Complying with a police investigation is the very least we can expect from a head of state. In light of the trove of emails that expose the nature of the relationship between Epstein and several members of the Royal Family, both survivors of Epstein’s sex trafficking scheme and the British public are entitled to transparency about what, if anything, the King and the rest of the Royal Family knew.
Indeed, emails have revealed that it is not just Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor who had ties to Epstein. Emails between Mountbatten-Windsor’s ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, and Epstein also show a relationship that clearly displayed a worrying level of co-dependency.
In loving emails reportedly sent from her to Epstein, she asks him to “marry [her]” and claims to be “at [his] service.” It’s not just affection that Ms Ferguson appeared to have been after. More than one email hints at the money she was getting from Epstein. In one of them from 2009, she asked for £20k to be immediately transferred to her so she could pay rent.
However, it was not a one-way relationship. In multiple emails, Epstein asked her to arrange tours and meetings in Buckingham Palace for others, including his god-daughter. In particular, he was hoping to secure meetings with Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie.
The tone Epstein used in emails to her, when asking her to schedule a meeting for instance, was one you would expect from someone addressing their personal assistant, not the ex-wife of a member of the Royal Family. Epstein does not come across as someone asking for a favour. He’s making orders.
It is those relationships that we desperately need more light on. How much power exactly did Epstein have over the Royal Family? How much money did he give, not just to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor but also his ex-wife and their daughters? How many meetings were organised on his behalf by members of the Royal Family?
At Chayn, an organisation working to support survivors of gender-based violence, we have been desperately calling for survivors to be placed at the centre of the debates on Epstein. And centring survivors means having concrete discussions about what justice and reparation that is fair to survivors will look like.
The Royal Family could – and should – play a key role in facilitating this process towards justice and reparation. They have, after all, dedicated time and energy to supporting charities across the UK, and could very well support the charities that are accompanying the survivors of Epstein’s sex trafficking. But there cannot be justice without truth.
Until the Royal Family is transparent – not just with the police – but with the British Public about just how much they got from Epstein and how much Epstein got from them, they cannot genuinely be part of the process we now all want to see: closure for survivors.
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Eva Blum-Dumontet is Head of Movement Building and Policy at Chayn, an international non-profit organisation supporting survivors of gender-based violence.
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