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International Business Times UK
International Business Times UK
Rohit David

Outrage Over Epstein Ties: Will MPs Force Royals to Reckon with Andrew's Role?

2011 emails expose Andrew’s smear bid against Virginia Giuffre (Credit: AFP News)

Explosive emails from 2011 have resurfaced, revealing Prince Andrew's frantic smear campaign against accuser Virginia Giuffre just hours before their infamous photo surfaced. The leak shows Andrew ordered his Metropolitan Police bodyguard to obtain Giuffre's birth date, social security number and a bogus criminal record, reigniting public fury over his enduring impunity in the Epstein scandal.

As over 1,000 constituent letters flood MPs demanding a parliamentary probe into royal knowledge of Andrew's predatory ties and statutory title stripping, lawmakers blast archaic rules shielding the monarchy from scrutiny. Giuffre's posthumous memoir branded Andrew 'entitled', intensifying calls for accountability.

Following Andrew's 17 October 2025 voluntary surrender of the Duke of York styling—widely derided as a hollow dodge since he retains the peerage without an Act of Parliament—cross-party pressure mounts on King Charles to endorse investigations and divestments.

MPs Ignite Bipartisan Push to Breach Royal Epstein Protections

Labour MPs are leading urgent calls for Parliament to confront the royal family over Prince Andrew's Epstein links, catalysed by the 19 October leaks detailing his 2011 smear tactics against Giuffre. Rachael Maskell, MP for York Central, asserts 'there are mechanisms which need to be put in place in order to remove a title,' reviving her 2022 Removal of Titles Bill to empower either the monarch or a Commons committee to strip honours, mirroring 1917 legislation against wartime peers.

Over the weekend of 18-19 October 2025, more than 1,000 letters reached MPs, accusing silence of enabling the royal Epstein scandal and clamouring for independent inquiries. Nadia Whittome, MP for Nottingham East, condemns Andrew's evasion: 'It should be a given that the state removes Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's titles, rather than allowing him to hide behind voluntarily renouncing them.'

Clive Lewis, MP for Norwich South, broadens the critique: 'The bigger story here is the monarchy itself... It poses very difficult questions about how power operates in this country.' Energy Secretary Ed Miliband deems the revelations 'deeply concerning,' noting that royals dodged parliamentary fixes to save time. Labour peer George Foulkes, rebuffed on early 2025 queries, petitioned clerks on 19 October for rule reforms.

A senior Labour select chair, speaking anonymously, brands Andrew a 'disgrace' and signals a readiness for a stripping vote. This 2025 momentum, amplified by survivor trauma, signals potential legislative rupture of monarchical protections.

Andrew's Voluntary Title Yield: Symbolic Gesture or Strategic Move?

Leaked Mail on Sunday emails reveal that, in 2011, Andrew tasked his close protection officer with retrieving Giuffre's birth date, social security number and a fabricated US criminal history. The messages were allegedly sent to Queen Elizabeth's deputy press secretary Ed Perkins before the now-infamous photo emerged. Giuffre's family denies any criminal record, and there is no evidence of compliance.

A February 2011 email to Epstein asserts 'we're in this together,' contradicting Andrew's claim of severing ties in December 2010. Another email suggests Sarah Ferguson took Beatrice and Eugenie, then 20 and 19, to New York after Epstein's release, though Ferguson's representatives deny this. Andrew's role as UK trade envoy in 2001-2011 collapsed amid the 2011 uproar. The FBI closed its probe in July 2025 without filing charges.

Republic warned on X: 'Public anger is what's going to push this forward... Andrew being stripped of the use of his titles is no punishment at all.'

As exposures mount, token gestures falter against statutory demands, exposing the monarchy's Epstein vulnerabilities.

Met Scrutiny and Giuffre Memoir Stoke Victim-Led Reckoning

On 19 October, the Metropolitan Police confirmed it is assessing Andrew's alleged 2011 request for intel on Giuffre, reviving trafficking claims from her memoir—published the prior week—portraying the prince as 'entitled' and 'believed having sex with me was his birthright.' Maskell empathises: 'Every time this comes up, it clearly must be really traumatising for the victims.'

GB News captured the escalating fallout in a post on X: 'This looks worse and worse for Prince Andrew... Another nail in the coffin.'

As headlines on 19 October roar for accountability, MPs' Epstein interrogations fuse with survivor indignation, pressuring King Charles to confront fraternal shadows. This crescendo tests parliamentary resolve to unmask and end the scandal's royal stain, potentially forging historic reforms.

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