Pallade Veneta - Ex-prince Andrew again caught up in Epstein scandal

King Charles III's brother is under renewed pressure to answer US lawmakers' questions in Congress about Jeffrey Epstein after the US Justice Department released the latest batch of files on the case Friday.

It included embarrassing photographs of Andrew and emails between him and Epstein from 2010, two years after the financier had pleaded guilty in Florida to soliciting a minor for prostitution.

The undated photos of the then-prince show him kneeling on all fours over a woman lying on the floor.

The emails feature Epstein proposing Andrew have dinner with a "beautiful, trustworthy" 26-year-old Russian woman.

Asked Saturday whether Andrew should testify in the US Congress as repeatedly demanded, Starmer said "yes" as he wrapped up an official visit to China and Japan.

"I've always said anybody that [has] got information should be prepared to share that information in whatever form they are asked to do that," the British leader told reporters.

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor -- as the former Duke of York is now known -- has long been dogged by his links to Epstein, who committed suicide in jail in 2019 while facing sex trafficking charges.

- Windsor exit -

The 65-year-old son of the late Queen Elizabeth II, who has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, stepped back from royal duties that same year over their ties.

Then last October, Charles stripped Andrew of his royal titles and honours after the late Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre recounted shocking claims against him in a posthumous memoir.

Giuffre, a US and Australian citizen who took her own life last year, has alleged she was trafficked to have sex with Andrew three times, including twice when she was 17.

After she launched a lawsuit against him, he paid her a multi-million-pound settlement in 2022 without making any admission of guilt.

The latest disclosures in Washington come as Andrew is reportedly set to leave his 30-room mansion on the royal estate at Windsor after Charles ousted him, and are likely to fuel further criticism.

He was pictured Saturday driving on the grounds of the estate, west of London, according to UK media.

One of the newly released undated pictures of Andrew and the unidentified female, both of them clothed, appears to show him touching her abdomen. In another he stares, crouching over her, directly into the camera.

No context is provided for the images and it is unclear where and when they were taken.

- 'Private time' -

Meanwhile, in the August 2010 emails, Epstein told Andrew -- addressed as "The Duke" -- that he had "a friend who I think you might enjoy having dinner with" in London later that month.

In the exchanges, Epstein said the woman was "26, Russian, clevere [clever] beautiful, trustworthy", noting that he had given her the prince's email.

Andrew eventually replied he "would be delighted to see her". It is unclear if such a meeting took place.

Weeks later, he and Epstein also discussed having dinner at Buckingham Palace after the American contacted Andrew while in London saying they needed to have some "private time".

Andrew replied they could "have dinner at Buckingham Palace and lots of privacy", later adding "come with whomever".

In a 2019 BBC interview, Andrew claimed he had cut ties with Epstein after December 2010, but court documents revealed later showed he continued to communicate with him.

Other documents made public last year and Giuffre's memoir have reignited UK anger over their ties and the claims against Andrew.

US lawmakers and investigators have for years repeatedly requested he face questions about his Epstein association.

Last November, 16 Democratic Party members of Congress signed a letter asking Andrew to participate in a "transcribed interview" with the House of Representatives oversight committee investigating Epstein.

But Andrew has given no public indication in recent years that he would be willing to do so.

F.Amato--PV