LONDON, Feb 9 (Reuters) – Britain’s Prince William and his wife Kate said on Monday they were deeply concerned by the disclosure of the Jeffrey Epstein dossier, as the information about the heir to the throne’s uncle, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, further casts doubt.
King Charles’ younger brother, already expelled from the royal inner circle over his close ties to Epstein, faces fresh scrutiny since the recent release of millions of new documents relating to the late American sex offender.
Although Charles and his wife Camilla said in October that they had sympathy and sympathy for victims and survivors of abuse, the Prince and Princess of Wales’ comments on Monday were the most pointed messages yet from the royal family on the scandal.
“The prince and princess are deeply concerned by the unfolding events,” their spokesman told reporters ahead of the prince’s arrival in Saudi Arabia on a high-profile visit. “Their thoughts remain with the victims.”
Andrew and Epstein embarrassed kings and royals
In 2019, Mountbatten-Windsor was forced to resign from all official royal duties over his ties to Epstein, and in October, King Charles stripped him of his title as prince. Last week, he was forced to move out of the palace.
In 2022, he settled a lawsuit filed by Virginia Giuffre who accused him of sexually abusing her through her relationship with Epstein when she was a teenager. Giuffre committed suicide last April.
The 65-year-old second son of the late Queen Elizabeth has always denied any wrongdoing and has not responded to requests for comment since the latest Epstein documents were released.
Although the royal family tried to distance themselves from Mountbatten-Windsor, he remained a thorn in their side.
“Charles, how long have you known about Andrew and Epstein?” shouted a man in the crowd as the king arrived in Clitheroe, northern England, where he had been questioned for the second time in a week.
In the latest documents released by the United States, emails show that he shared official British trade documents with Epstein after he was convicted of child sex crimes in 2010, leaking information about his role as a government envoy at the time.
The documents appear to show that Andrew forwarded Epstein’s reports on Vietnam, Singapore and other places he was sent on official visits.
Trade envoys are generally prohibited from sharing sensitive or commercial documents.
Police assess Andrew’s possible disclosures to Epstein
Thames Valley Police said the issue had been reported to them and they were assessing whether to formally investigate “in line with our established procedures”.
Last week, police said they were reviewing a new allegation against Andrew stemming from the latest dossier, which involved a woman being taken to an address in Windsor, near London, where Andrew had been staying at the royal estate.
The disclosure of the dossier over the past 10 days has also plunged Prime Minister Keir Starmer into what is widely regarded as the biggest crisis of his premiership as he appoints Peter Mandelson, an acquaintance of Epstein, as ambassador to the United States.
Like Andrew, Mandelson appears to have shared sensitive government documents from 2009 and 2010 with Epstein, and police are investigating allegations of misconduct in public office.
(Reporting by Michael Holden, Sarah Young and Sam Tabahriti; Editing by Aidan Lewis and Kevin Liffey)