Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has called on anyone with relevant information about Jeffrey Epstein to share it with investigators, after Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor ignored a request to testify in a US probe. The Labour leader stopped short of commenting on the disgraced former royal specifically but said as a "general principle" that people should be prepared to disclose relevant details.
American legislators have criticised Andrew for what they described as "silence" amid their investigation into paedophile financier Epstein. Members of the House Oversight Committee had requested a "transcribed interview" with the former prince in connection with his "long-standing friendship" with Epstein, who took his own life in a New York prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking and conspiracy charges.
Democrats Robert Garcia and Suhas Subramanyam accused Andrew of hiding after saying they had not heard from him.
Starmer's position
Asked whether Andrew should help the probe, Sir Keir told reporters travelling with him to the Johannesburg G20 summit: "I don't comment on his particular case. But as a general principle I've held for a very long time is that anybody who has got relevant information in relation to these kind of cases should give that evidence to those that need it."
Pressed on whether that would apply to Andrew, the Prime Minister said: "In the end that will be a decision for him. But my general position is, if you have relevant information you should be prepared to share it."
Background
Andrew was stripped of his prince and Duke of York titles earlier this month and banished from the monarchy by his brother the King because of his "serious lapses of judgment" over his association with convicted sex offender Epstein. The former royal denies any wrongdoing.
The move followed the publication of the late Virginia Giuffre's posthumous memoirs – who had accused him of sexually assaulting her when she was a teenager – and the US government's release of documents from Epstein's estate. The Metropolitan Police is looking into claims Andrew passed Ms Giuffre's date of birth and social security number to his taxpayer-funded bodyguard in 2011 and asked him to investigate.
Note: This article was created with Artificial Intelligence (AI).
