Prince Andrew could be called to testify in the ongoing FBI-Epstein investigation in the US any day now.
Stephen Lynch, a senior member of the US House Oversight Committee, told the BBC’s Newsnight on October 21 that lawmakers are “extremely interested” in hearing from the disgraced prince “regarding his involvement in all of this.”
When asked by presenter Victoria Derbyshire whether the committee plans to issue an invitation, Lynch replied, “We will, I’m sure.”
But Andrew — the younger brother of King Charles III — cannot be legally compelled to appear since he’s a UK citizen. Any cooperation would have to be voluntary.
The push for his testimony comes amid the fallout from Andrew’s past links to Epstein, which ultimately compelled him to relinquish his Duke of York title. In a statement through Buckingham Palace on October 17, he wrote, “In discussion with The King, and my immediate and wider family, we have concluded the continued accusations about me distract from the work of His Majesty and the Royal Family.”
However, Andrew continues to “vigorously deny the accusations against me.” These accusations include him lying that he severed ties with the convicted paedophile in 2010, and the allegations of sexual assault by the late Virginia Guiffre.
Guiffre claimed she was trafficked by Epstein and sexually assaulted by Andrew — once as a minor. She tragically passed away from suicide earlier this year at age 41. However, her posthumous memoir, Nobody’s Girl (published October 21) details her harrowing experiences.
US investigators and victims of Epstein are urging Andrew to do the right thing and appear to testify.
Lynch said, “We’ve had an opportunity to interview half a dozen of these survivors, each one of them has really had a bond with Virginia Guiffre and I think these memoirs only strengthen that bond.”
One of Epstein’s victims, Annie Farmer, urged Andrew to cooperate, saying, “This is a moment. If he wants to do right by Virginia and the rest of us, he could do something different.”