The US Department of Justice has officially demanded Great Britain allow Prince Andrew to be questioned in court over his links to the late billionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, embroiling him in the criminal probe for the first time.
The Duke of York, 60, had previously refused to be questioned by prosecutors in New York, in relation to their investigation into Epstein’s historic sex trafficking network.
Though he ‘categorically’ denies any wrongdoing, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, now 36, has accused Andrew of having sex with her on three different occasions between 2001 and 2002, twice while she was underage.
And now Andrew may have to address those accusations under oath, after the US Department of Justice filed a ‘mutual legal assistance’ (MLA) requests to the UK Home Officer, the Sun reported.
The Duke of York, 60, had previously refused to be questioned by prosecutors in New York, in relation to their investigation into Epstein’s historic sex trafficking network
Prince Andrew has previously admitted to becoming friends with Jeffrey Epstein (seen right) in 1999, after being introduced to the financier through Ghislaine Maxwell (Pictured: Melania Trump, Prince Andrew, Gwendolyn Beck and Jeffrey Epstein at a party at the Mar-a-Lago club, 2000)
MLA requests are only used in criminal cases under a legal treaty with the UK. The order could require Andrew to appear in a UK court as a witness within the next few months.
The Sun reports that no decision has yet been made by British officials in relation to the request, with Andrew himself likely unaware of the summons because both the US and UK are legally required to keep them secret.
Representatives for Prince Andrew have not yet responded to a DailyMail.com request for comment.
It’s understood that the MLA was formally filed last month, which, if granted, would leave US prosecutors with two options.
Firstly, the Duke of York could be asked to volunteer to be interviewed and issue investigators a signed statement. Typically used only for witnesses to crimes, crucially neither the interview nor the written statement would be made under oath.
But secondly, US prosecutors, who’re said to have been left frustrated by Andrew’s unwillingness to cooperate in the probe so far, could ask Andrew appear at London’s City of Westminster Magistrates’ Court to provide oral or written evidence, which would be issued under oath.
Should Prince Andrew refuse, he may be forced to attend in person by summons where Department of Justice lawyers would be able to quiz him directly.
Unlike his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Andrew does not have diplomatic immunity from prosecution.
However, any evidence provided by Andrew may be held ‘in camera’, meaning the session would be private with press and members of the public barred from attending.
The Duke would also retain the right to ‘plead the fifth’ and stay silent to avoid self-incrimination, however legal experts have already warned that any decision to do so could dramatically backfire on Prince Andrew.
‘While the Prince would retain the right to decline to testify under the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, the impact on his already diminished reputation would be considerable and an adverse inference could be drawn against him in the related civil litigations, leading to a possible default judgment,’ former federal prosecutor Evan T Barr wrote in a US law journal last month.
Prince Andrew announced he’d be stepping back from public life after a disastrous interview with the BBC in November, regarding the decades-long friendship he shared with Epstein.
During the interview, Andrew insisted he would cooperate with any US investigation if his ‘legal advice was to do so’.
However, in January, US attorney for the Southern District of New York, Geoffrey Berman criticized Andrew for providing ‘zero cooperation’ with his probe. Then in March, Berman said Andrew had since ‘completely shut the door on voluntary co-operation.’
Representatives for Andrew rebuked the claims, insisting his legal aides had been in regular contact with the prosecutor’s officer since the beginning of the year.
Berman, meanwhile, said his office was ‘considering its options’ after Andrew’s attorneys made it clear he was ‘not willing to submit to an interview’. The MLA request was then filed in May.
Prince Andrew has previously admitted to becoming friends with Jeffrey Epstein in 1999, after being introduced to the financier through Ghislaine Maxwell.
Epstein was a guest at Maxwell’s birthday party at Sandringham Palace, as well as at Princess Beatrice’s 18th birthday party at Windsor Castle, two months after a warrant was issued for his arrest in 2006 for the sexual assault of a minor.
Epstein and Andrew were believed to have met on at least 10 other occasions, with the Duke of York even staying over at Epstein’s mansion in New York, at his Palm Beach home and on his private island in the US Virgin Islands.
Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who was 17 at the time, claims she was trafficking by Epstein to have sex with Prince Andrew in London, in 2001, at Maxwell’s home in Mayfair. Giuffre also alleges that Epstein paid her to have sex with Andrew at Epstein’s New York mansion.
During a
Andrew vehemently denies the allegations made by Giuffre.