Newly released US court documents claim that Andrew
Mountbatten-Windsor invited the convicted sex offender Jeffrey
Epstein to Buckingham Palace, offering “lots of privacy”, according
to emails disclosed by the Department of Justice.
The correspondence appears in a fresh tranche of millions of
pages and thousands of videos made public on Friday as part of
ongoing releases linked to Epstein’s estate. Officials stressed
that inclusion in the files does not in itself imply criminal
wrongdoing.
In one exchange, Epstein suggested arranging a dinner between
Andrew and a woman he described as a “beautiful” 26-year-old
Russian national who would be visiting London. Writing to Andrew,
Epstein said he had “a friend who I think you might enjoy having
dinner with”, adding that she was “trustworthy” and already had
Andrew’s email address.
The files show that Andrew replied by inviting Epstein to
Buckingham Palace, promising “lots of privacy”. The documents do
not indicate whether the proposed meeting took place.
The disclosure has renewed scrutiny of the Duke of York’s
long-disputed relationship with Epstein, which continued even after
the financier’s conviction for soliciting a minor in 2008. Andrew
previously acknowledged the friendship but said he ended it during
a visit to New York in December 2010.
That explanation was later questioned after photographs emerged
showing the pair walking together in Central Park. In his 2019 BBC
Newsnight interview, Andrew said he chose to end the
relationship in person, stating that doing so by telephone would
have been “the chicken’s way of doing it”.
Earlier documents released this month suggested that Andrew
attended a small private gathering at Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse
during the same visit – months after Epstein had been released from
prison.
The latest files also include email correspondence between
Epstein’s associate Ghislaine Maxwell and an address believed to
belong to Andrew. In a message sent the day after the death of the
Queen Mother in March 2002, Maxwell expressed condolences and wrote
that she had met and spoken with her. The documents do not specify
when that meeting occurred or under what circumstances.
Maxwell, who introduced Andrew to Epstein in the late 1990s, is
currently serving a 20-year prison sentence in the United States
for child sex trafficking offences.
Andrew has consistently denied all allegations of sexual
misconduct. In 2022 he paid a reported £12 million settlement to
Virginia Giuffre, who alleged she was trafficked to him by Epstein
as a teenager. The settlement was made without any admission of
liability.
Epstein died by suicide in a Manhattan jail in 2019 while
awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges.
Buckingham Palace declined to comment on the contents of the
latest disclosure. Andrew withdrew from royal duties in 2019 and
was subsequently stripped of his HRH style and military titles.
The Department of Justice said the documents include unverified
claims, private emails and third-party references, and warned that
the presence of names within the files should not be interpreted as
evidence of criminal conduct.
However, the emergence of material referring directly to
Buckingham Palace is likely to intensify pressure on the monarchy
as further Epstein-related documents continue to be released.
