Prince Andrew accused of failing to co-operate with Jeffrey Epstein investigators

The Duke of York has been accused of failing to co-operate with investigators looking into Jeffrey Epstein.

Prince Andrew during his BBC interview during which he spoke about his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein. Picture: BBC

When Prince Andrew stepped back from royal duties in November after a disastrous interview about his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein he pledged to help investigators examining the convicted paedophile’s crimes.

However, more than three months after he made that promise, the Queen’s second son has been accused of failing to co-operate with investigators looking into whether additional crimes were committed by people close to the financier, who killed himself in a Manhattan prison cell last August while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

The Duke of York, 60, has “completely shut the door on voluntary co-operation”, said Geoffrey Berman, the United States attorney in Manhattan, whose office brought the case that led to Epstein’s arrest. “Our office is considering our options,” he told NBC News. It was not clear whether Mr Berman has the authority to compel the duke to co-operate.

Jeffrey Epstein.

Epstein, 66, was arrested on July 6 in connection with the alleged abuse of a “vast network” of girls in locations including his New York mansion, his private jet, known as the “Lolita Express”, his home in Palm Beach, Florida, and his private island in the US Virgin Islands. The financier, whose wealth was listed in court documents at over half a billion dollars, faced a potential 45-year sentence if found guilty.

The duke allegedly flew on the plane in 1999 and visited him in New York even after he had pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution from girls as young as 14 in 2008. One of the dozens of women who Epstein allegedly abused has claimed that she was “lent out to Prince Andrew” for sex, an allegation that the duke and Buckingham Palace have strongly denied.

The duke’s attempt to confront that accusation in the BBC interview four months ago ignited additional controversy. In the aftermath he announced that he was taking a break from official duties “for the foreseeable future” and confirmed, “of course, I am willing to help any appropriate law enforcement agency with their investigations, if required”.

In January Mr Berman made public his frustration at the duke when he said, in a rare divergence from his office’s policy of not commenting on investigations in progress, that “to date, Prince Andrew has provided zero co-operation”.

A spokeswoman for the duke said: “This issue is being dealt with by the Duke of York’s legal team. Buckingham Palace will not be commenting further on this particular matter.”

THE TIMES