Prince Andrew has provided "zero cooperation" in the investigation of Jeffrey Epstein's network of enablers, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York said Monday.
Andrew, who has been accused of having sex with a teenage girl trafficked by Epstein, has publicly indicated that he would be willing to assist in any investigation related to the case.
But U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman, speaking outside the late financier's mansion in New York City, said the FBI and New York prosecutors have reached out to the prince and his attorneys but have yet to receive any assistance from him.
"To date, Prince Andrew has provided zero cooperation," Berman said.
Buckingham Palace did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
David Boies, attorney for Virginia Roberts Giuffre and other Epstein victims, told NBC News, "In this country no one is above the law. Prince Andrew's continued refusal to cooperate in ongoing cases and investigations concerning the Epstein sex trafficking ring is deeply troubling, particularly after his November 2019 promise to do so. If Prince Andrew continues to refuse to cooperate voluntarily, at some point, counsel for Epstein’s victims and perhaps law enforcement officials will have no alternative except to seek to compel his cooperation."
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Epstein died by suicide in August while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
In a widely panned interview in the fall, Andrew denied allegations he had sex with Giuffre, who says she was trafficked by Epstein when she was 17. The prince said that he had no recollection of ever meeting her — despite a widely circulated photograph showing otherwise — and that he was at a pizza restaurant with his daughter on the day in 2001 that Giuffre alleges they had the sexual encounter.
Days after the interview, the Duke of York announced that he was stepping away from public duties "for the foreseeable future" because of the controversy surrounding his past relationship with Epstein.
"Of course, I am willing to help any appropriate law enforcement agency with their investigations, if required," Andrew said in a statement.
Berman, before responding to a question about Andrew on Monday, acknowledged that his office typically doesn't comment on whether a particular person is cooperating in an investigation.
"However, in Prince Andrew's case, he publicly offered, indeed in a press release, offered to cooperate with law enforcement investigating the crimes committed by Jeffrey Epstein and his co-conspirators," Berman said in an event organized by nonprofit victim services agency Safe Horizon to raise awareness for New York state's Child Victims Act.
Berman also said the investigation into Epstein's enablers is ongoing. "Epstein couldn't have done what he did without the assistance of others, and I can assure you that our investigation is moving forward," he said.
Several victims have complained about the length of the investigation, but Berman declined to comment on its time frame. He also declined comment when asked whether Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's longtime partner, is cooperating.
Maxwell's lawyer did not immediately return a request for comment.
Giuffre, speaking in her first television interview, told "Dateline" last year that she had sexual encounters with Andrew in London and on Epstein's private island.
The first encounter took place in Maxwell's London apartment, Giuffre said.
"Ghislaine woke me up in the morning and said, 'You're going to meet a prince today,'" Giuffre said in the interview, which aired in September. "I didn't know at that point that I was going to be trafficked to that prince."
Giuffre said they had dinner with Andrew and then went to a nightclub before returning to Maxwell's home. "I want you to do for him what you do for Epstein," Giuffre said Maxwell told her during the car ride from the club.
The sexual encounter with Andrew began in the bathroom and ended in a bedroom, Giuffre said.
"He wasn't rude or anything about it," she said. "He said, 'Thank you.'"
"I just couldn't believe it," she also said. "I couldn't believe that even royalty were involved" in Epstein's alleged network.
Giuffre said the encounters with Andrew stood out because of his title.
"He was a prince. He was famous. He's royalty. And it just stuck out in my mind," she said. "I grew up watching Disney just like most little girls grow up watching Disney, and princesses and princes were the good people in the world, and he wasn't."
