Donald Trump says he feels bad for the British royal family after King Charles stripped his brother of his titles, amid mounting pressure over Andrew’s ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

“It’s a terrible thing that’s happened to the family,” the US President told reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday.

“That’s been a tragic situation and it’s too bad. I mean, I feel badly for the family.”

Buckingham Palace on Thursday announced that Charles had stripped Andrew, 65, of his title of prince and forced him out of his Windsor home, seeking to distance the royal family from him over his links to the Epstein scandal.

It was one of the most dramatic moves against a member of the royal family in modern British history.

Trump, a one-time friend of Epstein’s, has faced his own woes related to the disgraced financier’s downfall, with Democrats – and some Republicans – demanding that his administration release government files related to the Epstein case.

While acknowledging he knew Epstein socially years ago, Trump has said he had a falling-out with the disgraced financier long before Epstein’s 2019 death in jail while awaiting trial on charges of sexually abusing multiple teenage girls.

Hundreds of women have said Epstein abused them.

In September, Democrats in the US House of Representatives made public a birthday note that Trump purportedly wrote to Epstein more than 20 years ago.

The letter, whose authenticity the White House denies, includes the line, “May every day be another wonderful secret”.

Trump denies he penned a sexually suggestive birthday note to Jeffrey Epstein.

Trump’s latest comments come as members of a US congressional committee investigating the Epstein case intensify their calls for Andrew to answer questions about his ties to the late financier and sex offender.

The BBC reported that at least four Democrat members of the House oversight committee investigating the US government’s handling of the Epstein case had renewed calls for Andrew to testify.

It quoted one of them, Democrat Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, saying: “Come clean, come before the US Congress, voluntarily testify, don’t wait for a subpoena – come and testify and tell us what you know.

“Not just to give justice to the survivors but to prevent this from ever happening again.”

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