Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor may face “the worst nightmare of his life” over the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, according to his biographer. Royal author Nigel Cawthorne believes the former prince could be forced into “not just a step towards the bitter end – but a giant leap. The thing he has dreaded most now seems certain to happen.”
Maxwell's legal setback
His warning follows claims in America that Epstein’s longtime fixer Ghislaine Maxwell now has no option but to “go nuclear” and testify about the late paedophile and his rich and powerful friends. Maxwell, 64, suffered a major blow to her bid for freedom or a reduced sentence when US District Judge Paul Engelmayer recently blasted her habeas corpus petition as “patently frivolous” in a blistering 67-page opinion.
The former British socialite’s family has described the judge’s decision as “both disappointing and shocking” in a statement that added the ruling also “effectively seeks to preclude further appeal”. This means Maxwell – who has already served six years of a 20-year federal prison sentence for child sex-trafficking – is effectively left with little option other than to “go nuclear and tell all,” according to top US private investigator and crime podcaster Ed Opperman.
Negotiating chip
He pointed out Maxwell has previously claimed in court papers to have intimate knowledge of a group of 25 “untouchable” men – which does not include Mr Mountbatten-Windsor and other power-brokers named in Department of Justice documents – who made “secret settlements” with Epstein victims.
Mr Opperman said: “That’s an absolute negotiating chip. She wants a pardon, a sentence reduction or a commutation. She doesn’t want to die in prison.”
Maxwell enraged bipartisan members of Congress on the House Oversight Committee investigating the Epstein case in February when she pleaded the fifth amendment to all questions via video link from her cell at Bryan Prison in Texas.
Andrew's legal battle
Mr Mountbatten-Windsor has upset the same US politicians by refusing to respond to a request to be interviewed that was formally sent to him last November. Now he and other former friends of Epstein – who was found hanged in his New York jail cell aged 66 in 2019 while awaiting trial for sex-trafficking – will be “shaking in their boots” at the prospect of Maxwell telling all in a final bid to walk free, said Mr Opperman.
That includes the former Duke of York, according to royal author Nigel Cawthorne, who is planning a follow-up book to his 2020 best-seller Prince Andrew: Epstein, Maxwell and the Palace. Andrew has strenuously denied any wrongdoing in his association with billionaire financier Epstein.
In an exclusive interview Mr Cawthorne said: “I find it amazing that she has kept her mouth shut for so long. She’s got all the dirt on everyone and spent years as Epstein’s indispensable recruiter and groomer-in-chief. She has no reason whatsoever to remain loyal to Andrew or anyone else for that matter. What has he done for her? What has anyone done for her? If she does tell all in some sort of deal, it could end in the worst nightmare in his life for Andrew.”
He added: “I believe she deserved the sentence she got but if she were to come clean about everything at last, and walk free into witness protection with a new identity, then the public on both sides of the Atlantic would, at least, finally have the truth.”
It comes after the former duke won a legal battle last week against Thames Valley Police – one of several forces investigating him for alleged misconduct in public office – who accepted in the High Court that search warrants used to search both Royal Lodge and his new home on the King’s Sandringham estate were unlawful and information supplied to the Old Bailey to obtain them was incorrect.
