Transcription
Hi, Natasha Belling here. In this episode of the briefing, we chat with UK royal historian and author Andrew Lowey.
Now, this interview comes on the same day that King Charles has for the first time been named in the Jeffrey Epstein files. Andrew tells us he's not surprised by these latest revelations, and he explains to us why the controversy surrounding Andrew Mountbatten Windsor and Jeffrey Epstein means King Charles will soon need to abdicate with his position untenable.
Andrew Lowi will also go into details about the growing evidence that Jeffrey Epstein was actually a Russian agent and also the new evidence that is set to be released very shortly that casts serious doubt on exactly what happened to Jeffrey Epstein in jail and whether he really did kill himself.
Andrew, thanks so much for joining us. You wrote a very explosive biography that was released last year called entitled where you did extensive investigations into Andrew Mountbatton Windsor and his ex-wife Fergie. Are you surprised by what has developed over the past couple of months?
>> Yes, I am surprised. I mean I you know one writes these books in the hope that they can shift the dial and loosen the earth but um I didn't expect that you know for example that we would get the Epstein files released which are dynamite and has clearly been a huge tipping point in terms of bringing a lot of these people to justice. So it is very gratifying. It's gratifying to see that my research has been confirmed by what's been released. Uh and exciting that these people will now be held to accountable. I I hope.
Do you believe this is the tip of the iceberg? We've started to see the fallout and we know the arrest of Andrew Mountbatten Windsor and also the former ambassador to the US from the UK. Do you think this is the tip of the iceberg?
>> Yes, I do. I I've always felt that that even uh with the research I did and I spent five years or writing entitled that I'd only got got a little bit of the whole story. Uh and even with these millions of pages, I think we're again only still getting part of the story. But let's hope other people come forward. new investigations can take place. Uh some of the legal depositions can be unsealed. Uh and I think there should be many many more people who are should be questioned and and I think perhaps even charged. Uh I mean this was part of a huge network. They all work together. Uh and we've only seen a couple of the names yet so far.
You've mentioned there Andrew that this is part of a huge network. The questions are now being asked about exactly what people knew and when. To the enormity of who was involved in this. An interesting point is the sex trafficking allegations are also set to be investigated. But to what degree do you think this is one of the biggest financial conspiracies in history and people made hundreds of millions of dollars?
>> Yes. I mean I think the fascinating thing is it's it's three things. There's the sexual story uh the financial story and actually I think there's a national security element which is only just beginning to emerge. So it's actually sort of super national as well as as uh part of some huge financial operation and they were all connected. So the the compromat through the sexual uh activities helped the financial activities uh and uh the national security element was again tied to the sex. The sex was the way of drawing people in. Um but you're absolutely right. It shows that uh there were operations going on that really crossed boundaries uh and a number of I mean for legal reasons I can't say for some of the the characters but I do hope that with the investigation some of these important characters will now be exposed but yeah it it is an extraordinary story. I mean Epstein was I I believe a Russian asset. I think that's come out now from some of the the disclosures. uh and uh we're also seeing with with Prince former Prince Andrew that he was very involved with Chinese intelligence. So I mean the vulnerabilities of of the establishment were very clear because there was so little oversight into for example members of the royal family. It was very easy for these intelligence agencies to penetrate them and using them to go more widely into society.
You've been quoted as saying, Andrew, that Andrew Mountbatten Windsor was actually Jeffrey Epstein's Super Bowl trophy. That's the way they were able to get infiltrate the British government. To what degree do you think serious national security issues have been compromised by this?
>> Well, I know I mean serious uh security issues uh have taken place. I've actually been talking about uh a Russ an intelligence report from the one of the American agencies dated only a few weeks ago talking about how uh Andrew was a Russian asset. Uh I think we should also say that in that quote from Epstein about his Super Bowl trophy, he also mentioned Bill Clinton. Uh and though Bill Clinton is is is giving evidence, uh I I do think we will find that uh Epstein's reach uh stretched to some extraordinary political leaders. Some brought in for their for his support of their charitable work, some because he was able to provide girls for them. Uh but it was extraordinary just the range of people he was able to draw in from from across the world.
So Andrew, if Epstein was a Russian agent, who was the master of this?
>> Well, I think Putin to a large extent, I mean, this goes back before Putin's day. Um, uh, Epstein was introduced to Galileain in 1985, so long before Putin was on the scene by a Russian agent, the grandson of Armond Hammer, uh, who himself was a Russian asset. So, this is a long-term penetration operation. And it reminds me very much when I did a book on the Cambridge spies. Exactly what they did in the 1930s with the Cambridge spies. They clearly were doing in the 1980s with people like Epstein.
