Prosecutors are “providing early investigative advice” to the police looking into the links between Lord Mandelson and Jeffrey Epstein, and between Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and the paedophile.
The Crown Prosecution Service said: “We can confirm that we are now providing early investigative advice to the Metropolitan Police regarding the force’s investigation into a 72-year-old man and will continue to liaise as requested.
“We can now also confirm that we are providing early investigative advice to Thames Valley police in relation to a 66-year-old man. We remain ready to support any investigation if needed.”
The King’s brother and Mandelson, the former UK ambassador to the US, were arrested last month on suspicion of misconduct in public office over their connections with Epstein.
Mountbatten-WindsorandMandelsonhave denied wrongdoing.
Mountbatten-Windsor was released without charge under investigation after being arrested on his 66th birthday in February.
A former palace staff member has said that he always denied any wrongdoing to courtiers about the extent of his friendship withEpstein. The staff member said that it was only later, when documents relating to Epstein were released by the US Department of Justice, that it appeared Mountbatten-Windsor had stayed in touch with the sex offender long after he had claimed to have cut off all contact.
Speaking to The Times’s podcastThe Royals, Ailsa Anderson, the former press secretary to the late Queen, spoke about the difficulty of handling public relations for the royal family when images of Mountbatten-Windsor walking with Epstein in Central Park, New York, were published in December 2010.
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Anderson said: “You can only act on the information you’re given. So, 2010, when we first had those photographs, those infamous photographs of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Jeffrey Epstein in Central Park, Andrew denied any wrongdoing, as he still does.
“Those three million [documents] that the FBI have got have clearly proved much more went on than we knew about.”
Buckingham Palace confirmed on Tuesday that the King and Queen would visit the US at the end of April.
