Andrew-Epstein protest: Activists stage Buckingham Palace stunt over former prince’s ties to paedophile
Activists staged a protest at Buckingham Palace, questioning what the royal family knew about Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s friendship with Jeffrey Epstein.
The former Duke of York, who was stripped of his titles by his brother King Charles in October, was friends with the disgraced financier for decades before his death in 2019.
She hosted Epstein at the royal residences when he visited Britain and continued to socialize with him even after the financier was convicted of child sex crimes in 2008.
On Monday, activists from the anti-monarchy group Republic unfurled a large banner in the Buckingham Palace throne room featuring a photo of the former prince with Epstein.
It also reads “What did you know?” They also unfurled a second, smaller banner that read:
Republic chief executive Graham Smith said: “Republic activists took questions about Andrew to the heart of the royal family, the symbolic home of the monarchy.
“This question will not go away. It is not credible to think that Charles and William were not informed of the numerous allegations against Andrew all those years ago.
“The security services, police and government would have had concerns about Andrew’s behavior and would have informed the palace. Not least because of the potential threat to national security and the risk of blackmail.”
In February, Andrew was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office due to his connection to the deceased pedophile.
He was interrogated under caution before being released as part of the investigation.
It was revealed in May that detectives would look into allegations of sexual harassment against him as part of the investigation.
Andrew also faced separate charges of having sex with the late Virginia Giuffre three times, including when she was 17 (under the age of consent in the state of Florida) and also during an orgy after she was trafficked by Epstein.
The former duke denied the allegations.
Andrew paid millions of pounds to settle a civil case in the US in 2022 for Ms Giuffre, a woman he claims he has never met.
Thames Valley Police detectives investigating Andrew will reportedly travel to the United States in the coming weeks to meet with Ms Giuffre’s family and visit Giuffre’s brother and sister-in-law, Sky and Amanda Roberts.
Mr Smith added: “We need a full explanation from the palace and the government needs to take action as they refuse to talk. That’s why it’s so important that Green MP Sian Berry this week called for reform to freedom of information rules to end royal secrecy.”
Andrew hit the headlines again in June when a National Audit Office report revealed he had earned an undisclosed private income by paying peppercorn rent for more than two decades while renting three cottages on the Royal Lodge estate in Windsor.
The payments emerged just months after Andrew was forced to vacate his home and move to Marsh Farm on the King’s Sandringham estate in Norfolk, following a public outcry over his peppercorn rent.
