Prince Andrew ‘angry’ over claims he ignored FBI interview request

Prince Andrew is ‘angry and bewildered’ at FBI claims he ignored an interview request over his links with Jeffrey Epstein.

Prince Andrew, arrives to attend a church service at St Mary the Virgin Church in Hillington, Norfolk, recently. Picture: AFP.

Prince Andrew is ‘angry and bewildered’ at FBI claims that he has ignored a request for an interview over his links with pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

The Duke of York reportedly claims he was never approached by the agency over Epstein, and is holding weekly meetings with his lawyers in preparation.

On Tuesday (AEDT), US prosecutors piled pressure on Andrew by announcing he had provided “zero co-operation” to their requests for an interview.

Sources close to the Duke told the Telegraph UK: “Nothing could be further from the truth.”

“The Duke is more than happy to talk to the FBI but he hasn’t been approached by them yet,” the source said.

“He is angry about the way this is being portrayed and bewildered as to why this was said in New York. It seems certain people are jumping the gun.”

As victims demanded the Duke “stop playing games,” the source said he remained willing to assist the investigation and as such, had been holding weekly meetings with his lawyers at Royal Lodge, his Windsor home, and at Buckingham Palace.

Lisa Bloom talks about Prince Andrew on BBC Newsnight. Picture: BBC Newsnight

On Wednesday, lawyer Lisa Bloom, who represents five of Epstein’s alleged sexual trafficking victims, demanded Andrew “stop playing games and to come forward to do the right thing and answer questions.”

Ms Bloom said her clients were “outraged and disappointed at Prince Andrew’s behaviour.” The Duke remained out of the public eye on Tuesday. Buckingham Palace and his legal team maintained a “no comment” policy one day after US lawyer Geoffrey Berman criticised Andrew for his alleged refusal to speak to the FBI.

The statement by Mr Berman, the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, was the first official confirmation that the leading US law enforcement agency had sought – and failed – to obtain evidence from Andrew despite his pledge in November that he would co-operate with legitimate law enforcement agencies.

Andrew is being sought for questioning as a witness who may be able to shed light on the illegal activities of Epstein, who died in a New York prison in August while awaiting trial on sexually abusing teenage girls.

There’s no indication that US officials are pursuing criminal charges against the prince. The FBI only has limited ways to try to convince Andrew to give evidence. It is not clear if the FBI made an informal request through Andrew’s lawyers or went through formal police channels, which if successful would have led to an interview conducted by UK police, possibly with an FBI agent present.

“They can’t compel him to do any of those things,” said British lawyer Ben Keith, a specialist in extradition and law enforcement.

“The next stage after that is to issue a formal Mutual Legal Assistance Request, which would go through the Foreign Office and be dealt with in the court system.”

That could lead, Mr Keith said, to the prince giving evidence via video link to US investigators.

Andrew was forced to withdraw from public life following a disastrous interview with the BBC in which he said he had no regrets about his friendship with Epstein.

Virginia Roberts Giuffre has given sworn deposition that she had sex with Andrew on three occasions, after being introduced by Epstein. She has said it was impossible not to realise what was going on.

Andrew told the Newsnight program there “was no indication, absolutely no indication’’ of young girls procured for sex trafficking at Epstein’s houses.

With AFP