King’s legal team urged to contact lawyers over Andrew allegations

The King has been urged to contact lawyers representing a woman who claims to have been sent to the UK for a sexual encounter with his brother Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.

The former prince has featured on a number of occasions in the more than three million pages of documents published by the US Department of Justice on Friday, related to paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Lawyers representing the unnamed woman, a second accuser who alleges she was sent to the UK by Epstein, said any evidence Andrew would give in relation to the allegations would be “irrelevant” – adding that a “sincere and real apology” from the King would be the only way to “maintain any level of credibility”.

Brad Edwards from the US firm Edwards Henderson previously told the BBC his client had spent the night with Andrew after being given a tour of Buckingham Palace.

A man who appears to be the former prince features in images from the release, crouched over an unidentified woman who is lying on the floor.

His ex-wife Sarah Ferguson also features in the documents, appearing to accuse Epstein of it being “crystal clear to me that you were only friends with me to get to Andrew”.

In an email exchange from September 21, 2011, she appears to write: “Don’t know if you are still on this bbm but heard from The Duke that you have had a baby boy.

“Even though you never kept in touch, I still am here with love, friendship and congratualtions (sic) on your baby boy. Sarah xx”

The email is then followed up with a message saying: “You have disappeared.

“I did not even know you were having a baby. It was soooo crystal clear to me that you were only friends with me to get to Andrew. And that really hurt me deeeply (sic). More than you will know.”

Elsewhere in the document dump, screenshots and scans appear to show Andrew exchanged emails with Epstein about a “beautiful” Russian woman, and invited him to Buckingham Palace.

The former Duke of York was stripped of his titles by Charles last year after the posthumous publication of a book by Virginia Giuffre, who also alleged she was trafficked by Epstein and his former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell when she was 17.

Andrew paid millions to Ms Giuffre, a woman he has claimed never to have met, to settle a civil sexual assault claim in 2022.

The former prince has vehemently denied any wrongdoing.

In a statement issued after the allegations made by Mr Edwards, Brittany Henderson, of the same law firm, told the Press Association: “Andrew’s power only existed because of his royal family.

“Andrew’s complicity and involvement with Epstein and Maxwell has been well known to us, to Andrew, and to the Palace for many years.

“Whether he comes to the United States to testify is irrelevant; we hardly need more people over here spinning grand stories.

“For the royal family to maintain any level of credibility in the eyes of the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein, the legal team for the King should contact me immediately in a good faith effort to learn what Andrew has done, meet whomever he has done it to, issue a sincere and real apology, and ensure that any victims of Andrew are fairly compensated for this wrongdoing.”

Elsewhere, Lord Mandelson’s ties to convicted sex offender Epstein have led to calls for Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to strip him of his peerage.

The former ambassador to the US resigned his membership of the Labour Party after the latest document dump.

In an email exchange from 2009, Lord Mandelson, then the business secretary, appeared to tell Epstein he would lobby ministers about a tax on bankers’ bonuses.

Bank statements from 2003 and 2004 appeared to show he received payments totalling 75,000 US dollars from the financier, and Epstein is also said to have paid for an osteopathy course for Lord Mandelson’s husband.

Lord Mandelson wrote to the general secretary of the Labour Party to resign his party membership, saying: “Allegations which I believe to be false that he made financial payments to me 20 years ago, and of which I have no record or recollection, need investigating by me.

“While doing this I do not wish to cause further embarrassment to the Labour Party and I am therefore stepping down from membership of the party.”