Palace could face legal action over claims women were sent to UK for Andrew

Buckingham Palace could face claims for compensation over the alleged activities of Jeffrey Epstein and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, a legal expert has said.

The convicted sex offender allegedly trafficked a woman into the UK for a sexual encounter with Mountbatten-Windsor at the Royal Lodge in 2010.

The woman’s US-based lawyer Bradley Edwards says she was given tea and a tour of Buckingham Palace during her visit.

The alleged incident is being assessed by Thames Valley Police – the force which arrested the former prince earlier this week on suspicion of misconduct in public office.

Mountbatten-Windsor was released pending further investigation and has strenuously denied any wrongdoing in relation to his dealings with Epstein. Police searches at his former Windsor mansion Royal Lodge are continuing on Sunday.

The revelations have led to fresh questions about the extent to which the Royal Family and other institutions such as the Met Police, which provided the former prince with protection officers, knew of his behaviour.

It comes as Gordon Brown has also called for staff at nine UK airports to be questioned over Epstein’s private flights into the UK, over concerns victims were trafficked into the country by the convicted sex offender.

The former prime minister has said the Epstein files showed Epstein’s jet, the “Lolita Express” made 90 flights to or from UK airports, including 15 after his 2008 conviction for soliciting prostitution from a child.

Brown wrote in the New Statesman that Stansted Airport was one of the airports “where women were transferred from one Epstein plane to another”.

He added: “I have been told privately that the investigations related to the former Prince Andrew did not properly check vital evidence of flights. The Stansted revelations alone require them to interview Andrew.”

Buckingham Palace has refused to say whether Queen Elizabeth II helped pay for her son’s settlement with Virginia Giuffre, who alleged she was forced to have sex with him several times, including in London in 2001 when she was 17 years old.

The case was settled out of court in 2022 for a payout reportedly worth £12m.

Suzanne McKie KC, a barrister who specialises in sexual assault claims and settled a multimillion-dollar lawsuit involving the CEO of NBC Universal Jeff Shell, said the prospect of civil action in the UK against relevant institutions is “certainly a possibility”.

“I think it’s a question of ‘what did they know’ and ‘what did they do?’” she told The i Paper.

“In terms of legal liability it would depend on whether there is a nexus between the victim and the person who is at fault – in other words, do they have some kind of duty of responsibility towards that person?

“With the police, they do have a duty of care so claims against them are always a possibility. Proving it is really difficult of course.

“I think if it’s a claim against the Royal Family, because some of this [alleged] activity occurred on a royal premises… there would be no doubt in my mind they would want to settle that.

“The reputational damage there is very different from suing the Met police.”

McKie said that attempting to sue the former prince might not be a worthwhile strategy given the reputational damage he has already suffered and the lack of clarity surrounding his financial situation.

But “there are other avenues of liability,” she said, especially if further evidence emergences.

Compensation claims relating to Epstein have been widely pursued in the US where payouts awarded to victims are much larger than in the UK.

McKie said that is the main reason why there has been little activity in the UK civil courts to date.

However, she believes that could soon change.

“The pre-action process might take up to almost a year to get through before you start issuing proceedings,” McKie added.

“I think victims have approached lawyers, but I don’t believe that they would want to go to the press before they have bottomed out the potential liability and any settlement, because then the horse has bolted.

“I don’t think we should assume that avenues aren’t being explored, put it that way.”

Buckingham Palace has been contacted for comment.

The Met Police has said that it is aware of fresh suggestions that London airports may have been used to facilitate human trafficking and sexual exploitation.

“We are assessing this information and are actively seeking further detail from law enforcement partners, including those in the United States,” the force said.

Separately, the Met is identifying and contacting former and serving officers who may have worked closely, in a protection capacity, with Mountbatten-Windsor.

Essex Police has also said it is assessing information about private flights into and out of Stansted Airport.

Nine police forces across the UK are currently considering whether to launch investigations relating to the Epstein files.