People are getting louder and louder about wanting King Charles and Queen Camilla to meet with survivors of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein when they visit the US later this month.
Lisa Phillips, an Epstein survivor from the US, told India BBC News 4’s Today show, “We’ve already sent letters to him [the King] and asked for meetings with him.”
She joined US Congressman Ro Khanna and the family of the late Virginia Giuffre in calling for the royal visitors to talk to Epstein’s victims, who have questions about the role of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the King’s brother.
Mountbatten-Windsor has been asked to testify in a congressional investigation, but he has denied any wrongdoing in his connections to Epstein.
The trip to meet President Trump from April 27 to 30 was already likely to be controversial.
The Iran war is going on, and there is no way to know what will happen with the ceasefire during the state visit.
If bombs are still falling, it might be hard to clink glasses in the White House. Not to mention how awkward it would be if Trump said more bad things about the UK’s prime minister, armed forces, or NATO allies.
The King will have to help fix the friendship between the US and UK, which has been strained lately, when he gives one of the biggest speeches of his reign to Congress.
But it looks like the King and Queen will have to answer some tough questions themselves after the Mountbatten-Windsor scandal. There are calls for them to do something for Epstein’s victims while they are in the country.
The people who lived through it want to be part of the conversation.
Phillips, a former model who has talked about her time as a survivor of Epstein, thinks she might have a better chance of meeting Queen Camilla than the King.
“It’s possible with Camilla,” she said on the Today show on Friday. “She’s always been there for the survivors.” She has stood up for us. She is more likely to meet with us. So we hope she will.
The Queen has been a long-time advocate against violence against women and girls and domestic abuse. She even talked about her own experience of being attacked. “To every survivor of every kind of violence, many of whom have not been able to tell their stories or who have not been believed, please know that you are not alone,” she told a reception at St. James’s Palace, in a speech that many saw as a thinly-veiled reference to Epstein’s victims.
A statement from Buckingham Palace said that the King and Queen’s “thoughts and sympathies have been, and remain with, the victims of any and all forms of abuse.”
The Palace’s decision to take away Prince Andrew’s titles and kick him out of his home was an unprecedented move in terms of a practical response.
There have been no signs so far that the state visit will mention Epstein or his survivors. It is still very unlikely that you will meet with the King and Queen.
There are serious worries that anything said or done in meetings could hurt the legal process that is going on after Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest.
This is not what US Congressman Khanna wants, though. He told The Times that survivors and the King could meet without talking about “specific facts regarding his brother.”
The Democrat, who helped pass a law that made the US justice department release the Epstein files, has already written to the King asking him to talk to Epstein victims. He said, “As you know, this is not just an American issue.”
The state visit happens just a few days after the first anniversary of Giuffre’s death.
Giuffre was a well-known accuser of Mountbatten-Windsor. Her brother and sister-in-law, Sky and Amanda Roberts, have said that they “strongly urge” the King to “meet with us and survivors and hear what we have to say.”
The Trumps would be just as uncomfortable with the idea of the Epstein scandal being part of the state visit as the visiting royals would be.
Melania Trump, the First Lady, felt it was important to publicly deny any connection to Epstein. She also wanted victims to be able to testify to Congress.
President Trump has been a big fan of the monarchy and has said nice things about the King’s visit.
He said on social media that he was “looking forward to spending time with the King, whom I greatly respect.” It will be GREAT!
The Trump administration will want to avoid anything that could ruin the good parts of the visit.
It seems like the UK public isn’t as excited, though. A recent YouGov poll found that 49% of people are against the state visit and 33% are for it.
People who don’t want the trip have emailed the BBC’s Royal Watch newsletter.
That includes criticism like the warning that the president’s “appalling insults” are “punching at not just Starmer but at our soldiers, our institutions.” Another person said, “Stay home. Why be insulted?”
But the government does these state visits, and the trip to the US has been in the works for months, with the main goal of improving relations.
State visits are very planned events that don’t leave much room for changes. And the royals aren’t the ones setting the agenda.
But the calls about Epstein are getting louder and harder to ignore. During the visit, survivors will probably be giving interviews and making their points, comparing their stories to the ceremonial beauty.
The royal visitors may not answer the questions, but they are going to be a big part of the story about the state visit.
