American lawmakers have commended King Charles for his decisive action in stripping Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor of his prince title, as they overwhelmingly voted to release the long-awaited Jeffrey Epstein files in a historic move.
Speaking outside the Capitol on Tuesday ahead of the vote on the Epstein bill, which later sailed through the House with a resounding 427 to 1 majority, Republican Rep. Thomas Massie emphasized the need for a “reckoning” in the United States akin to what has transpired in Britain, reports the Daily Mail.
“There’s becoming a reckoning in Britain that needs to happen in the United States: a prince lost his title, the ambassador to the United States lost his job. We need to see those same kind of consequences here,” Massie declared.
Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna, speaking alongside Massie, raised the possibility of Prince Andrew being called to testify before the House oversight committee, asserting that such a move could garner bipartisan support.
“I do think that Prince Andrew does need to come and testify at our oversight committee, and that can be bipartisan,” Khanna said. “But I share [Massie’s] view that the urgency that the British people have shown in getting justice needs to inspire an urgency here in America.”
King Charles strips Andrew of royal titles amid Epstein scandal
In October, King Charles took the momentous step of stripping Mountbatten-Windsor of his remaining royal titles following renewed scrutiny of Andrew’s ties to the late financier Epstein. Buckingham Palace confirmed that he would no longer be styled as “His Royal Highness,” and that all remaining official patronages and military ranks linked to the crown had been withdrawn.
The decision marked the final chapter in a painful scandal for the royal family, after the prince had already been instructed to step back from royal duties in 2019 following his disastrous BBC interview about Epstein. He later paid a multi-million dollar settlement to Virginia Giuffre, who alleged she was Epstein’s “sex slave” and who accused Andrew of engaging in sexual acts with her while she was 17 years-old, although Mountbatten-Windsor has vehemently denied the allegation.
The vote on Tuesday on the Epstein Files Transparency Act sets the stage for the potential release of tens of thousands of documents relating to the late pedophile financier. Dozens of his victims were present in Congress for the historic vote, which has devolved into a political nightmare for Donald Trump, who has dismissed it as a Democrat-led hoax.
Trump’s dramatic about-face on Epstein files release
Once vigorously opposed to the release, Trump made a stunning reversal over the weekend, changing his stance after the writing was on the wall. The legislation, delayed for months due to the government shutdown, now heads to the Senate, where Majority Leader John Thune faces a decision on when to bring up the vote that would send the bill to Trump for his signature.
The Department of Justice may block the release of some files by claiming that they would jeopardize an ongoing investigation that Trump recently requested. Attorney General Pam Bondi last week complied with Trump’s request to investigate Epstein’s relationships with prominent Democrats, including Bill Clinton, which could complicate what actually gets released and pour more fire on conspiracy theories surrounding the Epstein case.
Trump was known to have associated with Epstein in the early 2000s and has been spotted in photos and videos with both Epstein and Maxwell. In a surprising turn of events, Trump backed the release of the Epstein files relating to the case this week, and on Tuesday, the Senate voted to officially approve their release.
