King Charles III avoided any mention of the late Jeffrey Epstein amid his brother former Prince Andrew’s ongoing scandal and former relationship with the disgraced billionaire.
Charles, 77, appeared before Congress on Tuesday, April 28, becoming just the second member of the British royal family to address U.S. senators and representatives.
During his remarks, Charles declined to discuss Epstein, who died by suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial for child sex trafficking. Prior to Charles’ speech, Representative Ro Khanna claimed that the monarch was going to address Epstein’s many victims.
“I met with the British ambassador— the British ambassador has suggested that the king will acknowledge the Epstein survivors in his address to Congress today,” Khanna said on Tuesday, per Politico. “I hope his flunkies don’t take out the acknowledgment from his text and I fully expect the king to be acknowledging the survivors — the Epstein survivors — in his speech to our nation and Congress this afternoon.”
Khanna had been calling Charles to meet with Epstein’s victims during his visit to the U.S., which the King allegedly declined.
Instead, the monarch addressed everything from the growing threat of climate change to the recent shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner that left a Secret Service agent injured. (Authorities captured the 31-year-old suspected shooter, who is now charged with “one count of attempt to assassinate the President of the United States, transportation of a firearm and ammunition in interstate commerce with intent to commit a felony, and discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence,” per the Justice Department. The alleged shooter has not yet entered a plea.)
“We meet too in the aftermath of the incident not far from this great building that sought to harm the leadership of your nation and to ferment wider fear and discord,” Charles said. “Let me say with unshakable resolve that such acts of violence will never succeed.”
While concluding his speech, Charles noted that “America’s words carry weight and meaning as they have since independence.”
“The actions of this great nation matter even more. President Lincoln understood this so well … that ‘the world may little note what we say but will never forget what we do.’ And so to the United States of America on your 250th birthday let our two countries rededicate ourselves to each other,” he said. “God bless the United States and God bless the United Kingdom.”
Charles’ visit comes months after brother Andrew Mountbatten Windsor voluntarily gave up his royal title after making headlines for his past connection to Epstein.
“In discussion with The King, and my immediate and wider family, we have concluded the continued accusations about me distract from the work of His Majesty and the Royal Family,” Andrew told Us Weekly in an October 2025 statement. “I have decided, as I always have, to put my duty to my family and country first. I stand by my decision five years ago to stand back from public life.”
He continued, “With His Majesty’s agreement, we feel I must now go a step further. I will therefore no longer use my title or the honors which have been conferred upon me. As I have said previously, I vigorously deny the accusations against me.”
Andrew was accused of sexual assault in 2019 by Virginia Giuffre, who died in 2025, after they were allegedly set up by one of Epstein’s associates. Andrew denied the allegations at the time before settling with Giuffre out of court. The accusations later resurfaced in Giuffre’s posthumous memoir published last year.
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“Prince Andrew will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor. His lease on Royal Lodge has, to date, provided him with legal protection to continue in residence,” an October 2025 statement from Buckingham Palace read. “Formal notice has now been served to surrender the lease and he will move to alternative private accommodation. These censures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him.”
The statement continued, “Their Majesties wish to make clear that their thoughts and utmost sympathies have been, and will remain with, the victims and survivors of any and all forms of abuse.”
If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org. If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
