Epstein affair may be 'the end of the monarchy', says US congressman

A member of a US congressional committee investigating the Epstein affair has said: "Maybe this will be the end of the monarchy."

Congressman Ro Khanna says he thinks King Charles has questions to answer about the scandal that has embroiled his younger brother, adding: "I think this is the most vulnerable the British monarchy has ever been."

The Democrat, was behind the Epstein Files Transparency Act, the legislation that led to their publication.

He told Sky News: "I think this is the most vulnerable the British monarchy has ever been. They ought to ask the King and Queen questions and maybe this will be the end of the monarchy."

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He added: "If they don't have answers, if they're implicated in the Epstein class, it's not a good look for the British monarchy.

"The King has to answer what he knew, what he knew about Andrew, and just stripping Andrew of a title is not enough.

"Andrew needs to come before our committee and start answering questions. I don't think the appropriate punishment is you no longer get to be a prince. There's got to be more than that.

"They need to answer, the King and Queen, I don't understand the British custom (that) someone's asking the Queen a question and the Queen is offended that she's being asked a question? I mean, come on. She wears the same clothes, she eats the same food, she's just a human being, she needs to answer the same questions everyone does."

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Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has denied allegations of wrongdoing and there has been no suggestion the wider Royal Family was involved with Jeffrey Epstein.

But the paedophile was invited to Buckingham Palace and a visitor to the Balmoral estate. His co-conspirator and convicted sex trafficker Ghislane Maxwell was also photographed at Sandringham in the company of Andrew.

'Very tangled web'

Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett, another Democratic member of the committee, was asked if she thought there were questions for the wider Royal Family and replied: "It's a matter of us taking a look at the evidence and trying to see who it is that is involved in this very tangled web.

"I think that we should speak to anybody, even if that means that we go that high."

Buckingham Palace has released a statement in which a spokesperson says the King has made clear his "profound concern" at allegations surrounding Andrew and "if we are approached by Thames Valley Police, we stand ready to support them as you would expect".

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