US lawyer targets Prince Andrew in post-birthday stunt

A US lawyer has sent Prince Andrew a post-birthday message, asking him to get in touch with the FBI.

Gloria Allred, a lawyer who is representing five of the victims in the Jeffrey Epstein case, sent a yellow American school bus to drive around Buckingham Palace with a message for the duke, two days after he celebrated his 60th birthday.

The banner on the bus had two pictures of Prince Andrew and read: “If you see this man please ask him to call the FBI to answer their questions.”

Prince Andrew stepped back from his royal duties over his friendship with the convicted pedophile Epstein, who killed himself in prison last year.

Read more: Royal Family sends birthday messages to Prince Andrew

The bus stunt comes after New York attorney Geoffrey Berman issued a statement from the steps of Epstein’s apartment in which he said Prince Andrew had not made any contact with the American authorities.

Berman said: “The Southern District of New York and the FBI have contacted Prince Andrew's attorneys and requested to interview Prince Andrew, and to date, Prince Andrew has provided zero cooperation.

“He publicly offered, indeed in a press release, to cooperate with law enforcement investigating the crimes committed by Jeffrey Epstein and his co-conspirators.”

Virginia Roberts Giuffre claims she was trafficked by Epstein and alleged on that she had a sexual encounter with the prince in London in 2001.

The duke categorically denies having had any kind of sexual contact or relationship with Ms Giuffre and said he would help any law enforcement agency.

Read more: Prince Andrew showing 'zero co-operation' with FBI request for Jeffrey Epstein interview

The Duke of York gave an interview to BBC Newsnight in which he said he did not regret his friendship with the billionaire because it opened doors.

He also explained he spent five days with him at his home in New York in order to end their friendship.

After the interview, he issued a statement saying his friendship with Epstein was a distraction from the work of his family.

He is now rarely seen in public and marked his 60th birthday with a quiet family party at the Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park.

Prince Andrew did accompany his mother to church shortly after the fallout from Harry and Meghan’s decision to leave their royal duties behind was given some resolution.

He had to defer his promotion to admiral which was also due for his 60th, and the government decided local authorities did not need to fly the Union flag in honour of it.

Despite the scandal, the Royal Family’s official social media shared pictures of the duke and wished him a happy birthday.

His former wife Sarah and his daughter Princess Eugenie also sent him birthday messages.