Dame Priti Patel, the former Conservative Home Secretary, blocked a US request to question Prince Andrew about his links to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the Daily Mirror has revealed. In 2020, the US Department of Justice formally asked for Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor to be compelled to answer questions under the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT). The request stated that FBI agents had documentary evidence suggesting the then-Duke of York had knowledge of Epstein's criminal activities.
The Mirror reports that the request was not granted after Patel, now shadow foreign secretary, blocked it. A Conservative Party spokesman said: 'In any such matter, the steer from Government Legal Advisers will be crucial in how to respond. In the years since this matter was raised, further information about Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein has come to public attention. It is right that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor now faces the appropriate scrutiny from the authorities.'
Former US attorney Geoffrey Berman, who led the investigation into Epstein, previously accused UK authorities of shielding Prince Andrew. He said: 'Because of our very good relations with the UK and Scotland Yard, we almost always got what we asked when we put in an MLAT request. But that was not what happened with Prince Andrew. We got absolutely nowhere. Were they protecting him? I assume someone was.'
Lawyer Radd Seiger, who represented the family of Harry Dunn, told the Mirror that Patel told him in January 2020 she would not allow the US to speak to Andrew unless Anne Sacoolas was sent to the UK over the death of his client. Seiger said: 'Ms Patel must have blocked the request. I feel slightly guilty now as you can imagine. These two cases should never have been conflated and should stand on their own two feet. Andrew should go over to the US to assist the authorities with their inquiries.'
The revelations come as Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley visited the US to seek access to uncensored material from the Epstein files. UK detectives believe the files may contain evidence about Prince Andrew and former Cabinet minister Lord Mandelson's links to Epstein. Both men have denied wrongdoing. Officers are also assessing sexual allegations, including those from Virginia Giuffre, who claimed she was trafficked to sleep with Andrew when she was 17—a claim he has repeatedly denied.
