UK police said on Tuesday they were “assessing” information contained in the Epstein files indicating that women were trafficked by plane into Britain, as pressure mounts to investigate former prince Prince Andrew’s links to the flights.
“We are assessing the information that has emerged in relation to private flights into and out of Stansted Airport following the publication of the US DoJ Epstein files,” Essex Police said in a brief statement.
The statement, referring to the late convicted US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and the US Department of Justice, did not mention Andrew by name.
However, former UK prime minister Gordon Brown is among prominent figures calling for an investigation into the disgraced royal’s connections to dozens of flights over several decades linked to Epstein.
A BBC investigation published in December found that nearly 90 flights associated with the US financier arrived at and departed from UK airports, some carrying British women who allege they were abused by the billionaire.
Writing in the New Statesman last week, Brown said he had been “told privately that the investigations related to the former Prince Andrew did not properly check vital evidence of flights". ”.
“I have asked the police to look at this as part of the new inquiry,” he wrote, adding that it appeared “the authorities never knew what was happening ”.
“In short, British authorities had little or no idea who was being trafficked through our country and for whom other than Epstein.”
Concern
Andrew—who last year was stripped of his honorary military roles and royal patronages by his brother King Charles III after one of Epstein’s victims alleged she had been trafficked to have sex with him—could not be reached for comment.
He has consistently denied any wrongdoing in connection with Epstein.
The Essex announcement follows confirmation earlier this month by Thames Valley Police that it was “assessing” allegations of misconduct in public office against the former prince.
The force, which covers the Windsor area where Andrew previously lived, said it was reviewing the matter after the latest Epstein files suggested he may have passed potentially confidential reports to the American financier while serving as a UK trade envoy.
The revelations prompted Charles to express “concern” over his brother’s conduct—now known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor—and to issue an unprecedented statement saying Buckingham Palace stood “ready to support” police in their assessment.
In the latest potentially damaging disclosure, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday that emails indicate Andrew agreed to help negotiate an $8 billion cash-for-oil swap between a Chinese sovereign wealth fund and the rulers of the United Arab Emirates during an official visit to China.
According to the newspaper, Andrew and a banker with whom he worked closely exchanged multiple messages about the proposal with Epstein, beginning while the financier was still under house arrest following his 2008 conviction for soliciting sex from a minor.
