The arrest of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor on suspicion of misconduct in public office in the UK has prompted calls from US lawmakers and survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse to demand accountability for those linked to the late sex offender across the Atlantic.
Mountbatten-Windsor, 66, was detained on Thursday in connection with his conduct as a UK trade envoy and after disclosures of emails linked to Epstein, the disgraced banker and convicted sex offender. He was released under investigation on Thursday evening after police questioned him in relation to allegations he shared confidential material with Epstein. Mountbatten-Windsor has consistently denied any wrongdoing related to Epstein, and Thursday’s arrest is not related to any allegation of sexual misconduct.
Responding to the arrest, Skye Roberts, the brother of the late Virginia Giuffre – who alleged she was trafficked to the UK in 2001 at age 17 to have sex with Mountbatten-Windsor, an allegation he has repeatedly and strongly denied – said:“The reality is the UK is doing far more. I think that the king can hold his head high when he comes here saying: ‘I am doing the most that I can …’ While here in the United States, our president has yet to even do even remotely the same. And survivors and the people are very disappointed in that.”
Meanwhile, US president Donald Trump described Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest as “a shame” and “very sad.”
Speaking on Air Force One, Trump said: “I’m the expert in a way because I’ve been totally exonerated so I can speak about it … I think it’s a shame. I think it’s very sad. I think it’s so bad for the royal family. It’s very, very sad. To me, it’s a very sad thing.”
On Thursday, Kentucky’s Republican representative Thomas Massie – who co-sponsored legislation with California’s Democratic representative Ro Khanna to compel the justice department to release millions of files related to Epstein – called for action in the US.
“Prince Andrew was just arrested. This was the metric I established for success of the Epstein Files Transparency Act that @RepRoKhanna and I got passed,” Massie wrote on X.
He went on to urge US attorney general Pam Bondi and FBI director Kash Patel “to act”, adding: “Now we need JUSTICE in the United States.”
Robert Garcia, the ranking member of the House of Representatives’ oversight committee, issued a similar statement, saying: “Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest is an enormous step forward in our fight to secure justice for the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s horrific crimes … Now it’s the time for the United States to end this White House cover up. President Trump and his Epstein administration are not above the law.”
Lawmakers have asked Mountbatten-Windsor to come to the US to testify about his ties to Epstein.
Like Garcia, Suhas Subramanyam, another Democratic member of the House oversight committee, said on X: “Our investigation on the Oversight Committee led to real accountability of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor in the UK. Now, we need that justice and accountability here in the United States.”
In a separate interview on MS Now, Subramanyam added: “I’m so glad that this happened and there needs to be more of it. And frankly, it’s happening in Europe but it’s not happening enough in the United States.”
New Mexico’s Democratic representative Melanie Stansbury echoed similar sentiments, saying: “Today former Prince Andrew was arrested for [alleged] crimes associated with Epstein. The first royal arrested since the English Civil War in 1647. Think about that. And yet, here in the United States, the President and DOJ are engaged in a cover-up, refusing to investigate crimes that have been buried for decades. It’s time to prosecute!”
Meanwhile, Nancy Mace, a Republican representative of South Carolina, said: “We were the FIRST to call for Prince Andrew’s arrest MONTHS ago. And today, justice caught up. Because of four Republicans who refused to flinch, refused to fold, and forced the Epstein files into the light, the powerful had nowhere left to hide.”
She added: “Today sends a clear message: no one is above the law.”
According to recently released documents by the justice department, Mountbatten-Windsor’s name had been on US law enforcement radar for 15 years before his arrest.
One survivor, Maria Farmer, who was the first known survivor to report Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell – later convicted of sex trafficking – said: “Today is just the beginning of accountability and justice brought forth by Virginia Roberts Giuffre – a young mother who adored her daughter so deeply, she fought the most powerful on earth to protect her … Let’s now demand all the dominos of power and corruption begin to fall.”
Similarly, Marijke Chartouni, another survivor, said: “If only the US Justice Department acted as decisively. It took British police less than three weeks from the release of the latest tranche of Epstein files to arrest Andrew, making Pam Bondi and Kash Patel look increasingly inept.”