Epstein victims want former Prince Andrew to testify before lawmakers. He’s unlikely to do so

By DANICA KIRKA, Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — Former Prince Andrew saw his reputation destroyed six years ago and became the butt of internet jokes when he gave a disastrous interview to the BBC about his relationship with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

He’s unlikely to take that risk again even as Prime Minister Keir Starmer, U.S. Congress members and lawyers representing Epstein’s victims call for him to tell investigators what he knows about Epstein and his network of rich and powerful friends.

“If you view the Newsnight evidence as a precedent, then who knows what Andrew would say or how he would come across in what would be some very, very hostile questioning — far (more) hostile than he faced from Emily Maitlis,’’ Craig Prescott, an expert on constitutional law and the monarchy at Royal Holloway, University of London, said, referring to the 2019 BBC interview. “It’s very difficult to see how that is, in a sense, in the interests of Andrew to do that voluntarily.”

The pressure for Andrew to testify is growing after the latest release of documents from the U.S. Justice Department’s investigation into Epstein revealed further unsavory details about links between the two men. Attorney Gloria Allred, who represents many of Epstein’s victims, said on Monday that Andrew has a duty to provide any evidence that could help investigators understand how Epstein was able to abuse so many women for so long, and who else m...