There's also allegations that Andrew Mountbatten Windsor was being watched by British intelligence agencies, pointing to the fact they probably knew what was going on behind the scenes. What did the king and the British government know about what was going on?
>> Yes. Yes. Well, I mean, I've been told by several of my intelligence sources that they stumbled across both Andrew and Sarah Ferguson in the in the course of of monitoring other people who they thought were pretty dodgy and were surprised to find that members of the royal family were consorting with them. Uh they I know did report things to the palace uh and I suspect to the government. Uh and clearly nothing was done. Uh, I have stories of of MI6 going to the Queen's private secretary, Christopher Gite, talking about $5 million in a suitcase being given to Andrew and Kazakhstan and being sent away with a flee in their ear. So, I do think there are questions for the government, for the palace, uh, and indeed for the police because presumably this stuff was brought to their attention as well. And I've offered, for example, information to the National Crime Agency on two occasions. They haven't bothered replying. Uh so this is this is you know a huge scandal because there were so many opportunities to deal with this which were ignored.
We know the BBC has put a number of questions to the king and also the monarchy regarding asking exactly what they knew and when. They haven't replied to that. How damaging do you think this is for the monarchy and will this force king Charles to abdicate?
>> Yeah I think it's very damaging. I mean this is a national broadcaster normally very cautious. I mean, the palace declined to comment. I mean, that seems to me a pretty extraordinary way to respond to perfectly uh legitimate questions. Uh my own feeling is that the king's position is untenable. Uh he is quite clearly being complicit in a cover up. Uh I demonstrate that in entitled with numerous occasions where the press were uh told lies, there were denials, there were legal threats, there were uh attempts to strongarm them by refusing access to members of the royal family. if if stories were run. Uh the fact is he was involved in the settlement with Virginia Gifrey the 12 million pounds hush money and I'm afraid you know he he cannot get off this I mean he was clearly very involved in trying to suppress this story over many many years uh and I don't think the public are going to accept that this is perverting the course of justice and he himself has said that let justice take its course well this is a good example let the lord law investigate the king uh because I'm afraid his fans are not clean on this.
In regards to who knew what and when, Andrew, we always know there's the story and often the cover up is bigger. To what degree do you think key British members of the royal family and also intelligence officers and the British police, the Met Police were involved in a huge cover up?
>> Yeah. Well, people certainly turned a blind eye. I mean, this story has been running in the press for about 15 years. through a whole series of occasions where uh for example Sarah Ferguson was caught in 2010 selling access to Andrew as a trade envoy for £500,000. There was no investigation at the palace. Nothing happened with the police. The government did nothing in terms of getting rid of Andrew. He went on for another year after that. People were complaints about Andrew's behavior right from beginning in 2001. There were stories of high court actions where Andrew and Sarah were taking money they couldn't explain. nothing ever was done or investigated. So yes, I think there were a lot of people involved. Uh I mean clearly people further down the chain uh I think were worried about their jobs, their pensions uh and pressure was put on them not to talk. So in some ways the buck stops at the top uh and that's where we need to actually start getting some answers.
To what degree do you believe Andrew knowing the monarchy so well, to what degree do you think the queen knew exactly what was going on with her favorite son?
Well, I'm afraid she did know. I mean, I I've got plenty of stories of things being brought to her complaints and her ignoring them. Uh, and uh, the fact is she had a very good intelligence system. The uh, police protection officers would report to the head of security and report to her. Uh, there are any number of spooks who are working in her private office. Um, and um, that it's just inconceivable. I mean, she ran a very tight ship that she wasn't aware of what was going on and chose to ignore it in the hope that no one else would know. And I think that what the problem for the royal family is they never expected these Epstein leaks. Uh, and that's really what's done for them.
We know that Jeffrey Epstein died in jail. I know that you've been meeting with Jeffrey Epstein's brother. Do you believe Jeffrey Epstein was killed?
