Anti-monarchy protesters unfurl Andrew and Epstein banner in Buckingham Palace throne room

Anti-monarchy protesters unfurled a banner of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Jeffrey Epstein in the Buckingham Palace throne room on Monday. 

Two activists from the campaign group Republic held up the huge banner which had ‘What did you know?’ emblazoned across the famous photo of Andrew and Epstein walking through Central Park together in 2010.

It is understood that the demonstrators had bought tickets to the public opening of the State Rooms at the palace before breaking off to set up their stunt. 

Police are preparing to interview victims of the paedophile Epstein in the US, and meanwhile Republic has been pursuing a possible private prosecution of Andrew.

The campaign group is using this demonstration to demand answers from King Charles and Prince William about what they knew surrounding the allegations levelled against Andrew in relation to Epstein, and for how long.

Green MP Sian Berry is planning to raise the issue of royal secrecy in parliament this week, calling for an end to their exemption from freedom of information rules.

Speaking for Republic, Graham Smith said today: ‘Republic activists have taken questions about Andrew to the heart of the royal household, the symbolic home of the monarchy.

‘This question isn’t going away. It is simply not believable to think that Charles and William weren’t briefed years ago about the numerous allegations against Andrew.’

‘Security services, police and government would have had concerns about Andrew’s behaviour, and would have briefed the palace. Not least because of the potential threat to national security and the risk of blackmail.

‘We need full disclosure from the palace, and as they refuse to speak up the government must take action. This is why it’s so important that Green MP Sian Berry is this week calling for reform of freedom of information rules to end royal secrecy.

‘Republic will not rest until these questions are answered, the protests will not stop until the monarchy is gone. The monarchy survives on secrecy, and that secrecy has to stop.

Buckingham Palace itself has been directly involved with allegations surrounding Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Jeffrey Epstein.

In February this year, an unidentified woman in her 20s alleged she was trafficked to the UK in 2010 by Epstein for a sexual encounter with Andrew at Royal Lodge – his former residence in Windsor.

Her lawyer Brad Edwards said that after she allegedly spent the night there, she says she was taken to Buckingham Palace for tea and a private tour.

Andrew has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

He was, however, arrested on suspicion of misconduct in a public office in connection with his dealings with Epstein on February 19 – which happened to be his 66th birthday.

Emails in the files appeared to show the former prince passing on secret details of investment opportunities to the convicted paedophile following his visits to Singapore, Hong Kong and Vietnam in 2010 and 2011.

This was after Epstein was first convicted for soliciting a prostitute and procuring a child for prostitution in 2008, for which he was jailed for 18 months.

King Charles has publicly spoken on the allegations levelled against Andrew, though perhaps not in as much detail as Republic protestors demand.

Only ten days before his brother was arrested, the King expressed his ‘profound concern’ over the accusations Andrew faced and said Buckingham Palace was ‘ready to support’ police in any investigations surrounding them.

Perhaps the most high-profile allegation against Andrew came from the late Virginia Giuffre.

Ms Guiffre accused Andrew of having sex with her three times when she was 17 years old in 2001, after Epstein and his partner in crime Ghislain Maxwell had trafficked her to the disgraced royal.

The encounters were said to have happened at Maxwell’s home in London, Epstein’s mansion in New York, and on Epstein’s infamous private island, and Ms Guiffre said she was coerced into sexual dealings with Andrew.

It is believed that it was in Maxwell’s London home where the famous photograph of Andrew and Ms Guiffre was taken.

Ms Guiffre died by suicide in April 2025 near her home in Australia, aged 41.

In June, the royal family announced no British monarch would ever live permanently in Buckingham Palace again – despite a £369million taxpayer-funded refit of the historic royal residence.

Refurbishments have been going on for nearly a decade at the palace and are due to be completed next year, but King Charles and Camilla have said they will reside across The Mall at Clarence House instead.

Andrew’s own living situation was a cause of major contention following the release of the Epstein files.

His eviction from Royal Lodge was expedited by Charles in the fallout of the revelations surrounding the Duke of York’s relations with the paedophile financier.

He left the seven-bed, 30-room mansion under cover of darkness on February 2 to temporarily move into Wood Farm on the Royal Sandringham Estate in Norfolk.

He finally moved into his Marsh Farm, also on the Sandringham Estate, in April after it was refurbished for his arrival – including the erection of a tall fence and beefed-up security gates and cameras.

Andrew’s family has caught flak in the scandal too – particularly his ex-wife Sarah Fergusson after files suggested her own concerning relationship with Epstein.

She was mentioned numerous times and emails suggest he had been bankrolling her for 15 years. In one 2009 email she is believed to have said the Epstein: ‘I urgently need 20,000 pounds ($27,521) for rent today.

‘The landlord has threatened to go to the newspapers if I don’t pay. Any brainwaves?’

In another gushing message, she appears to say ‘Just marry me’ after a string of compliments to the paedophile who had been convicted of soliciting sex from a minor the year before.

Ferguson even seemed to involve her own children with Epstein, apparently talking of then-19-year-old Eugenie coming back from a ‘shagging weekend’ in 2010. She is also believed to have introduced her then-22-year-old goddaughter to Epstein following his release from prison.

She has since been very rarely seen in public, breaking cover after 213 days just for a moment at an eyewateringly expensive ski resort in Austria in April.

Their daughters, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, have also avoided the public eye but have been more sociable in recent months in the lead-up to Eugenie’s announcement that she was pregnant with her third child with Jack Brooksbank in May.

Andrew has been seen quite regularly however, taking drives from his Sandringham home – even seen in his Range Rover with a mysterious bruise on his face at the beginning of June.

This is a breaking news story. Follow for more updates.