London - A yellow, US-style school bus
displaying Prince Andrew's face and asking him to call the FBI
drove past Buckingham Palace on Friday, in a move designed to
press him to help authorities investigating US sex offender
Jeffrey Epstein.
Queen Elizabeth’s second son stopped carrying out royal
duties last year after giving rambling and contradictory answers
in an interview about his friendship with the financier Epstein,
who was found dead in prison while awaiting charges of
trafficking minors.
The bus drove along The Mall - the wide, ceremonial avenue
leading up to the palace, the Queen's London residence -
displaying the message: "If you see this man please ask him to
call the FBI to answer their questions."
Andrew, who turned 60 this week, lives in Windsor, west of
London. He denies an accusation by a woman who said she was
trafficked by Epstein and forced to have sex with his friends,
including the prince, when she was 17.
He said in the interview he would be prepared to give
testimony under oath to investigators "if push came to shove and
the legal advice was to do so".
But a US prosecutor said last month Andrew had provided
"zero co-operation" to the investigation into Epstein’s
activities.
The bus displayed a US telephone number and the web
address "gloriaallred.com".
A yellow school bus with a message for Britain's Prince Andrew, from US lawyer Gloria Allred, drives along The Mall towards Buckingham Palace in London. Allred, who represents some of the accusers of Jeffrey Epstein, has been critical of Prince Andrew for not speaking with the FBI about his former friend Epstein. Picture: Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP
Allred, the lawyer representing some of Epstein's alleged
victims, spoke to reporters in New York on Friday.
"If he thinks we're going away and forgetting that he has
not yet spoken to the FBI, he's wrong," Allred said.
A yellow school bus with a message for Britain's Prince Andrew, from US lawyer Gloria Allred, drives along The Mall towards Buckingham Palace in London. Allred, who represents some of the accusers of Jeffrey Epstein, has been critical of Prince Andrew for not speaking with the FBI about his former friend Epstein. Epstein died in a New York jail in August 2019 while he was awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. US authorities ruled the death a suicide. Picture: Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP
"His birthday was this week, 60th birthday, and I hope that
he had a very happy birthday. Life is not as happy for the
victims of Jeffrey Epstein. So this morning I sent him a
post-birthday message on a yellow school bus that circled
Buckingham Palace."
Buckingham Palace declined to comment.