Andrew is not 'above the law', says chief prosecutor

By Will Bolton

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is not "above the law", England's chief prosecutor has said.

Stephen Parkinson, the director of public prosecutions, made the comment amid growing pressure on police to open a full investigation into the 65-year-old's connections to Jeffrey Epstein, the late convicted sex offender.

Thames Valley Police is currently examining claims that Mr Mountbatten-Windsor may have committed misconduct in a public office while working as a UK trade envoy by leaking confidential reports to Epstein about discussions in Asia and Afghanistan.

In an interview this week, Mr Parkinson said that "nobody is above the law".

"It's my job to enforce the law, and I do so without fear or favour, and that is unaffected by the status of the individual concerned", he told The Sunday Times.

Mr Parkinson also confirmed this week that detectives looking into Mr Mountbatten-Windsor and Lord Mandelson over their links to Epstein have held talks with prosecutors.

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Scotland Yard launched an investigation into Lord Mandelson after emails released as part of the Epstein files suggested he may have passed sensitive government and market information to the convicted paedophile while employed as business secretary.

Officers from the Metropolitan Police and Thames Valley Police are both understood to be progressing quickly with their work. Met detectives raided two of Lord Mandelson's homes last week.

On Monday, a spokesman for the King said he was prepared to support the police if they approached Buckingham Palace about his brother.

After carrying out a criminal investigation, detectives will work closely with prosecutors before any charges are laid.

They can ask for investigative advice from Crown Prosecution Service lawyers or submit a file of evidence for them to consider.

Epstein's banker asked to 'help' with China trip

Other newly published emails from the Epstein files show how Mr Mountbatten-Windsor allowed the convicted sex offender to organise meetings for him during an official trade mission to China.

The files reveal that David Stern, a 48-year-old German businessman who once described Epstein as his "boss", accompanied the former duke on the government-funded trade mission in 2010.

He also exchanged messages with Epstein over Skype while he was on the trip.

The visit was meant to promote British business and attract investment on taxpayer-funded trips overseas.

Meetings on such trade missions are supposed to be organised by the government. However, in an apparent breach of protocol by the former duke, emails reveal that Mr Stern was asked to "help" plan the September 2010 China visit.

He then told Epstein he would add meetings with organisations that had been quietly requested by the paedophile.

Three days before the trade mission started, Mr Stern emailed Epstein a photo of a Chinese model due to join them for dinner.

During the trip, Mr Stern sent Epstein what appear to be discreetly taken photos of Andrew meeting young women, The Mail on Sunday reported.

Dame Priti Patel called for a parliamentary inquiry into Mr Mountbatten-Windsor's actions while working as a trade envoy.

She said: "This is such a serious scandal and it is engulfing the whole of the government.

"Everyone who has been involved should be subject to the right kind of inquiries, police investigations. What has taken place and happened is absolutely abhorrent".

Writing to Epstein just over a year after the financier was released from jail following his conviction for procuring a child for prostitution, Mr Stern said: "Based on your request, I will NOT suggest industry ministries' instead focusing on 'financial/asset management'."

Another email shows Epstein arranged for Mr Mountbatten-Windsor to have dinner at the five-star St Regis hotel in Beijing with Jes Staley, a senior JP Morgan figure whose role as the paedophile's personal banker was later exposed.

Having fixed the dinner with Mr Staley, Epstein then instructed Mr Stern: "Confirm with Andrew."

Gordon Brown, the former prime minister, has separately called on the Met to investigate Epstein's sex trafficking network after uncovering evidence that his private jet, known as the Lolita Express, landed in Britain about 90 times.

A woman on one of the flights was allegedly sneaked into Buckingham Palace to meet Mr Mountbatten-Windsor on at least one occasion.

It was "common knowledge" that the King's younger brother "liked to have young women visit" Buckingham Palace, a source told The Sun.

In 2021, the Met decided to take no further action after investigating allegations by Virginia Giuffre that she had been forced to have sex with the former prince at the London home of Ghislaine Maxwell after being trafficked to Britain aged 17.

Mr Mountbatten-Windsor has been approached for comment.

© Telegraph Media Group Limited 2026

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