Epstein file shows US-UK row over whether Prince Andrew was a suspect

WASHINGTON – U.S. diplomatic and law enforcement officials were troubled in August 2021 when Prince Andrew continued to refuse to cooperate in their criminal investigation into Jeffrey Epstein’s associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, especially since British authorities wanted to know if the son of the Queen of England had become a suspect as opposed to a witness.

In a series of emails on Aug. 24, 2021, released by the Justice Department on Jan. 30, officials in the U.S. embassy in London were discussing with counterparts in Washington how to respond to inquiries by the British government about the status of Andrew, who had been publicly accused of consorting with at least one underage girl allegedly trafficked by Epstein.

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, as he is now called after being stripped of his titles and most royal duties amid the Epstein allegations, has vehemently denied wrongdoing but acknowledged he used bad judgment. At the time of the 2021 embassy emails, Maxwell had been charged with sex trafficking, and Epstein accuser Virginia Roberts Giuffre had just filed a civil lawsuit against Prince Andrew in New York, alleging he sexually abused her when she was a minor trafficked by Jeffrey Epstein.

Epstein died by suicide while in custody awaiting trial in 2019. Roberts Giuffre died by suicide in April 2025, months before the publication of her memoir.

“We are aware that a civil case has been filed in New York concerning the Epstein investigation with the material witness as the defendant,” someone from the UK government said in an inquiry to the U.S. embassy, shared by the embassy official. “Please can you let us know what impact this has on the material witness's current status, as a witness, in the criminal investigation and in relation to the MLA request.”

“I think they are asking whether, in light of the recent allegations, that Andrew “is now a suspect instead of a witness (in British parlance),” said the unidentified U.S. embassy official, apparently the Justice Department attache in London. “I was going to respond with one word ‘none’ but thought I should check first. … The earlier the better because the Amb is keen to sort this out.”

The Amb refers to the U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom at the time. An MLA is a request under the U.S.-UK Mutual Legal Assistance treaty to gather evidence, exchange information and serve documents in connection with a criminal investigation or prosecution.

The unidentified official in London was also upset because someone at the State Department had leaked information to a British publication about how the prince's “refusal to talk to Epstein investigators was 'straining relations between UK and America.' “

"The Ambassador is concerned about the attached story, and I wanted to see if you have any sense of where this is coming from,” said the official. “Is this coming from victims' counsel? Anyone in your shop decided to push this?”

Giuffre Roberts’ civil case against Andrew was settled in February 2022 for an undisclosed amount, with the then-prince making a substantial donation to her charity.