Historian reveals why Epstein still haunts royal family: ‘The problem is the British government…’

many years later Jeffrey EpsteinAlthough his crimes first shocked the world, the controversy surrounding his ties to the British royal family continues to cast a long shadow over the British royal family.Historians and investigators say the reason this story has not been forgotten is simple. Too many questions remain unanswered about Epstein’s powerful relationships, and important records that could shed light on them may no longer exist.Historian and royal biographer Andrew Lowney said efforts to understand Epstein’s ties to the royal orbit have been repeatedly stymied by missing documents.“One of the problems with researching this area is that so much of the material… seems to be destroyed once it falls into the hands of the British government,” Loney told Daily Beast podcast host Joanna Coles.They added: “For example, there were requests to see Buckingham Palace’s logs, which were first withheld on national security grounds and then allegedly destroyed.”The controversy is closely tied to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, whose long-standing relationship with Epstein has become one of the most damaging scandals to affect the royal family in decades.But Lowney believes the story goes far beyond the royal scandal involving Epstein and the former Duke of York.“With the tentacles being spread so far and wide into so many different countries, my personal feeling is that this is really a story about national security,” Loney said.“About how the intelligence services used the royal family to easily infiltrate the UK because they had no oversight and some of them were very greedy.”Loney said the continued release of documents and testimony related to Epstein’s network has expanded the scope of the investigation.“Every day brings new revelations, new connections,” he said.“I’ve definitely had a lot of people come forward with stories, especially in the last few weeks.”He believes it could take years for the entire situation to emerge as authorities process the trove of material related to Epstein.“There’s obviously a lot of material in Epstein’s dossier that, in my view, is very conclusive about what he did,” he said.“But they may want to question a range of people, and bringing charges takes time.”The scandal has also sparked political debate over Mountbatten-Windsor’s future place in the royal line of succession.Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney recently called for Epstein to be removed from the line of succession amid accusations that he shared classified material with him. Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested last month on suspicion of misconduct in public office.Andrew has previously denied wrongdoing related to Epstein and did not respond to a request for comment on the latest allegations.Carney told reporters in Tokyo that the former royal’s behavior was “deplorable” and should lead to his removal from office.“As far as he has gone, the principles stand,” Carney said.In the UK, ministers have confirmed the government is considering legislation to remove Mountbatten-Windsor from the line of succession. Defense Secretary Luke Pollard said the move would be “the right thing to do” regardless of the outcome of the police investigation.