The police are identifying and contacting former and serving officers who may have worked closely with Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor to see if they have any relevant information.
London's Metropolitan Police said it is investigating whether UK airports were used to facilitate the crimes of the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, as the fallout from the Epstein files continues to spread.
"We are aware of the suggestion that London airports may have been used to facilitate human trafficking and sexual exploitation," the Met said in a statement on Friday, citing the latest release in the US from the Epstein files. "We are assessing this information and are actively seeking further detail from law enforcement partners, including those in the United States."
The fresh investigation by the Met comes as Thames Valley Police said they continue to conduct searches relating to the separate matter of the arrest of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor on suspicion of misconduct in public office. He was released from police custody on Thursday evening.
After the Metropolitan Police's statement, Gordon Brown, who was prime minister at a time when Andrew was a trade envoy, said he'd submitted a five-page memorandum to several UK police forces providing "new and additional" information to a report he'd provided them previously, according to Sky News.
In Friday's statement, the police said that separately to their probe into the use of British airports, they are identifying and contacting former and serving officers who may have worked closely with Mountbatten-Windsor.
"They have been asked to consider carefully whether anything they saw or heard during that period of service may be relevant to our ongoing reviews and to share any information that could assist us," the Met said. The Met stressed that no new criminal allegations had been made to the force regarding sexual offenses within its jurisdiction.
Almost 200 of the documents released so far by the US Department of Justice include the phrase "HRH The Duke of York KG," the sign-off to multiple emails received by Epstein. Hundreds more have the phrase "The Duke," which appears in the sender line.
In one email exchange between Epstein and the then Duke of York in Nov. 2010, the financier tells him he'll have him picked up at JFK airport and taken to a residence in New York.
"do you need a room for a security , person. ?" he asks, to which the duke replies "Yes please. I have 2 in NY but only one staying in the house with me. If I don't need the second I will send him back. I will get my security to contact your office to liaise and coordinate meeting up at JFK with the Consulate visits officer," before signing the email "A."