also a step which senior aides would be unlikely to relish, according to the historian.

He added: “A lot of work has been done by the Palace to implement a policy which has the effect of once and for all keeping Andrew from public view. They know that he is a weeping sore that can continue to weep and would doubtless rather avoid that happening publicly.”

Representatives of Mountbatten-Windsor did not immediately respond to a request to comment.

Charles removes Andrew from line of succession

The law passed by Congress this week raises the prospect that within the next 30 days a further deluge of material related to Epstein and his crimes will enter the public domain.

The extent to which Mountbatten-Windsor will feature in this documentation cannot be known, but it brings with it the risk of further awkward questions for Andrew about the nature and duration of his relationship with the paedophile financier.

The ex-prince is already facing further scrutiny after the recent revelation that he exchanged emails with Epstein in 2011, telling the entrepreneur: “It would seem we are in this together and will have to rise above it.” The exchange appears to challenge a previous claim by Andrew that he had terminated his friendship with Epstein in December 2010.

Further controversy could provoke a revisiting of the issue of whether or not Andrew should be stripped of the final remaining vestige of his royal status – his place in the line of succession to the throne.

Removal from the line of succession is solely within the gift of Parliament and the government of the day, as happened in 1936 when Edward VIII and any direct descendants were formally barred from the line of succession by the Act of Abdication.

The current Government has made clear that it has no plans to bring forward the legislation that would be needed to remove Andrew, who is currently eighth in line to the throne. A further complication is that such a move would also require the consent of the so-called Commonwealth realms, such as Australia and Canada, where the ruling monarch is also head of state.

Owens suggested there would also be reluctance in the Palace to pursue such a strategy. “I suspect it is likely that the King does not want to encourage any discussion of the line of succession within the Commonwealth realms because to do so could lead to awkward conversations or debates emerging about the future of the monarch in those nations.”

He added: “There is also the point to be made that the idea of Andrew succeeding to the throne is vanishingly small. I think if we got anywhere near the prospect of “King Andrew” it would already be over for the monarchy.”

FBI reopen an investigation into Andrew’s links to Epstein

Andrew faces further scrutiny over allegations that he asked one of the police officers assigned to his personal protection detail to “dig up dirt” on Giuffre.

According to the Mail on Sunday, Mountbatten-Windsor wrote in an email in 2011 that he had given Giuffre’s date of birth and her social security number “for investigation with… the on duty PPO [Personal Protection Officer]”.

To date, the former prince has not answered whether or not he came into possession of Giuffre’s nine-digit American social security number. In a statement following the Mail on Sunday report, the Metropolitan Police said it had not launched any formal investigation, adding: “We are aware of media reporting and actively looking into the claims made.”

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In July, the FBI made it known that it had closed its investigation into Epstein and his trafficking network, which had also looked at his associates.

However, a lawyer for Epstein’s victims, has called on the law enforcement agency to investigate the claims that Giuffre’s social security number had been obtained and whether US laws governing the use of that information could have been infringed.

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