Will Ghislaine Maxwell's arrest mean extradition for Prince Andrew? A precedent set by Charles might save him
After disgraced billionaire and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s former girlfriend and confidante Ghislaine Maxwell was arrested in New Hampshire earlier on Thursday, July 2, the question of Prince Andrew's possible extradition to the United States was raised since the Queen's son's friendship with Epstein was highly publicized last year.
At a press conference called by District Court for the Southern District of New York, acting US attorney Audrey Strauss said that the government would like to speak to Prince Andrew and obtain his statement on the Epstein case. The BBC recently confirmed that US authorities submitted “mutual legal assistance” (MLA) request to the Home Office. However, this information has not been confirmed by the US Department of Justice or the UK Home Office.
Under the terms of the MLA, Andrew could be called to a British court to testify under oath, if Andrew does not respond of his own accord. However, according to Nigel Cawthorne’s new biography ‘Prince Andrew: Epstein and the Palace’, Andrew may be able to escape an extradition order pursued by the US in the future as they investigate Maxwell's case and her involvement with Epstein, due to a precedent set by Andrew's elder brother, Prince Charles.
Cawthorne explained in his biography that Andrew could only try to plead against potential extradition if he had immunity from prosecution as a government official, or as a member of the Queen’s household. “It is accepted that it is the one get-me-out-of-a-US-jail card before one gets shunted into the American legal system," he said, as reported by Express. Foundations for using such a "get-out-of-jail card" were laid by Charles.
"The Prince of Wales was sued in 1977 after a ten-minute address he gave at the opening of the University of Cleveland’s law faculty new building," Cawthorne wrote. “Before it could go any further, however, the US State Department intervened and extended legal immunity to Charles. The prince had set a frequently cited precedent that would now be the best chance of avoiding extradition [should it be requested] for his younger brother." The same precedent could hold true when it comes to saving Epstein from extradition.
Meanwhile, Prince Andrew’s legal team has confirmed to CNN that they “will not be commenting” on the arrest of Maxwell. Also, people on Twitter mocked Prince Andrew as they predicted that the duke might be in trouble after Maxwell's arrest.
"Prince Andrew could sweat he would be right now," one user wrote, while another said, "Right about now... Doctors declare 'a miracle' as Prince Andrew regains the ability to sweat after hearing Ghislaine Maxwell has been arrested by the FBI." A third commented: "I know we're all extremely hot right now, despite sweating buckets. But not every animal has this cooling mechanism, and it's more important than ever to keep animals that don't cool. Please please make sure you check in on your dogs, rhinos, hippos, pigs, and Prince Andrew."
The allegations against the Duke of York stem from his relationship with Epstein, who apparently committed suicide in August 2019 while awaiting trial on federal charges following accusations that he sexually abused underage girls and ran a sex-trafficking ring. At the time, one of the women allegedly victimized by Epstein, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, alleged that she was forced into sexual encounters with the prince. Giuffre said that Epstein forced her to perform sex acts with several prominent men, including Prince Andrew in 2001.
In an explosive interview with BBC in November 2019, Prince Andrew said he did not regret his friendship with Epstein and denied having seen anything that might have been contrived as suspicious while he hung out with his friend in the past.