King Charles tries to limit the fallout from Andrew’s Epstein mess

The Peter Mandelson affair has yet to implicate civil servants in the former Labour politician’s dealings with Epstein.

Last month Sir Keir Starmer, the prime minister, suggested that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly known as Prince Andrew, should testify before America’s Congress on his dealings with the convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Now the king is feeling the fury. “How long have you known about Andrew?” shouted a heckler as King Charles greeted well-wishers outside a train station in Clitheroe, Lancashire—the second time in a week the monarch has been accosted in public over his brother’s vices.

The former prince is now known simply as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. (AP)

After the release of the latest batch of Epstein files Thames Valley Police is assessing allegations that Epstein trafficked a woman to the Windsor Estate for sex with Andrew. On February 9th a spokesman for Buckingham Palace said the king stands “ready to support” a police investigation (Charles had already stripped his brother of his royal status and home). Earlier Prince William, next in line to the throne, let it be known that he and his wife, Catherine, were “deeply concerned by the continuing revelations”. The king and his heir both expressed their concern for Epstein’s victims.

The Peter Mandelson affair has yet to implicate civil servants in the former Labour politician’s dealings with Epstein. The same cannot be said for some of Andrew’s aides, who are sprinkled throughout the files, facilitating meetings with Epstein and his entourage years after his conviction.

That these revelations stem from America’s Justice Department is itself an indictment. Once notorious for hounding the subjects of their reporting, Britain’s royal correspondents have largely defaulted to deference. Official barriers don’t help. In 2023 Andrew Lownie, a historian, submitted freedom-of-information requests to the Foreign Office on Andrew’s time as trade envoy. He says he was told that even in an official capacity “members of the royal family are not subject to the Freedom of Information Act”.

Polling suggests the king has barely been tarnished by Andrew’s antics. More details linking palace staff to Epstein could change that. It is not only Andrew who may be sweating.