‘The Palace protected Prince Andrew!’ New York prosecutor Geoffrey Berman reveals he got ‘absolutely nowhere’ with his efforts to bring the disgraced royal to justice over his links to pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein

• Former top prosecutor Geoffrey Berman says he got ‘absolutely nowhere’ with his efforts to question Prince Andrew over his ties to Jeffrey Epstein 
• Berman, the former US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, writes in his new book that Andrew’s lawyers brushed off his requests for an interview 
• ‘We tried calling Buckingham Palace and they were not helpful,’ he writes  
• Berman claims that ‘someone’ was trying to save Andrew from having to answer questions about allegedly having sex with 17-year-old Virginia Roberts
• His new memoir Holding the Line: Inside the Nation’s Preeminent US Attorney’s Office and Its Battle with the Trump Justice Department is out now
• Berman says he ‘does not normally mention anyone’s name in relation to an ongoing investigation’ but Andrew was an ‘exception’

The former top prosecutor in New York has accused the Palace and British establishment of ‘protecting’ Prince Andrew from his investigation into Jeffrey Epstein.

In a bombshell memoir published days before the funeral of Queen Elizabeth, Geoffrey Berman said he got ‘absolutely nowhere’ with his efforts to bring her favorite son to justice over his links to the pedophile financier.

Berman, the former US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, writes that Andrew’s lawyers brushed off his requests for an interview by saying they would ‘consider it.’

He claims that even Scotland Yard did not help when he formally requested assistance in relation to the Duke, though they were normally very cooperative.

Berman’s conclusion was that ‘someone’ was rebuffing his efforts to save Andrew from having to answer questions about allegedly having sex with a 17-year-old Epstein victim.

Former top prosecutor Geoffrey Berman says he got ‘absolutely nowhere’ with his efforts to bring Prince Andrew to justice over his ties to Jeffrey Epstein

Berman, the former US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, writes in his new book that Andrew’s lawyers brushed off his requests for an interview. Berman is seen announcing charges against Epstein in 2019 

Epstein and Prince Andrew are pictured walking in Central Park  in New York in 2010. The Duke has been forced to retreat from public life due to his association with Epstein

The timing of Berman’s memoir could complicate the already thorny arrangements for Andrew’s role in his mother, Queen Elizabeth’s, funeral.

The Duke has been forced to retreat from public life due to his association with Epstein, but he will be present on Monday for the service in honor of his mother.

Andrew has reportedly been banned from wearing military uniform and has already been shouted at by one heckler as he followed his mother’s coffin to St. Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh.

His new memoir Holding the Line: Inside the Nation’s Preeminent US Attorney’s Office and Its Battle with the Trump Justice Department is out now

Berman served in his office until June 2020 when he was fired by Donald Trump – Berman claims for refusing to investigate the former President’s enemies.

In Holding the Line: Inside the Nation’s Preeminent US Attorney’s Office and Its Battle with the Trump Justice Department Berman writes that he ‘does not normally mention anyone’s name in relation to an ongoing investigation’ but Andrew was an ‘exception.’

The Duke’s sparring with Berman began in November 2019 when Andrew gave a ‘disastrous’ interview to the BBC about his association with Epstein.

Epstein was arrested in August that year and Andrew was under fire over claims from Virginia Roberts that she was trafficked to him three times for sex when she was 17.

Andrew issued a press statement saying that he would be willing to help with any law enforcement inquiries and said the same to the BBC.

But Berman writes that he quickly became frustrated after he asked two of his prosecutors to contact Andrew’s people to set up an interview.

They spent ‘two weeks just trying to find out who his lawyers were,’ Berman writes.

He writes: ‘We tried calling Buckingham Palace and they were not helpful. We tried the Department of Justice attaché and State Department, no luck. When we finally got his lawyers, they had all these questions.

‘What kind of interview will it be? Are there any protections? Is there this? Is there that? And we kept answering, and all that led to further questions and they’re saying you know ‘We’ll consider it’.

