Epstein accusers say Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest shows that ‘power can be toppled’
Exclusive: ‘I’m really in shock that anything this magnificent could occur,’ Epstein accuser Maria Farmer told The Independent
One of the first women to accuse late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein of sexually assaulting her — and her younger sister — said she was thrilled by news that the man formerly known as Prince Andrew, who was stripped of his royal titles last year over his longstanding ties to the notorious predator, had been arrested Thursday on suspicion of misconduct in public office.
“I’m feeling elated,” Epstein survivor Maria Farmer, 56, told The Independent. “... I think it’s going to make all the difference for everyone. It proves that power can be toppled.”
Farmer said she got a phone call at 4 a.m. from a close confidante of Virginia Giuffre, a prominent Epstein victim who claimed the disgraced financier forced her to have sex with the then-prince, now simply Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, when she was 17.
Giuffre died by suicide last April at the age of 41.
“This was Virginia’s fight,” Farmer said of Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest. “It feels like this is all her, that Virginia’s doing this from the ether. She’s still working on it.”
Mountbatten-Windsor has denied having sex with Giuffre. In 2022, he paid an undisclosed amount to settle a lawsuit brought by Giuffre, which accused him of raping her three times as part of Epstein’s sex-trafficking ring.
Police have not revealed the precise details of what led to Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest, which follows the Justice Department’s recent release of a new tranche of emails from the so-called Epstein files. About 10 days ago, Thames Valley Police said investigators were reviewing allegations that Mountbatten-Windsor had shared sensitive information with Epstein while serving as the UK’s trade envoy.
“I’m really in shock that anything this magnificent could occur,” Farmer said, noting that Mountbatten-Windsor turned 66 years old on the day of his arrest. “And to think this was his birthday present to us. It’s pretty profound.”
Farmer was 20 years old when she was assaulted by Epstein; her sister Annie was 16. In a statement she released via her attorney, Farmer said she hoped that “all the dominos of power and corruption [would now] begin to fall.”
Like Farmer, Marijke Chartouni, who was also 20 years old when Epstein assaulted her in 2000 at his New York City mansion, is hoping Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest leads to more accountability.
“Now he’s having to face consequences, so that may send a message to everyone that there can be consequences,” Chartouni told The Independent.
Danielle Bensky was 17 years old when she was recruited into Epstein’s world. She said that while Andrew’s arrest isn’t directly tied to abuse accusations, for survivors it’s “a glimmer of light in a really dark place.”
Bensky was present at the U.S. Capitol during Attorney General Pam Bondi’s recent hearing over the Epstein files, when President Trump’s attorney general refused to acknowledge the presence of numerous victims sitting in the gallery behind her. She said her ongoing push for justice has been a “never-ending rollercoaster.”
From England to France to Norway, authorities have launched probes in light of new revelations in the Epstein files.
However, since Epstein’s enabler-consort Ghislaine Maxwell was convicted in 2021 of child sex trafficking, the U.S. Department of Justice has made no other arrests of enablers and abusers in Epstein’s orbit. And, earlier this month, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who previously served as President Trump’s personal lawyer, said the feds would not be bringing any new charges related to Epstein.
“The ricochet is happening around the world, and yet nothing here,” Bensky said. “... It just feels like all the rest of the countries in the world are saying that this is problematic, and they’re looking into it and investigating it, and here we’re saying, ‘Nope, nothing to see here.’”
Attorney David Boies, who represented Giuffre and several other Epstein victims, compared Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest to the 1931 indictment of legendary gangster Al Capone, not for murder or extortion, but for failing to pay federal income tax.
“There’s a certain satisfaction and sense of justice, but it also reflects the failure of the justice system to bring him and others to account for their most important crimes,” Boies told The Independent.
He said that it would be nothing short of “an imperfect resolution if it stops here.”
“It’s certainly time for prosecutors in the United States to seriously investigate the criminal culpability of people in this country who aided and facilitated and participated in Epstein’s activities.”
As for Giuffre’s family, her siblings shared a statement with the media on Thursday, extending their gratitude to British law enforcement while slamming Mountbatten-Windsor.
“He was never a prince,” they said. “For survivors everywhere, Virginia did this for you.”
Perhaps not unsurprisingly, Maxwell’s loved ones see the situation rather differently than many others.
In an emailed comment Thursday afternoon, Maxwell’s brother Ian told The Independent that he was “[a]stonished to see Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor arrested today over alleged misconduct in public office linked to material from the so‑called Epstein ‘Files.’
“He is entitled to the presumption of innocence and a fair process — which my sister Ghislaine never received,” Maxwell contended. “We need transparency, evidence, and the same rules for everyone — not trial by media and political expediency.”
For his part, King Charles III, Mountbatten-Windsor’s brother, expressed “deepest concern” over the arrest, and said, “What now follows is the full, fair and proper process by which this issue is investigated in the appropriate manner and by the appropriate authorities.”
Neither the King nor Buckingham Palace were reportedly informed in advance of Mountbatten-Windsor’s impending arrest.
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