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King Charles is ready to help British police assess reports that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is suspected of sharing confidential material with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein while he was British trade envoy.
The latest part of the Epstein files released by the US Department of Justice has sparked fresh scrutiny of the disgraced royal family and appears to show that Mr Mountbatten-Windsor sent confidential material to Mr Epstein in 2010.
Graham Smith, chief executive of Britain’s anti-monarchist group Republic, said on Monday that he had reported Mr Mountbatten-Windsor to police for “alleged misconduct in public office and leaking official secrets”.
On Monday, Thames Valley Police told CNN: “We can confirm receipt of this report and are evaluating the information in accordance with established procedures,” a police spokesperson said.
Late on Monday, a Buckingham Palace spokesperson said King Charles had “made clear through his words and unprecedented actions his deep concern about the allegations that continue to emerge regarding Mr Mountbatten-Windsor’s conduct.”
“The specific allegations in question will be dealt with by Mr Mountbatten-Windsor, but if Thames Valley Police contact us, as you can imagine, we stand ready to assist them,” the spokesperson said.
Mountbatten-Windsor has previously denied any wrongdoing over her relationship with Epstein. He has not publicly responded to the latest allegations. CNN has reached out to him for comment.
The former prince is one of several high-profile figures facing growing backlash in British public life in recent days over their ties to Mr. Epstein. Peter Mandelson, the former British ambassador to the United States, resigned from Britain’s House of Lords last week after new files emerged showing he leaked market-sensitive government information to Epstein in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.
British police raided two properties linked to Mr Mandelson on Friday as part of an investigation into misconduct in public office. CNN has not been able to contact Mandelson’s representatives. Mandelson previously said: “I was wrong to believe (Epstein) after he was convicted and then continue my relationship with him.”
Mr Mountbatten-Windsor became trade envoy in 2001, but resigned 10 years later amid criticism over his relationship with Mr Epstein. The former prince said at the time that his position was “no longer necessary for my work today and, more importantly, in the future.”
According to Justice Department files, Mr. Epstein emailed the royal family in October 2010 asking for details about his upcoming trip to Asia. In response, Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor sent Mr. Epstein a brief itinerary with travel plans to various destinations, including Vietnam, Singapore, and Hong Kong.
And after the trip, Mountbatten-Windsor forwarded a “visit report” to Epstein, which had originally been sent to the former prince by then-special adviser Amit Patel. Overseas visits are recorded in financial statements issued by the royal family.
Although the trade envoy is not a UK civil servant, the terms of appointment document published by Parliament in 2023 states that the role has a “duty of confidentiality in relation to information received”.
This information “may include sensitive, commercial, and political information shared about relevant markets and visits,” the document states. “This obligation of confidentiality continues to apply even after the expiration of the term.”
“Furthermore, the Official Secrets Acts 1911 and 1989 apply,” the document added. It is unclear whether the information Mountbatten-Windsor shared was commercially or politically sensitive.
For years, the former prince tried to avoid questions about his relationship with Epstein. She told BBC Newsnight in 2019 that she went to New York in 2010 to cut off contact with Epstein after he was convicted as a sex offender.
“The only reason I went there was to tell him that it would be inappropriate for us to be seen together because he is a convicted felon,” he said.
In December 2010, Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor appears to have sent what he called a “confidential brief” to Mr. Epstein regarding investment opportunities related to rebuilding Afghanistan’s Helmand province, where British troops were operating at the time, according to Justice Department documents.
In an email to Mr. Epstein, the former prince said: “I am very interested in your comments, views and ideas, and I am very interested in whom I can show this to in order to generate interest.”
In another email in December 2009, Mountbatten-Windsor told Epstein that he had spent a weekend in Paris with an “interesting American family bank looking for help in the Middle East, where there is a gap in geographic coverage.”
Later that night, Epstein responded by asking, “Which Middle Eastern country is the strongest for you?”
The latest revelations come shortly after Mr Mountbatten-Windsor moved from his longtime home in Windsor, a London suburb, amid the Epstein scandal.
A Kensington Palace spokesperson said on Monday that the Prince and Princess of Wales were “deeply concerned” by the new trove of documents, without naming Mountbatten-Windsor directly.
“Their thoughts remain with the victims,” the spokesperson said.
This story has been updated with additional details.
