A member of a US congressional committee investigating the Epstein affair has said: “Maybe this will be the end of the monarchy.”

Congressman Ro Khanna says he thinks King Charles has questions to answer about the scandal that has embroiled his younger brother, adding: “I think this is the most vulnerable the British monarchy has ever been.”

The Democrat, was behind the Epstein Files Transparency Act, the legislation that led to their publication.

He told Sky News: “I think this is the most vulnerable the British monarchy has ever been. They ought to ask the King and Queen questions and maybe this will be the end of the monarchy.”

He added: “If they don’t have answers, if they’re implicated in the Epstein class, it’s not a good look for the British monarchy.

“The King has to answer what he knew, what he knew about Andrew, and just stripping Andrew of a title is not enough.

“Andrew needs to come before our committee and start answering questions. I don’t think the appropriate punishment is you no longer get to be a prince. There’s got to be more than that.

“They need to answer, the King and Queen, I don’t understand the British custom (that) someone’s asking the Queen a question and the Queen is offended that she’s being asked a question? I mean, come on. She wears the same clothes, she eats the same food, she’s just a human being, she needs to answer the same questions everyone does.”