By SAM GREENHILL, THE CHIEF REPORTER Published: 11:41 BST, 18 September 2025 | Updated: 14:15 BST, 18 September 2025
Prince Andrew was ‘at least’ a witness to the investigation by American prosecutors into Jeffrey Epstein, according to a former US Attorney General.In newly-released Epstein files, William Barr said the Duke of York was someone prosecutors had been ‘trying to get in the door to question’.Mr Barr said he remembered the duke being accused of providing ‘zero cooperation’ to the FBI, in 2020, despite having promised to help the inquiry.Mr Barr gave testimony in August to American lawmakers investigating paedophile Epstein.They have now released a transcript of this interview, as part of the latest tranche of Epstein files being made public.Prince Andrew has always denied any wrongdoing, but the FBI wanted to ask him about his long-running friendship with the disgraced financier. Andrew used to visit Epstein’s New York mansion, where schoolgirls say they were molested, and travel on his private jet dubbed the ‘Lolita Express’.Now Mr Barr – who was the highest law officer in the United States from 2019 to 2020 – has stated that Andrew had at least the status of a witness in the inquiry. William Barr, former US Attorney General under President Trump, says the Duke of York was 'at least' a witness in the Epstein investigation, as he recalls his colleague's press attack (below) Former top US Attorney Geoffrey Berman giving his press conference outside Jeffrey Epstein's mansion in 2020 when he accused Prince Andrew of giving 'zero cooperation' The Duke of York photographed walking through New York's Central Park with Jeffrey EpsteinAsked about the duke and his connection to the investigation into Epstein, the former Attorney General said: ‘To my knowledge, he was at least a witness.’ He added that he did not know if Andrew was ‘a target’ of the investigators.Mr Barr recalled the time in January 2020 when senior US prosecutor Geoffrey Berman gave a dramatic press conference outside Epstein’s New York mansion and accused the duke of being unhelpful.Mr Berman had said: ‘The original charges against Jeffrey Epstein contained a conspiracy charge and we allege there were conspirators involved…'The Southern District of New York and the FBI have contacted Prince Andrew’s attorneys and requested to interview Prince Andrew, and to date, Prince Andrew has provided zero cooperation. 'He publicly offered, indeed in a press release, to cooperate with law enforcement investigating the crimes committed by Jeffrey Epstein and his co-conspirators.’Mr Barr, who as US Attorney General was senior to Mr Berman, told members of the House Oversight Committee he had rebuked his junior – not for saying the things he said, but for not telling his boss first. The well-known photograph showing the Duke of York next to Virginia Giuffre in 2001He said: ‘When you go and you hold a press conference and you attack him in front of the mansion and so forth, that is actually something that the US attorney should've run by me. Not that I would've opposed it, but I would like to know about it.’Mr Barr recalled the ‘dispute’ between the Southern District of New York Attorneys Office and Prince Andrew, saying: ‘They wanted to talk to him, and he wouldn't really submit to an interview.’The duke has always categorically denied having any knowledge that Epstein was sexually abusing teenage girls. He has also strenuously denied claims made by former ‘sex slave’ Virginia Giuffre that she was forced to have sex with him on three occasions.Andrew was forced to withdraw from royal duties over his involvement in the long-running Epstein scandal. In November 2019, the prince decided to explain his association with Epstein in an interview with the BBC’s Emily Maitlis. But the resulting grilling, in which he failed to express any regret and claimed he had been trying to end their friendship when he spent four days staying at his New York home, was a PR disaster. As his royal patronages deserted him, the Duke was forced to quit as a frontline role.Andrew, who used to love visiting America, has not stepped foot in the country since the FBI made it known they wanted to speak to him.The House Oversight Committee has been revealing hundreds of pages of documents from the Epstein estate in recent weeks.
