Prince Andrew protecting himself rather than Epstein victims, says top US lawyer

Prince Andrew's legacy will forever be that of a man who protected himself without thought for the victims of paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, according to a leading US lawyer.

Gloria Allred, who is representing several of the victims of the disgraced financier, says she is outraged that the criminal probe into Epstein's sex trafficking network has been "parked" by investigators in New York in recent weeks.

She says Andrew's decision not to meet American federal attorneys to aid them in their case against Epstein is "shameful".

The Prince has strenuously denied committing any crimes and his lawyers say he was "happy to co-operate" with any investigation. It came as it emerged that the King has cut off his brother financially, by severing his annual personal allowance - believed to be £1million a year.

Andrew is unlikely to face further requests for interviews over Epstein after US investigators paused their probe until "new evidence is presented which can move the case along".

A key factor is the need for agents to focus on the high-profile case against rapper Sean "Diddy" Combs, who is facing multiple claims of sexual abuse, which he has strongly denied.

Speaking exclusively to this newspaper, Ms Allred said: "There was and is no possible reasonable justification for Prince Andrew's decision to refuse to meet with and answer questions from federal prosecutors in New York, except that he wanted to protect himself and/or others from potential legal consequences if he provided truthful responses to questions that prosecutors wanted to pose to him as part of their investigation of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.

"It will now be Prince Andrew's legacy that he decided to protect himself rather than protecting the brave victims of Jeffrey Epstein and assisting them to know the whole truth and win the justice that they deserve."

The former US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Geoffrey Berman, said Prince Andrew "repeatedly declined our request" to schedule an interview.

The royal's legal team rejected the claims, saying he offered to help three times.