Berman writes that it was an ‘endless email exchange and it was clear we were getting the runaround’.

The book states: ‘He was not going to sit down for an interview with us, despite assuring the public he was ready, willing and able to cooperate’.

Berman claims that ‘someone’ was trying to save Andrew from having to answer questions about allegedly having sex with 17-year-old Virginia Roberts. Andrew, Virginia and Ghislaine Maxwell are seen in 2001

‘Prince Andrew clearly knew Epstein and Maxwell. He was on the island. He was at the mansion in New York. He was in London with them. We had a lot of questions for him and those questions remained unanswered,’ Berman says. Andrew and Maxwell are pictured in 2000

In January 2020 Berman was asked at a press conference outside Epstein’s mansion about Andrew’s help in the investigation. He replied there had been ‘zero cooperation.’ 

Berman’s comments brought Andrew’s lawyers ‘to the table again.’

He writes: ‘But it was more of the same. Repetitive emails back and forth with no commitment on his part. We said that if they are serious about cooperating just name the time and place and we will be there. The lawyers never did’.

Berman writes that he ‘does not normally mention anyone’s name in relation to an ongoing investigation’ but Andrew was an ‘exception’

Berman says they were ‘getting nowhere’ so decided to ‘compel’ Andrew to speak with them by seeking an MLAT (Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty’=) request through the State Department, which stands for .

An MLAT is an agreement between countries to help each other in criminal investigations.

Berman writes that because of his ‘very good relations’ with Scotland Yard they ‘almost always got what we asked’ with an MLAT request.

He writes: ‘But that’s not what happened with Prince Andrew. We got absolutely nowhere. Were they protecting him? I assume someone was’.

A war of words escalated between both sides and Andrew’s lawyers accused Berman of ‘seeking publicity rather than accepting the assistance proffered’ in a June 2020 statement.

Berman writes: ‘Just to be clear. There was no assistance proffered. The prince offered to send us some kind of written statement but that’s not how we do investigations, even for British royals.

‘Prince Andrew clearly knew Epstein and Maxwell. He was on the island. He was at the mansion in New York. He was in London with them. We had a lot of questions for him and those questions remained unanswered’.

According to Berman, then Attorney General Bill Barr phoned him after he made his ‘zero cooperation’ remarks to congratulate him. 

Barr supposedly said: ‘I really liked your comments on Prince Andrew. Could you keep it up?’

The Duke’s sparring with Berman began in November 2019 when Andrew gave a ‘disastrous’ interview to the BBC about his association with Epstein

Andrew was known as The Queen’s favorite son. They are pictured in 2019 during the Trooping The Colour before he was stripped of his military titles

Berman writes that Barr saw the Andrew situation as a ‘chit’ in a dispute with the UK over Anne Sacoolas, the American wife of a CIA agent who had killed a British teenager near the military base in the UK where her husband was working.

Sacoolas crashed head on into 17-year-old Harry Dunn while driving on the wrong side of the road and fled the country, claiming diplomatic immunity.

Britain wanted Sacoolas extradited to face a criminal trial but the Trump administration refused.

Berman writes: ‘Barr told me the public rift over Prince Andrew’s refusal to sit for an interview was useful in this other case.

‘It inflicted PR damage, was my impression, and made it more palatable for the administration to hold firm’, apparently referring to its refusal to extradite Sacoolas.

Berman said that this seemed ‘questionable’ but it ‘did not affect’ his approach to Andrew, who even today has still not given an interview to prosecutors.

Last year Roberts, a mother of three who lives in Australia under her married name, Giuffre, sued Andrew in New York for sex abuse in a civil case which caused him further embarrassment.

Her lawyers spent weeks trying to serve the Duke who eventually settled the case for a reported $12m.

Andrew is said to have been discussing a possible return to public life with The Queen before her death, but faces strong public opposition from doing so.

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