“Six years ago, the palace knew Andrew wasn’t just a problem: he could face a criminal investigation. And they sat on it," Jess Michaels told 'The Telegraph'
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NEED TO KNOW
- Buckingham Palace was reportedly given evidence in 2020 of ex-Prince Andrew sharing confidential government information while he was a trade envoy
- The BBC reported that the Lord Chamberlain was given 30,000 emails with information about Andrew’s sharing of the protected information
- Alleged Epstein victim Jess Michaels told The Telegraph, “This is what institutions do. They protect powerful men and leave the people they harmed to carry it”
Buckingham Palace was given evidence in 2020 of the former Prince Andrew sharing confidential information while he was a government trade envoy, according to reports.
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, as King Charles' brother is now known after having his royal titles stripped last year, was arrested in February on suspicion of misconduct in public office. The BBC reported over the weekend that six years ago, the Lord Chamberlain, the most senior officer in the royal household, was given 30,000 emails with information about Andrew's sharing of the protected information. The emails were taken from a personal business contact of Andrew's, per the outlet.
Asked about the emails, Buckingham Palace told the BBC, "Since there is an ongoing police enquiry concerning Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor, it is not possible to provide any comment on these matters."
Jess Michaels, a former dancer who was allegedly sexually assaulted by Jeffrey Epstein in 1991 when she was 22, spoke out about the palace's inaction.
“Six years ago, the palace knew Andrew wasn’t just a problem: he could face a criminal investigation. And they sat on it," Michaels told The Telegraph. "Virginia Giuffre was telling the truth, and she didn’t live to see them admit it. That breaks my heart, and it should break everyone’s."
"This is what institutions do. They protect powerful men and leave the people they harmed to carry it," she added.
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Andrew, 66, stepped back from his royal role in 2019 in the wake of a controversial interview with the BBC, where he denied Giuffre's sexual assault allegations against him. He was stripped of his military titles and patronages in 2022, after he attempted to have a sexual assault lawsuit filed against him by Giuffre dismissed. He settled with Giuffre out of court for an undisclosed sum.
Giuffre died by suicide in April 2025, and her posthumous memoir described three occasions where she and Andrew allegedly had sex, the first when she was 17.
Andrew has denied all wrongdoing regarding his ties to Giuffre and Epstein.
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Following his February arrest on suspicion of misconduct in public office — the first of a senior British royal since 1649, when King Charles I was beheaded for high treason — Andrew was released after about 11 hours in police custody. Although the investigation centered around claims that the former Duke of York shared confidential information with Jeffrey Epstein as a U.K. trade envoy, police announced in May that "the assessment of reports that a woman was taken to an address in Windsor in 2010 for sexual purposes is ongoing.”
Following Andrew's arrest, royal author Robert Jobson told PEOPLE that he believed Queen Elizabeth approved Andrew's role as trade envoy despite the objection of King Charles, who was then the heir to the throne.
"[Charles] thought he wasn’t qualified for it and, with him just out of the Navy, he should learn the job first. But he was ignored," he said at the time.
Jobson added that Andrew got the envoy position because his mother used her power to "indulge him."
"She was surrounded by people who were being paid to know things, and she was sharp as a tack when Andrew was appointed and throughout his tenure. She was surrounded by people whose job it was to protect her, including a prime minister who appointed him as a trade envoy," said the author of The Windsor Legacy.
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