>> Yes, I do. Um, I do. I wasn't sure before, but I'm pretty certain now from the new information I've got. And certainly that's what Mark Epstein feels. I think he's about to make an announcement based on some medical reports that were done. But we had Michael Baden who is a very distinguished coroner in New York who I've worked with in the past uh actually being interviewed and talking about homicide. So, uh, you know, it is extraordinary. And if you think back to it, you know, this was a high-profile prisoner on su supposedly on suicide watch whose uh cellmate was taken out, where the cameras didn't work, where the guards fell asleep. Uh where there was a very quick sort of autopsy, the whole thing was covered up. No one actually seems to have paid any sort of penalty for losing this high-profile prisoner. Uh, and everyone I've talked to from the victims, lawyers through to um others who who dealt with um Epstein all say there was nothing in his character that would have allowed him to give up. He was a fighter. He he was only at the beginning of this this particular legal battle.
In regards to the new medical evidence that you have obtained pointing to the fact that he was murdered, what can you reveal about that?
>> Well, I haven't seen the evidence. I mean uh this is what Mark Epstein has to to show and he said he would do it this month so it must be quite soon but certainly what Michael Ben has said is that the injuries are not um the injuries of someone who committed suicide they're the injuries of a homicide just by the nature of the the the injuries themselves but I think also I think it's various inmates there have said it's impossible to kill yourself given the height of the beds the bed sheets etc. So, um I I I don't think there's any and there's of course a long history of people dying in rather suspicious circumstances, mainly from suicide in prison in this story. So, it doesn't surprise me. He he was uh supposedly about to spill the beans about some very important people and you could understand that they perhaps didn't want him to do that.
Talking about spilling the beans, would you have serious concerns about Andrew and his safety at the moment considering the enormity?
Yes, I I think there's a target on both his back and Gain's back. Uh and I think if I'd been Gileain, I would have been much happier staying in a high security prison than an open one. Uh but yes, that must be a worry. I mean, if anyone needs royal security in the royal family, it's it's Prince Andrew at the moment.
We've seen Virginia Dryy's sister-in-law send a warning to the US President Donald Trump Andrew saying that they will not stop fighting for Virginia and other survivors from Jeffrey Epstein's sexual abuse. What do you think that means with what will happen in the US? Do you think we will see more charges laid and more people face the consequences?
>> Well, I mean it, you know, it's it's very well for the family to say what they think's going to happen, but I would think that they really know. It's in the hands of law enforcement. Uh, but I do think evidence will emerge. Uh, even if it's separate from the Epstein elites, you know, there are a lot of victims out there. Some of them appeared on Capitol Hill. They are, I think, more emboldened to make their statements now. uh and certainly I found as a result of my book many people coming forward with stories many of them who wouldn't talk to me before. So there is a new spirit that that somehow uh these people shouldn't be uh able to get away with their crimes. uh and I think a sense that there is a higher loyalty to to ju justice um that a lot of people who felt uh frightened of speaking before or was stuck with NDAs or whatever it was uh now feel that they can tell the truth about what happened and I hope that's the case.
Andrew, we know this may be the tip of the iceberg. You have also heard allegations about very very powerful people involved in sex rings involving Jeffrey Epstein and Galain Maxwell.
>> Yes. Yes. I mean, I was given the story about a former prime minister who had been involved in the threesome with Gileain and another woman uh which clearly I couldn't put in uh in into the book for legal reasons, but I was very interested to see the same name was popping up in the Epstein leaks uh having been involved in an orgy. Uh so again, you know, this may be pure speculation. What was interesting about the document in the Epstein leaks, it's two FBI agents discussing uh basically a debrief of Epstein's cellmate. So this is what Epstein told his cellmate and and uh this is then being recorded by the two FBI agents. And certainly the other names in the list are people who are very much within the in the frame for for their activities with Epstein. So um it is an interesting disclosure. The press clearly are nervous about naming this particular individual. Uh and uh I just wonder if if some more information comes to light whether that will change.
Finally, Andrew, we know that there were allegations as part of Jeffrey Epstein's network that he used to film a lot of what allegedly happened within his residences. Where are those videos?
>> Well, those videos are with the Department of Justice. They were picked up in the Palm Beach in the raid in 2008 and later in in um in Manhattan. Uh some of those have for various strange reasons ended up in Moscow, but they should be sitting in the FBI, the Department of Justice, and it's odd that they haven't emerged. I mean, they're also clear. These were the what was filmed by Jeffrey Epstein in his various properties. But almost every one of the uh intelligence agencies who for example Andrew came across. So whether it's Libya or China or Central Asia or Russia um they also filmed people like Andrew in Honey Trap. Uh and I'm surprised that some of those sex tapes haven't emerged. So there's clearly some long game being played. But I I I think those will emerge at some point too.
Andrew, thanks so much for joining us.
Pleasure.