Epstein case: British police also investigate former Prince Andrew on suspicion of sexual offences

LONDON - The position of former Prince Andrew, brother of King Charles III, is worsening: the British police announced today that they have expanded their ongoing investigation into abuse of office to include possible sexual offences.

The new line of enquiry concerns a young woman who was allegedly taken to Windsor, the royal residence, in 2010 'for sexual purposes'. The police spoke to the woman's lawyer, who revealed the affair, inviting her to press charges and assuring her that her testimony will be treated 'with great seriousness, total respect for her privacy and her right to anonymity'.

The woman was allegedly ¨sent¨ to the then Prince Andrew by his friend Jeffrey Epstein, the American financier convicted of paedophilia who died in prison in 2019. A friendship that has already cost dearly to the King's brother, who has already been stripped of his title of prince and all the offices and honours he has received and evicted from his residence in the grounds of Windsor Castle.

Andrea had been arrested in February at his new home in Norfolk, on the royal estate of Sandringham, and interrogated at length by the police. The charge against him was misconduct in an official role, because he allegedly passed on confidential and sensitive information to Epstein that he was aware of through his role as a British trade envoy. A role that, according to documents released in recent days, had been assigned to him at the behest of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, without carrying out the usual checks and controls.

The revelations were contained in the Epstein Files, the documents released by the US Justice Department. The British police warned today that the ongoing investigation is complex and covers 'numerous types of alleged misconduct' and will therefore necessarily be lengthy.