London
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Buckingham Palace stands prepared to help British police as they assess a report that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor allegedly shared confidential material with the late intercourse offender Jeffrey Epstein throughout the former prince’s function as UK commerce envoy.
The newest tranche of Epstein recordsdata launched by the US Justice Department, which have sparked renewed scrutiny of the disgraced royal, seem to present Mountbatten-Windsor despatched confidential material to Epstein in 2010.
Graham Smith, the chief government of British anti-monarchist group Republic, stated Monday he had reported Mountbatten-Windsor to police for “suspected misconduct in public office and breach of official secrets.”
On Monday, Thames Valley Police informed NCS, “We can confirm receipt of this report and are assessing the information in line with our established procedures,” a spokesperson for the police power stated.
Later Monday, a spokesperson for Buckingham Palace stated King Charles had “made clear, in words and through unprecedented actions, his profound concern at allegations which continue to come to light in respect of Mr Mountbatten-Windsor’s conduct.”
“While the specific claims in question are for Mr Mountbatten-Windsor to address, if we are approached by Thames Valley Police we stand ready to support them as you would expect,” the spokesperson stated.
Mountbatten-Windsor has beforehand denied any wrongdoing over his ties to Epstein. He has not publicly responded to the most recent allegations. NCS has contacted him for remark.
The former prince is amongst a number of distinguished figures in British public life to have confronted rising backlash in current days over ties to Epstein. Peter Mandelson, the former UK ambassador to the US, stop the UK’s House of Lords final week after the most recent recordsdata appeared to present he leaked market-sensitive authorities data to Epstein within the wake of the 2008 monetary disaster.
British police raided two properties linked to Mandelson on Friday as a part of an investigation into misconduct in public workplace. NCS has been unable to contact Mandelson’s consultant. Mandelson has beforehand stated he was “wrong to believe (Epstein) following his conviction and to continue my association with him afterwards.”
Mountbatten-Windsor grew to become commerce envoy in 2001 however stepped down a decade later after coming below fireplace over his affiliation with Epstein. The former prince stated on the time his place was “no longer necessary to the work that I do today and, more importantly, in the future.”
In October 2010, Epstein emailed the royal asking for particulars about an upcoming journey to Asia, in accordance to DOJ recordsdata. In response, Mountbatten-Windsor despatched Epstein a quick itinerary setting out his journey plans for varied locations, together with Vietnam, Singapore and Hong Kong.
Then, after the journey concluded, Mountbatten-Windsor forwarded “visit reports” to Epstein, initially despatched to the former prince by his then-special adviser Amit Patel. The abroad go to is listed in a monetary report revealed by the royal household.
Trade envoys should not civil servants within the UK, however the function carries a “duty of confidentiality in relation to information received,” a phrases of appointment doc revealed by the British parliament in 2023 stated.
This data “may include sensitive, commercial, or political information shared about relevant markets/visits,” the doc stated. “This duty of confidentiality will continue to apply after the expiry of their term of office.”
“In addition, the Official Secrets Acts 1911 and 1989 will apply,” the doc added. It is unclear whether or not the data Mountbatten-Windsor shared was commercially or politically delicate.
The former prince has for years tried to keep away from questions on his hyperlinks to Epstein. He informed the BBC’s Newsnight program in 2019 he had gone to New York in 2010, after Epstein was convicted as a intercourse offender, to break off contact with him.
“I went there with the sole purpose of saying to him that because he had been convicted, it was inappropriate for us to be seen together,” he stated.
In December 2010, Mountbatten-Windsor seems to have despatched Epstein what he known as a “confidential brief” concerning funding alternatives associated to the reconstruction of Afghanistan’s Helmand province, the place British troops had been working on the time, DOJ paperwork present.
The former prince stated within the electronic mail to Epstein he can be “very interested in your comments, views or ideas as to whom I could also usefully show this to attract some interest.”
In one other electronic mail in December 2009, Mountbatten-Windsor informed Epstein he spent a weekend in Paris with an “interesting American family Bank who are after some help in the Middle East; a gap in their geographic coverage.”
Later that night, Epstein replied, asking “which Middle East country are you strongest.”
The newest revelations come shortly after Mountbatten-Windsor moved out of his longtime Windsor home, simply outdoors of London, amid the swirling Epstein scandal.
On Monday, a Kensington Palace spokesperson stated the Prince and Princess of Wales have been “deeply concerned” by the trove of new documents, with out naming Mountbatten-Windsor straight.
“Their thoughts remain focused on the victims,” the spokesperson stated.
This story has been up to date with extra particulars.