Prince Andrew embarrassed King Charles ahead of Trump visit

Prince Andrew’s association with Jeffrey Epstein is causing a new headache for his brother, King Charles.

The British king is eager to protect the UK’s special relationship with the US as he prepares to host Trump at Windsor Castle for two days from September 16, sources told Page Six.

But Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) has been calling for the criminal prosecution of Andrew in the US, amid ongoing protests from pedophile financier Epstein’s victims — who have been speaking up since the FBI said it would not release any further info from their files on the dead billionaire.

The matter is causing embarrassment for Charles – who was left reeling when it was reported Andrew courted an alleged Chinese spy – ahead of Trump’s unprecedented second state visit. 

Andrew, 65, is not on the guest list for a lavish state dinner in honor of the president and First Lady Melania Trump held by Charles, we have confirmed.

However, a host of senior royals including Prince William and Kate Middleton will attend.

As Andrew is now a non-working royal he would not be extended an official invite.

Multiple sources also told us Andrew will never again attempt to enter the US, due to his fear of arrest or prosecution.

This makes a marked difference to Trump’s last state visit to the UK back in June 2019, during which he held business meetings with Andrew, the Duke of York.

Andrew was subsequently stripped of his military titles by his mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, amid the furore over his friendship with Epstein and his longstanding madam, Ghislaine Maxwell, who is now also in prison in the US on sex offence charges.

Andrew reportedly paid out millions to Epstein accuser Virginia Guiffre in February 2022 and also made a “substantial donation” to her victims’ rights charity to settle a lawsuit she filed alleging she was forced to sleep with him when she was just 17.

Guiffre died by suicide in April aged 41. Andrew has long denied any claims of impropriety or wrongdoing and even claimed he never met Giuffre, despite a well-publicized picture of them together.

Andrew never hid his association with Epstein. The now-disgraced royal invited both Epstein and Maxwell to his daughter Prince Beatrice’s 18th birthday celebrations, a masked ball at Windsor Castle in July 2006, alongside disgraced movie boss and convicted rapist Harvey Weinstein.

And a photo showing actor Kevin Spacey – who went on trial in the UK over allegations of sexual assault in 2023 but was found not guilty on all counts – and Maxwell sitting on thrones in Buckingham Palace surfaced after Maxwell’s 2020 arrest.

The image was reportedly taken in 2002 when Andrew gave Maxwell and her associates a private tour of the palace. 

Although he retained his Royal Highness title following the scandal, Andrew no longer uses it in any official capacity.

Mace, meanwhile, called for Andrew to be put in “handcuffs” just days after she tearfully stormed out of a House Oversight Committee closed-door meeting with Epstein victims.

“Now seems like a good time to discuss prosecuting Prince Andrew for any and all potential crimes on US soil,” Mace posted on X last Wednesday. 

“A cold dark cell. Prince Andrew in handcuffs. Sends the right message.”

Andrew has not publicly responded to Mace’s comments and did not immediately return a request for comment Monday.

As embarrassing as Andrew may be, well-placed royal sources said he won’t ruin any special relationship between the US and UK as he is no longer a working royal.

Indeed, ahead of the state visit, Peter Mandelson, Britain’s ambassador to the US, praised Trump as a “risk taker” in a speech at the Ditchley Foundation on Sunday.

“The president may not follow the traditional rulebook or conventional practice, but he is a risk-taker in a world where a ‘business as usual’ approach no longer works,” he said.

As we revealed, the special relationship will also get a boost next year, as the British Foreign Office is planning to ask William and Kate to jet over to join America’s 250th birthday celebrations, and depending on his health, Charles may join too.

Trump was first hosted in the UK by the late Queen Elizabeth II in 2019 during his first term in office.

Traditionally, second-term presidents are not offered a state visit and have instead been invited for tea or lunch with the monarch.

Charles won’t host Trump at Buckingham Palace as it’s currently under renovation.