Prince Andrew Faces Potential Prosecution Amidst Multiple Allegations of Sexual Offences

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, embroiled in the ongoing investigation into the Epstein Files, may potentially face prosecution for numerous sexual offenses. These alleged offenses include sex trafficking, sexual exploitation, and prostitution. Despite these serious allegations, law enforcement has yet to make an appearance at Sandringham, where Andrew is reportedly staying out of public view.

Marcus Johnstone, a prominent criminal defense attorney with a specialization in sex crimes, suggests that the former prince could be subject to investigation over claims that he permitted sex trafficking victims to enter Buckingham Palace. Johnstone notes that investigators will be seeking evidence to determine if Andrew knowingly facilitated the exploitation of these individuals.

Furthermore, detectives might explore the possibility of charging Andrew with misconduct in public office, a charge stemming from his tenure as a UK trade envoy. During this time, files indicate that he shared confidential Treasury information concerning Iceland’s financial crisis and communicated about the Royal Bank of Scotland, which was taxpayer-owned. Additionally, it is reported that Andrew permitted Jeffrey Epstein to arrange meetings on his behalf during an official trade mission to China.

Detectives could also investigate Andrew for the offence of misconduct in public office when he was a UK trade envoy. 

Files reveal he passed on a confidential Treasury briefing on Iceland’s financial crisis and also forwarded messages about taxpayer-owned Royal Bank of Scotland. The King’s brother even allowed Epstein to organise meetings for him during an official trade mission to China.

There are now claims a woman who could have been a trafficking victim was flown in on Jeffrey Epstein‘s ‘Lolita Express’ and smuggled into the Palace to see Andrew using the codename ‘Mrs Windsor’.

Mr Johnstone said: ‘Andrew could technically face action for a great many alleged sexual offences, including sex trafficking, sexual exploitation or even prostitution legislation – though much of this depends on what he knew and what can be proven he knew beyond all reasonable doubt.

‘It may not even be beyond the realms of possibility that a Royal Palace was used as a brothel, but proving this is a much more challenging task entirely’.

Epstein’s Boeing 727–100 private jet, which he used to host orgies and traffic girls, landed around 90 times in the UK – including after his conviction for child sex offences in 2008, the Epstein Files reveal. 

At least one Epstein victim was allegedly flown into Britain on board and then taken to Andrew at Buckingham Palace.  The disgraced former Duke of York allegedly told aides: ‘Mrs Windsor will arrive shortly, please let her in and show her up’ while a former police protection officer said they were ‘not allowed’ to know their names.

Mr Johnston, MD for PCD Solicitors, told the Daily Mail: ‘Questions must certainly be asked as to what he knew of the status of many of the women he allegedly hosted at parties and on his property, ferried on some 90 flights to the UK – but criminal action would require the collaboration of the alleged victims, and proof that Andrew knowingly facilitated their exploitation’.

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, pictured in Windsor before he went to ground in Sandringham, is facing deafening calls to speak to the police – or for detectives to turn up at his door

Pictured: Andrew enjoying a ride on a bamboo river raft while in China in a photo released in the Epstein Files. Emails show that the King’s brother allowed Epstein to organise meetings for him during an official trade mission to China

He added: ‘If Andrew were to face criminal prosecution, then it is my view that this would most likely take place in the United States. The American authorities could make a normal extradition request via the Home Office, and Andrew would be compelled to travel to the U.S. if this were approved by an English court.

‘However the English court would have to be satisfied that the alleged offence is also a crime in this country – and Andrew’s lawyers would undoubtedly argue that it would be effectively impossible to face a fair trial in an American court, considering the severity of ongoing media attention. 

‘If further disclosures are made by [Ghislaine] Maxwell or any alleged victims of the “Lolita Express”, then that might tip the balance and a prosecution is not off the cards’.

Andrew has denied wrongdoing in relation to allegations of sexual misconduct. 

Dame Maggie Oliver, a former detective who helped expose the Rochdale grooming scandal, has joined those calling for Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor to be interviewed over the true extent of his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. 

She told the Daily Mail that Andrew should not be protected from the law because of his royal status. 

King Charles said last week he is ‘ready to support’ police as they consider allegations against his brother – but officers are still yet to question Andrew.

