EDINBURGH (The Thursday Times) — Police Scotland has opened an investigation into the time the former Prince Andrew spent with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell at the King’s Balmoral estate in the Scottish Highlands.
The force said on Friday that the inquiries began after it received “information” and were at a “very early stage”, but gave no details of the information or of any offences being examined. The Daily Express, which first reported the investigation, said it related to claims that women were trafficked to the estate.
“All inquiries are evidence-led, with the needs of victim survivors at the heart of those inquiries,” Police Scotland said. “We would never confirm details of ongoing inquiries and it would be inappropriate to comment further.”
Documents released by the US Department of Justice earlier this year included images that appeared to show Epstein and Maxwell on a shooting trip at Balmoral in 1999. Appearing in the files is not proof of wrongdoing. London’s Metropolitan Police, Thames Valley Police and Surrey Police are also examining material from the Epstein files.
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, 66, the King’s younger brother, was arrested by Thames Valley Police in February on suspicion of misconduct in public office, the first arrest of a senior British royal in nearly four centuries, and released on bail. A court ruled this month that search warrants used in raids linked to the case were unlawful.
King Charles stripped his brother of his princely title last year and ordered him out of Royal Lodge near Windsor. Mountbatten-Windsor has long denied the allegation by the late Virginia Giuffre that she was trafficked by Epstein and forced to have sex with him when she was 17.
