'Disgraced' Ex-Prince Andrew Spotted Fleeing Windsor as Epstein Files Trigger Police Probe Calls

The relentless drizzle did little to obscure the figure behind the wheel as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was photographed leaving the sprawling Royal Lodge estate on Sunday morning — a rare public sighting that came just hours after the most damaging tranche of Jeffrey Epstein files plunged him deeper into scandal.

The timing could scarcely have been worse for the king's beleaguered younger brother. Just 24 hours earlier, the US Department of Justice had released more than three million pages of documents, alongside thousands of photographs and videos, revealing the extent of his entanglement with the convicted paedophile financier. Among the files were images that dominated Sunday's front pages: photographs appearing to show the 65-year-old former duke crouched on all fours beside an unidentified woman lying on the floor, his hands positioned on her abdomen.

The release represents the final act in a legally mandated disclosure process — one that has systematically dismantled whatever remained of Andrew's reputation. Emails exchanged between 2011 and 2012 reveal a correspondence that continued years after Epstein's 2008 conviction for soliciting a minor for prostitution, contradicting Andrew's previous assertions about the timeline of their friendship.

Fresh Epstein Files Ignite Demands for Andrew's Testimony

The publication has reignited fierce debate over whether Britain's former prince should face formal questioning by US authorities. Sir Keir Starmer, speaking to reporters during a four-day tour of Asia, sharpened his rhetoric over the weekend. 'Anyone who has information should be prepared to provide that information in whatever form they are asked,' the prime minister said on Saturday. 'You can't put the victims first if you are not willing to do that.'

It marked a notable escalation from Starmer's earlier, more cautious stance. When the House Oversight Committee first approached Andrew in November requesting a 'transcribed interview' about his longstanding friendship with Epstein, Starmer had merely expressed support for witnesses coming forward, stopping short of singling out the King's brother.

Gloria Allred, the prominent American attorney who has represented 27 of Epstein's victims, was more direct still. 'The Metropolitan Police should reopen their investigation of Andrew,' she told reporters. 'In addition, Andrew should volunteer to speak to Congress, even though he has denied that he has committed any crime. He should do this to help the survivors learn what he observed and what was going on at the crime scene.'

The calls come despite Andrew's repeated denials of any wrongdoing. In 2022, he paid millions to Virginia Giuffre — a woman he claimed never to have met — to settle a civil sexual assault lawsuit that alleged she had been trafficked to him by Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell when she was 17. The settlement contained no admission of liability or guilt, though Andrew expressed regret for his association with Epstein and acknowledged that Giuffre had 'suffered both as an established victim of abuse and as a result of unfair public attacks'.

Government Pressure Mounts as Extradition Questions Surface

Communities Secretary Steve Reed added governmental weight to the chorus of voices demanding Andrew's cooperation. Appearing on Sky News's Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips, Reed stated unequivocally that Andrew 'clearly has insight into what was going on'.

When pressed on whether the Government would comply with a potential US extradition request, Reed demurred. 'You're asking me now details of legislation that would depend on the type of offence that may or may not have been committed. It's entirely hypothetical,' he replied. 'I don't think it's sensible for me to come on here and start talking hypothetically about situations that may or may not exist.'

Yet Reed made clear where he believed the moral obligation lay. Echoing the prime minister's emphasis on a 'victim-centred' approach, he added: 'But the principle here is very, very clear: Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor clearly has insight into what was going on, and he should testify, because the victims deserve and need him, and anybody else who may have witnessed things, to do that.'

The Communities secretary admitted he had 'no idea' whether the government possessed the legal authority to compel Andrew's participation in a congressional inquiry. The question remains largely theoretical — for now. Andrew's lawyers have previously resisted proposals for direct interviews with federal prosecutors, suggesting instead that he answer questions in writing, a format they argued would be permissible in British courts. By September 2020, US prosecutors had abandoned efforts to secure a voluntary interview and indicated they would seek to compel his testimony through the British courts. There is no indication Andrew has ever provided such testimony.​

Andrew has also ignored the House Oversight Committee's summons. In November 2025, the committee accused him of 'hiding' from US authorities after he failed to respond to their request for a transcribed interview.

The Long Shadow of Epstein

Jeffrey Epstein was found dead in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York on Aug. 10, 2019, while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges. The New York City medical examiner ruled his death a suicide by hanging, though the circumstances — including failures by prison guards to conduct proper checks and the malfunction of cameras outside his cell — spawned widespread speculation and conspiracy theories.

For Andrew, the association has proved ruinous. He first attempted to contain the damage with a now-infamous 2019 BBC interview that spectacularly backfired. Critics lambasted his lack of empathy for Epstein's victims and his implausible explanations, including the claim that he could not have been 'sweating profusely' — as Giuffre alleged — because a medical condition rendered him unable to perspire.

In October 2025, Andrew voluntarily relinquished several titles, including Duke of York, hoping to distance himself from the scandal. It proved insufficient. The following month, King Charles stripped his brother of the title of 'prince' via Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the Realm, removing his right to be called 'His Royal Highness' and formally excising him from the Roll of the Peerage. The monarch also served formal notice requiring Andrew to surrender his lease on Royal Lodge, the 30-room Windsor estate where he has lived since 2004.

Andrew is expected to relocate to Marsh Farm on the Sandringham estate in Norfolk by mid-February — a move privately funded by the king. While he remains eighth in line to the throne, he has been effectively exiled from royal life.

The latest files only deepen his predicament. Beyond the photographs, the documents include a 2010 email in which Epstein appeared to offer to introduce Andrew to a 26-year-old Russian woman, as well as an invitation for Epstein to dine at Buckingham Palace — an overture Epstein declined. The exchanges occurred two years after Epstein's guilty plea.

Andrew has not responded to requests for comment regarding the new disclosures, nor has Buckingham Palace. As the rain continued to fall on Sunday morning, the man once known as His Royal Highness The Duke of York drove away from Royal Lodge — shadowed, as ever, by the spectre of Jeffrey Epstein.