When the U.S. Department of Justice filed a formal Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) request with the U.K. Home Office in 2020 to question Prince Andrew as part of its investigation into Jeffrey Epstein’s network, the Duke’s legal team immediately went on the defensive. They issued a statement claiming Andrew had “on at least three occasions offered his assistance” and accused U.S. prosecutors of violating confidentiality rules by publicly asserting that he had not cooperated. His lawyers framed the MLA request as unnecessary “political theater,” implying that the DOJ’s statements were meant to pressure the Duke through media embarrassment rather than legitimate procedure. The legal team presented Andrew as a willing witness, not a suspect — arguing that any suggestion he was stonewalling the investigation was both “false” and “misleading.”

However, U.S. officials directly contradicted those assertions, saying that Andrew had “zero cooperation” despite repeated outreach. The Southern District of New York prosecutors maintained that Andrew’s team refused to schedule interviews or provide substantive assistance. Legal experts in both the U.S. and U.K. noted that while an MLA request could theoretically compel cooperation through formal channels, it was diplomatically sensitive and rarely used against a member of the Royal Family. The optics were terrible: while the Duke’s lawyers publicly insisted on transparency, his continued silence and refusal to appear under oath only deepened perceptions that he was hiding behind privilege and procedure to avoid accountability.



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