When the U.S. vice president and the British prime minister both want Prince Andrew to talk about Jeffrey Epstein, you know the old boys’ club is feeling the heat.
Vice President JD Vance is suddenly very interested in what Prince Andrew knows about Jeffrey Epstein – or, as Vance framed it, about the “pretty incestuous nature to America’s elites.”
He’s signaling he’d back a bipartisan push to get Andrew in front of Congress, while also using the moment to insist the latest Epstein files make his boss, Donald Trump, look squeaky clean.
The Moment
In a new on-the-record interview published this week, Vance said he’s “certainly open” to Congress calling Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor – the prince formerly known as Prince Andrew – to testify about his long association with Epstein.
Vance stressed it’s ultimately up to congressional Republicans to decide whether to invite Andrew, but he made clear he’d support it, especially in light of fresh Justice Department files tying Andrew to Epstein well after Epstein’s 2008 conviction for crimes involving a minor.
Those newly released documents include photos of Andrew with women and emails showing he remained in contact with Epstein for more than two years after that conviction, discussing social meetings and potential business deals. UK police have also said they’re assessing a new allegation that Epstein trafficked another woman to Britain to have sex with Andrew – an allegation Andrew has not publicly addressed.
On the other side of the Atlantic, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said anyone with information on Epstein, including Andrew, should cooperate fully with U.S. lawmakers to support victims. Meanwhile, Andrew has reportedly been told to vacate his longtime residence, Royal Lodge at Windsor, as King Charles distances the monarchy from the scandal.
Vance, for his part, is using all of this to draw a sharp line between his political camp and what he paints as a corrupt, global elite. He’s argued that the new files “exonerate” Donald Trump’s relationship with Epstein, claiming Trump was never as close to the financier as other powerful figures like Bill Gates or Bill Clinton.
The Take
Let’s be honest: this is part accountability push, part political theater, and Vance knows it.
Dragging a disgraced royal into Congress is catnip for cameras. It’s also a perfect stage for Vance to pound away at his favorite theme – that the rich and powerful protect their own, until the receipts get too loud for the rest of us to ignore.
On the substance, there’s a real case for Andrew to answer more questions. The Justice Department documents – plus the civil lawsuit he quietly settled with Virginia Giuffre in 2022 – paint a deeply troubling picture of judgment, at best. Andrew has consistently denied wrongdoing, but he’s also repeatedly avoided sworn, public questioning by U.S. lawmakers.
On politics, Vance is threading a very specific needle: condemn the “incestuous” elite circle around Epstein while reassuring his base that Trump was somehow adjacent but unsullied. That’s a neat story for his voters; it’s not a conclusion the documents themselves plainly spell out. They don’t so much exonerate as redistribute discomfort.
Powerful men are suddenly very enthusiastic about transparency – as long as it mostly lands on someone else’s head.
There’s also the monarchy angle. Charles has already stripped Andrew of royal titles and public duties; now, pushing him out of Royal Lodge sends the clearest message yet that the institution is done shielding him. It’s damage control, sure, but it’s also a quiet acknowledgment that the Epstein connection isn’t going away.
Will a U.S. congressional hearing actually happen? That’s murkier. The House can’t subpoena Andrew as a foreign national, which means any appearance would be voluntary. And the last time he was invited to give a deposition to a House committee, he ignored it. Vance talking tough doesn’t guarantee Andrew a witness chair.
What it does guarantee is more spotlight on who gets held accountable – and who gets quietly shuffled off to a country estate while victims are left to tell their own stories in memoirs and court filings.
Receipts
Confirmed:
- Justice Department filings related to Jeffrey Epstein, released late last week, include photos of Andrew with women and emails showing continued contact with Epstein after his 2008 conviction, according to U.S. court records.
- JD Vance, now serving as U.S. vice president, said in an interview published February 3, 2026, that he is “certainly open” to Congress seeking testimony from Andrew and described U.S. elites as “pretty incestuous.”
- British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told reporters on Saturday that anyone with information on Epstein, including Andrew, should be willing to share it with U.S. lawmakers to support victims, according to on-camera remarks carried by UK news outlets.
- King Charles has already removed Andrew’s royal patronages and public roles, and Andrew reached an out-of-court settlement with Virginia Giuffre in February 2022 to resolve her U.S. civil sexual assault lawsuit, without admitting liability, as reflected in court records and public palace statements.
- The U.S. House of Representatives cannot legally compel testimony from Andrew with a subpoena because he is a foreign national, per congressional rules and legal guidance.
Reported / Disputed:
- Vance’s claim that the latest Epstein files “exonerate” Donald Trump is a political assertion, not a formal legal finding; the documents do not include a judicial declaration clearing any specific individual.
- UK police have said they are assessing a new allegation that Epstein trafficked a second woman to the UK to have sex with Andrew; this remains under review, with no charges announced as of the latest reports.
- Whether Andrew will agree to testify before Congress is entirely speculative at this point; he has not publicly commented on the new request and has previously declined a similar invitation from a House committee.
Backstory (For the Casual Reader)
Jeffrey Epstein, a wealthy financier with deep political and social connections, pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting prostitution from a minor, then was charged again in 2019 with sex trafficking before dying in a Manhattan jail; his death was ruled a suicide. Prince Andrew’s friendship with Epstein – including that infamous Central Park walk in 2010, after Epstein’s conviction – has haunted the royals ever since. Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein’s most prominent accusers, alleged in U.S. court filings that Andrew had sex with her when she was 17; Andrew has vehemently denied this, but he ultimately settled her civil lawsuit in 2022. After a disastrous TV interview in 2019 and growing public outrage, Andrew was stripped of most royal roles and retreated from public life, yet continues to face fresh scrutiny as every new batch of Epstein documents lands.
Question for readers: Do you think hauling Prince Andrew before Congress would deliver real accountability for Epstein’s victims, or just give politicians another made-for-TV moment?
Sources: U.S. Justice Department court filings in the Jeffrey Epstein matter (released Friday, per federal records); public interview with Vice President JD Vance in a UK-based newspaper (Feb. 3, 2026); on-record remarks by UK prime minister Keir Starmer to British press (early February 2026); U.S. federal court records from Virginia Giuffre v. Prince Andrew (settlement announced February 2022); official statements from Buckingham Palace regarding Prince Andrew’s titles and roles (2019-2022); public updates from UK law enforcement on ongoing Epstein-related assessments.
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