Charles’ good friend, the broadcaster Jonathan Dimbleby, has claimed that the monarch ‘would very much like’ his brother to testify before the US Congress, adding that Charles will be ‘appalled’ by the allegations Andrew faces.

‘I would strongly believe, I can’t say with 100 per cent certainty, but I strongly believe that he would very much like him to stand up and testify, but knows to stand up and say that is a hiding to nothing,’ Mr Dimbleby told BBC Newsnight. 

Detectives could also investigate Andrew for the offence of misconduct in public office over allegations he forwarded confidential reports while representing the Government abroad.

Emails show that the King’s brother allowed Epstein to organise meetings for him during an official trade mission to China. 

Photographs also show him socialising with a Chinese model during the 2010 trip.

Files reveal that earlier that year he passed on a confidential Treasury briefing on Iceland’s financial crisis to a banker friend. He also forwarded messages about taxpayer-owned Royal Bank of Scotland to his adviser David Stern, who sent them on to Epstein.

Andrew even tried to arrange a meeting with Libyan dictator Colonel Gaddafi for Epstein, at the sex offender’s request, although it did not go ahead.

Police chiefs are already assessing claims that a woman was sent to the UK for a sexual encounter with him at his Windsor home by his close friend Epstein.

Adding to the pressure, the country’s top prosecutor said on Sunday that the 65-year-old former Duke of York was not ‘above the law’.

Andrew’s time as a trade envoy should be investigated for possible corruption, a former business secretary has said today.

Documents released by the US Department of Justice appeared to show the former prince sharing confidential reports from his role as the UK’s trade envoy with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Sir Vince Cable, whose time as business secretary between 2010 and 2015 overlapped with Andrew’s envoy role, said the activity was ‘totally unacceptable’.

He also told the BBC: ‘We need a police or DPP (director of public prosecutions) check on whether criminal corruption took place and a government investigation into how this was allowed to happen.’

Andrew features a number of times in the Epstein files, including images apparently showing him crouching over an unidentified woman in what appears to be Epstein’s New York mansion. It was claimed he smuggled a victim into Buckingham Palace

Emails released as part of the so-called Epstein files earlier this month appear to show the former duke – who served as trade envoy between 2001 and 2011 – sharing reports of official visits to Hong Kong, Vietnam and Singapore with the paedophile financier.

It came as it emerged all of the three million Epstein files have now been released.

Detectives could investigate Andrew for the offence of misconduct in public office over allegations he forwarded confidential reports while representing the Government abroad.

Police chiefs are already assessing claims that a woman was sent to the UK for a sexual encounter with him at his Windsor home by his close friend Epstein.

Adding to the pressure, the country’s top prosecutor said on Sunday that the 65-year-old former Duke of York was not ‘above the law’.

Dame Maggie Oliver said: ‘Andrew should be interviewed. I don’t know what the evidence is, only what I’ve seen publicly shared, but my opinion is that the police should be involved and they should follow the evidence and investigate in the same way they would with any other person.

‘There’s so many questions that I don’t have answers to. I can’t say, with the limited information I have, whether there is sufficient evidence to actually arrest him.

‘But what I’ve seen, both in my police career and most certainly afterwards, is powerful people being protected by the institutions that are meant to treat everyone the same when it comes to the law.

‘Look at Jimmy Savile, look at the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, who resigned following a damning report that claimed he failed to investigate abuse claims within the church properly. Lord Greville Janner wasn’t investigated for many years and when he finally was it was decided he was too old to stand trial.

‘What I have seen is powerful people not being treated the same way as Joe Bloggs next door would be and that’s always concerned me.’

Ms Oliver, who quit Greater Manchester Police to expose the force’s poor handling of the Rochdale child sex abuse investigation, said that like the girls she helped, Epstein’s victims had been badly let down.

She said: ‘People who worked with Epstein, who were under his will, whether they were cooks or butlers or people flying his plane, I think they decided that they weren’t going to call out what they were seeing and so of course those victims were abandoned.

‘They were left to their fate by people who presumably preferred to turn a blind eye than potentially jeopardise their own position, their own finances, as part of his inner circle and I don’t think you can argue against that.’

There are growing calls for Mountbatten-Windsor to be extradited to the U.S to be questioned under caution by Congress.

