Jeffrey Epstein case: Prince Andrew assembles top legal team

Prince Andrew during his BBC interview about the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. Photo / Supplied

Prince Andrew, the Duke of York has hired Britain's most respected extradition lawyer as the FBI investigates his friendship with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

The 60-year-old Duke is receiving advice from Clare Montgomery QC, whose clients have included Chile's former dictator, Augusto Pinochet, and Nirav Modi, who is wanted for India's biggest fraud.

She is briefed by Gary Bloxsome, a criminal defence solicitor who has defended British troops against war crime allegations. He is understood to have been appointed directly by the Duke.

The powerful legal team was assembled following a demand by the FBI and US prosecutors to interview the Duke about his links to Epstein, who was found dead in prison.

Until now, the identities of the legal team have been shrouded in secrecy, with Buckingham Palace aides refusing to reveal who is acting for the Duke.

The disclosure that he is using such an eminent team of lawyers suggests the Duke is taking seriously the threat of investigation by the FBI. It is understood to be the first time the Royal family has needed to use such a powerful team of criminal lawyers.

Montgomery, a senior barrister at Matrix Chambers, co-founded by former UK PM Tony Blair's wife, Cherie Blair, is thought to command fees of about $2000 an hour.

Billionaire sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was found dead in his jail cell last August. Photo / AP

Her clients have included Shrien Dewani, charged with, and acquitted of, murdering his wife in South Africa.

She also prosecuted the Metropolitan Police over the death of Jean Charles de Menezes, shot dead in a failed anti-terror operation.

An online profile of Bloxsome reveals he receives instructions from "leading companies and ultra-high net worth individuals" in international jurisdictions as well as in the UK.

He is also known for reputation and crisis management. One acquaintance said: "He's as sharp as a blade, he's absolutely brilliant."

In January, US prosecutors took the unusual step of publicly accusing the Duke of ignoring attempts to contact him. Geoffrey Berman, US Attorney for the southern district of New York, said he had given "zero co-operation".

In response, sources close to the Duke accused US prosecutors of "failing to play with a straight bat".

A friend suggested he was "angry and bewildered" by the suggestion he had refused to co-operate, insisting he had not been approached.

Buckingham Palace has distanced itself from the ongoing crisis, saying the Duke is no longer a working royal and, as such, it does not represent him.

They would say only that the issue was being dealt with by the Duke's legal team, which they declined to identify.

Prince Andrew during his 2007 tour of New Zealand. Photo / NZ Herald archive

Sources have confirmed the Duke has held regular meetings with his legal team about the Epstein case, which cost him his career as a working royal.

Typically, US prosecutors intending to speak to a witness in Britain would go through the legal attaché at the US embassy in London.

But sources at the New York prosecutor's office said they went directly to the Duke's lawyers, possibly prompted by his statement he was "willing to help any appropriate law enforcement agency with their investigations".

As a result, it has been suggested that any contact from the US authorities may have been discounted as it had not come through official channels.