UK’s Starmer says ex-Prince Andrew should testify before Congress over Epstein ties

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Saturday that the former Prince Andrew should testify before a U.S. congressional committee, following new revelations about Andrew's links to the late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

New files related to Epstein published by the U.S. Justice Department on Friday included emails that showed King Charles's brother maintaining regular contact with Epstein for more than two years after he was found guilty of child sex crimes.

The files also include pictures appearing to show Andrew crouching over and touching the waist of an unidentified woman lying on the floor. Her face was blacked out in the redacted images.

Separately, the BBC on Sunday quoted a U.S. lawyer as saying a woman had alleged she was sent, while in her 20s, by Epstein to Britain for a sexual encounter with Andrew which took place in 2010 in a royal property on the estate of Windsor Castle.

Representatives for Andrew, who has always denied wrongdoing in connection with Epstein, did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the BBC report. Reuters has also sought comment from the U.S. lawyer, Brad Edwards from the U.S. firm Edwards Henderson, who made the claims on behalf of the unidentified woman, who the BBC said was not British.

The allegation represented the second claim of a woman being flown from the U.S. to Britain to meet Andrew after Virginia Giuffre, a prominent accuser of Epstein, said she was forced to have sex with him in London.

In 2022, Andrew made an undisclosed payment to settle a lawsuit brought in the U.S. by Giuffre who died by suicide in April.Andrew, 65, has always denied Giuffre's account.

The king stripped his brother of his title of prince and evicted him from his mansion in the grounds of Windsor Castle in November, in the wake of previous revelations about his links with Epstein.

ANDREW HAD DENIED MAINTAINING RELATIONSHIP AFTER EPSTEIN'S CONVICTION

The former prince, 65, now uses the family name Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. He has denied wrongdoing in connection with Epstein and had previously denied maintaining ties with the financier after Epstein's 2008 conviction, apart from a 2010 visit to New York to end their relationship.

He did not reply to a Reuters request for comment on the latest revelations in the U.S. justice department files. Buckingham Palace declined to comment.

Starmer, speaking to reporters on the plane to Japan after a four-day visit to China, said the former prince should appear before U.S. lawmakers to explain everything he knows about Epstein to help his victims.

"Anybody who has got information should be prepared to share that information in whatever form they are asked to do that,” Starmer said. "You can’t be victim centred if you’re not prepared to do that."

In November, members of a U.S. congressional committee investigating the Epstein case intensified their calls for Andrew to answer questions.

Epstein died by suicide in 2019 in a Manhattan jail while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. He was jailed in 2008 for soliciting paid sex from a minor.

The files show Andrew maintained regular contact with Epstein after his conviction, including discussing potential business deals and social meetings.

In several emails, Epstein and Andrew discuss women that the financier proposes to put in touch with the prince. In one email, Epstein offered to bring three women to Buckingham Palace.

-Andrew MacAskill;Editing by Peter Graff and Gareth Jones/Reuters