Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, former prince and Duke of York, was directly implicated by a US Republican congressman during a speech in the House of Representatives in Washington.
As part of the demands for accomplices of the magnate Jeffrey Epstein to be held accountable for crimes committed both on his private island and elsewhere, Republican legislator Thomas Massie reaffirmed his stance: "We want the perpetrators of these crimes to be investigated and prosecuted."
After mentioning other personalities like magician David Copperfield or former Barclays CEO Jes Staley, Massie bluntly pointed to the British royal member: "Prince Andrew committed sexual offenses in the United States. Perhaps hearing these names will embarrass the Department of Justice and compel them to deliver justice."
While the prince continues to distance himself from the controversy despite images and mentions in declassified case files, Massie is pushing for a legislative initiative in the US Congress to force the declassification of all still classified government documents and records on Epstein.
As revealed by the Daily Mail, a woman who allegedly spent a night with Prince Andrew avoided filing a formal complaint out of fear of "losing her privacy". However, her lawyer has recently stated that her position has changed from a "firm no" to a "maybe" regarding cooperating with authorities. The alleged victim claims that Jeffrey Epstein asked her to spend the night at Windsor with the prince when she was around 20 years old, during which he allegedly offered her a private visit to Buckingham Palace and an invitation for tea.
The case gains more significance after it was revealed that the prince was detained in February of this year, following the Trump Administration declassifying documents that pointed to the alleged leaking of confidential information to Epstein.