But Ms Oliver said: ‘At the moment, he doesn’t have any obligation to. Whether he chooses to go to have a conversation, that’s an option he has.

‘If they (U.S authorities) have any firm evidence that he has done something which goes against their laws, then they could seek to have him extradited him but I don’t know if that evidence exists.

‘At the moment he’s been asked to go on a voluntary basis and that is entirely up to him as to whether he goes.

‘If I’d done nothing wrong and I was asked to go, I would go even though I’ve seen how a case can be twisted if there is an agenda. But I do think with his position and the legal representation he will have and everybody fighting his corner, I think questions will always be raised if he chooses not to go.’

Britain’s former ambassador to the U.S Peter Mandelson and Prime Minister Kier Starmer, who appointed him, have also faced a backlash but Ms Oliver added: ‘I see that as just another example of a pattern that I’ve seen of those in power in many institutions protecting their own. There’s one rule for them and one rule for us if you like. We hear a lot about two-tier justice and I’m afraid that is what happens when you have people with money.

‘They have much better legal representation. The authorities are often less likely to go after them because they don’t want to be in the public spotlight so I think Peter Mandelson is probably no different to those other powerful people who have also been protected.

‘I don’t believe Starmer when he says he was unaware of Mandelson’s relationship with Epstein, but that’s the way of the world. I’ve seen so many things that are not based on truth but based on saving your reputation. I’m pretty disillusioned as to what happens in these high places. My eyes have very much been opened. I’ve seen the same behaviour in the police, in social services and in councils, to protect those at the top of those organisations however much it takes until you absolutely have to do something.

‘That’s the journey I’ve had for the last 13-years of chipping away, chipping away, chipping away until eventually the truth comes out but it doesn’t happen easily.’

On Sunday night Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said: ‘The Epstein revelations are hugely damaging to public trust in our institutions. It’s clear Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor abused his position as trade envoy, sharing sensitive information about the UK’s interests with his friend, and convicted paedophile, Jeffrey Epstein.

‘The police are rightfully looking into this as we need full transparency to get justice for the victims of this abhorrent abuse. That must also include a public inquiry.’

Andrew, who was stripped of his remaining royal titles last year, served as the UK’s Special Representative for International Trade and Investment from 2001 to 2011.

The role allowed him to travel around the world at the taxpayer’s expense and gave him privileged access to senior political and business figures. But some of the Epstein Files released by the US Department of Justice appear to show that he – like New Labour architect Peter Mandelson – used the position to forward official documents including sensitive information to Epstein, who took his own life in a prison cell in 2019.

Senior Tory MP Alex Burghart said: ‘Leaking sensitive Government information is incredibly serious, and these latest reports about Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor are therefore extremely concerning. No stone should be left unturned to get to the truth… It is vital we find out exactly what happened and due action is taken.’

Shadow Foreign Secretary and former Cabinet minister Dame Priti Patel told GB News: ‘Everyone that’s been involved should be subject to the right kind of inquiries, police investigations.

‘What has taken place and happened is absolutely abhorrent, and it’s right that everyone is scrutinised in terms of their roles, what has happened, information, papers that may have been shared and disclosed.’ A spokesman for Reform UK said: ‘It is now time that the police launch an investigation into Andrew Mountbatten’s disgraceful leaks as trade envoy. No one is above the law.’

Andrew waves goodbye to a woman leaving Epstein’s home in New York in December 2010

Labour’s Rachael Maskell, the York MP who led calls for the royal to be stripped of his Duke of York title, said: ‘It is important to have a clear understanding as to what occurred and what was shared on these trade visits… if classified information was leaked then a full investigation should take place.’

In an interview with The Sunday Times, Director of Public Prosecutions Stephen Parkinson said: ‘Nobody is above the law. It’s my job to enforce the law and I do so without fear or favour, and that is unaffected by the status of the individual concerned.’

Thames Valley Police Assistant Chief Constable Oliver Wright said the force continued ‘to assess all relevant information’. Last week Buckingham Palace said: ‘The King has made clear his profound concern at allegations which continue to come to light in respect of Mr Mountbatten-Windsor’s conduct… If we are approached by Thames Valley Police we stand ready to support them as you would expect.’

Andrew has denied wrongdoing in relation to allegations of sexual misconduct. He has not responded to requests for comment on the allegations about his role as envoy.