Andrew Mountbatten Windsor has been stripped of his titles and banished from his royal lodgings over his ties to Jeffrey Epstein, but that’s only the tip of the iceberg, according to a British historian and author.
Andrew Lownie told the Daily Beast Podcast that the former prince, 65, could end up fleeing Britain amid calls at home for him to be investigated over allegations of sexual assault and public misconduct, as well as requests from American lawmakers for him to testify about the convicted sex offender with whom he nurtured a close friendship.
“He may well end up going to the Middle East because there are also calls for him to be investigated for his sexual and financial crimes,” Lownie told host Joanna Coles. “And so I don’t think the story is over for him, and that’s why the Royal Family is so keen to distance itself from him. So there’s a good chance he may end up actually going physically abroad into exile to somewhere where there isn’t an extradition treaty.”
The anti-monarchist group Republic is leading efforts to launch a private prosecution of Andrew over allegations of sexual assault, corruption, and misconduct in public office. The group announced Thursday that it had instructed a law firm to look into—and possibly initiate—a private prosecution of the disgraced royal as it slammed political response to the scandal as “weak, deferential, and inadequate.”
The Metropolitan Police also said it was investigating claims that Andrew had asked his taxpayer-funded police protection officer to dig up dirt about Virginia Giuffre, a prominent Epstein victim who accused the former prince of sexually abusing her when she was a teen.
Nazir Afzal, the former chief crown prosecutor for Northwest England, told Channel 4 News that the move was grounds for a probe into Andrew.
“People are doing favors for people in power, and that’s misconduct in public office, and that’s a criminal offense,” Afzal said. “There’s so much here that requires looking at, and it beggars belief that nobody’s doing that.”
Lownie said the renewed furor over Andrew shows that “public opinion still feels he hasn’t been held to account properly.”
“The only thing that’s changed is he’s moved house and he’s no longer prince,” Lownie said. “He hasn’t really had to explain himself.”
Last week, Buckingham Palace revealed in a stunning announcement that King Charles had stripped his brother of his royal titles and asked him to give up his lease on the Royal Lodge, exiling him to the Sandringham estate in Norfolk.
“Finally, the Palace have got to grips with this scandal,” Lownie said, echoing public sentiment about the King’s move. “The King felt he needed to act. People were asking bigger questions now about the monarchy, its purpose, its finances, and they kind of wanted to shut that story down. So Andrew, basically, has been thrown under the bus to save the rest of them.”
In the U.S., meanwhile, Democrats on the House Oversight Committee have called on Andrew to testify about Epstein, who was notoriously also close friends with President Donald Trump. The Trump administration has yet to fulfill the president’s campaign promise of releasing long-awaited legal files on the Epstein case.
Trump has claimed that he does not know Andrew, but Lownie, who has authored several books about the royal family, said there is “plenty of photographic evidence” proving otherwise.
“In fact, Andrew was kind of the designated royal for Trump because of the golf interests,” he said, noting that the former prince was once seen in Mar-a-Lago. “The links between them are pretty extensive.”
On Sunday, Trump commiserated with the royal family in his first statement on the royal debacle.
“I mean, it’s a terrible thing that’s happened to the family,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One. “That’s been a tragic situation and it’s too bad. I mean I feel badly for the family.”
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