Rothschild refuses to speak to police over sexual assault probe due to ‘health reasons’
Bloomberg and the Guardian reported this week that several women alleged Evelyn de Rothschild harassed and assaulted employees at the bank in the late 1990s and early 2000s
Police investigating allegations Evelyn de Rothschild committed multiple sexual assaults against two women were told they could not interview the financier for "medical reasons," according to a statement.
Thames Valley Police received details in 2019 of four separate alleged attacks by Rothschild at his family estate in Buckinghamshire over several years. The allegations included oral rape and other assaults, Bloomberg News reported this week.
In a statement issued to Bloomberg on Saturday, Thames Valley Police confirmed it had received a report on July 9, 2019 detailing the allegations against Rothschild.
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It said detectives spoke to one of the victims and sought statements from "a number of witnesses" but could not gather any "forensic or CCTV evidence" given the lapse in time between the alleged events and the complaint.
Officers made enquiries about Rothschild, police said, but he was "unable to be interviewed due to medical reasons." The statement did not say what the health issue was.
Thames Valley Police ultimately did not charge Rothschild with any crime and the case was closed.
Rothschild died in 2022 at the age of 91. He was one of the world's most prominent financiers, and he operated among the elite of British society. He counted royals and senior politicians as friends and regular attendees at Ascott House, his Buckinghamshire property. He ran his family bank, NM Rothschild & Sons, for nearly 30 years.
His reputation has become the subject of scrutiny in recent days. The bank told employees in a memo on Wednesday that Rothschild was pushed out in 2004 after an allegation of sexual misconduct was made against him.
Bloomberg and the Guardian reported this week that several women alleged he harassed and assaulted employees at the bank in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
An employee at Ascott House told Bloomberg he alerted the National Trust, which owns many historic homes in the UK, about the allegations against Rothschild. The organisation owns Ascott House, though Rothschild's family has the right to live in it.
"We have not been involved in any legal proceedings and confirm that our staff have neither made nor been subject to any allegations," a National Trust spokesperson said. "We take our duty of care to our staff very seriously and have robust safeguarding policies and procedures in place."
A spokesperson for Ascott House did not immediately respond to questions.
