Metropolitan Police officers have spoken to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s former close protection officers over claims that he asked one of them to obtain personal information about Virginia Giuffre.
The country’s largest police force is reportedly seeking emails, phone records and the notepads of officers who worked with the former Duke of York to establish if a case should be taken forward.
Email correspondence emerged last month prompting claims that the King’s younger brother had sought information to damage the credibility of his accuser Giuffre, ten years after she was allegedly made to have sex with him.
• Trump signs bill asking for release of Epstein files within 30 days
In an email from 2011, he told Ed Perkins, the late Queen’s deputy press secretary: “It would also seem she has a criminal record in the [United] States … I have given her DoB [date of birth] and social security number for investigation with [redacted], the on duty ppo [personal protection officer].”
It is not known how taxpayer-funded officers from the Met’s SO14 Royalty Protection Group reacted and whether any information was obtained.
However, if officers did act on Andrew’s information then the actions could amount to misconduct. The family of Giuffre, who died by suicide in April aged 41, said she did not have a criminal record.
The episode emerged days before Mountbatten-Windsor was dramatically stripped of his titles and asked to leave Royal Lodge amid continuing allegations over his friendship with the late convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Andrew continues to deny the allegations against him.
The Met is said to have spoken to two former close protection officers as part of its inquiries into the episode while seeking further information.
A source told The Sun: “As part of the initial examination of the case, officers are currently trying to establish what material is available.
• How much does the royal family really cost the British public?
“They are actively seeking to find emails and communications from Andrew’s royalty protection team, as well as their notebooks.”
The email to Perkins was sent shortly before the now-infamous picture of Mountbatten-Windsor with his arm around Giuffre, a victim of Epstein’s sexual trafficking of young women, was first published by a UK newspaper.
US DISTRICT COURT/SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
During his notorious BBC Newsnight interview, Andrew said he he had “no recollection” of meeting her and suggested the image could be fake.
• Andrew is ‘great fun’, Jeffrey Epstein told friend in Davos emails
Giuffre claimed she was introduced to Andrew during a six-week trip to Europe in March 2001. She alleged she had sex with Andrew on three occasions including when she was 17, which he has denied.
Giuffre’s memoir, Nobody’s Girl, was released posthumously in October.
It included her claims against Mountbatten-Windsor, who she described as being “entitled — as if he believed having sex with me was his birthright”.
EMILY MICHOT/TNS/ZUMA PRESS WIRE/REX/SHUTTERSTOCK
Legal experts claimed a request about Giuffre from Andrew to a close protection officer would suggest there was “a breach of her right to privacy”. There “could be legal implications” for Andrew.
When the email came to light, cabinet minister Ed Miliband described the revelation as “deeply concerning”.
The energy secretary said it was “absolutely not the way that close protection officers should be used”.
Giuffre filed a legal case against Mountbatten-Windsor in New York in 2021. Andrew chose to settle the case out of court in 2022, though denied the claims. The payout figure has never been revealed but it was reported that he paid Giuffre about $12 million.
Mountbatten-Windsor has faced renewed pressure to address his relationship with Epstein in recent days after Sir Keir Starmer said he should be prepared to share information with the US House of Congress.
Democratic members of the House oversight committee wrote to Andrew this month requesting that he sits for a deposition. The powerful committee is examining how Donald Trump’s administration has handled the Epstein case. Mountbatten-Windsor did not respond by the November 20 deadline.
Asked whether Mountbatten-Windsor should give evidence, the prime minister said: “In the end that will be a decision for him. But my general position is if you have relevant information you should be prepared to share it.”
The Met said: “Following recent media reporting on the actions of officers in relation to this matter, we are considering whether any further assessment or review is necessary.”