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The US government’s release of more than three million documents related to Jeffrey Epstein has raised further questions about the relationship between the disgraced financier, who appears to have had access to the heart of the British government and royal family, and three prominent figures in British public life.
Former Prince Andrew, his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson and former British ambassador to the US Peter Mandelson are listed multiple times in the latest trove of Epstein files, increasing pressure on them to explain their links to the late sex offender and further distance themselves from British institutions.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has urged Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor to testify in the US Parliament, but Mr Mandelson, who left Labor on Sunday, faces calls from influential figures, including Mr Starmer, to retire from the House of Lords.
Here’s how the recent drop of files by the Ministry of Justice is exposing Britain to scandal.
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor
Former Prince Andrew has long sought to dispel questions about his relationship with Epstein. In a now infamous interview with the BBC in 2019, Andrew claimed that he severed all ties with Mr Epstein in 2010 following the Epstein financier’s 2008 conviction for pimping underage girls.
Emails discovered last year cast doubt on Andrew’s claims. According to British media reports, Andrew contacted Epstein again in 2011, telling him to “stay in close contact” and that “we will get through this together.” Shortly thereafter, Charles III stripped his brother Andrew of his royal title in October and began proceedings to evict him from the royal estate of Windsor.
But the latest trove of files on Epstein has heaped further scrutiny on the disgraced royal family. Three undated photos appear to show the former prince, now Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, kneeling over what appears to be a fully clothed woman, whose face has been redacted, lying face down on the floor. In two photos, Andrew is touching her stomach and waist. In the third photo, he is on all fours leaning over her body while looking into the camera.
It is unclear when and where the image was taken. No caption or context for the photo was provided in the document release. Neither the photo nor the email message suggests any wrongdoing.
Mr Andrew had previously come under pressure to explain a 2001 photo of him standing with Mr Epstein’s ex-girlfriend, convicted child prostitute Ghislaine Maxwell, and his prominent accuser, Virginia Giuffre, who died by suicide in April.
In her posthumous memoir, Giuffre accused Andrew of sexually abusing her when she was 17 years old. “I believed it was my birthright to have sex with me,” Andrew wrote. Andrew reportedly paid Giuffre millions of dollars to settle a civil lawsuit she filed in 2022, even though he claimed he had never met her. He has repeatedly denied all allegations of wrongdoing, saying he never witnessed or suspected any of the acts Epstein is accused of.
The latest Epstein documents also include an email exchange between Epstein and Andrew in August 2010 in which the investor invited a “friend” (name redacted) of the royal family to dinner in London. Andrew replied, “It’s nice to meet her,” and asked Epstein to give her his contact information. Epstein described the woman as a 26-year-old Russian who was “smart, beautiful and trustworthy” and admitted she had Andrew’s emails.
In November, Democrats on the House Oversight Committee asked Mr. Andrews to come to Washington to give evidence as part of the committee’s investigation into Epstein. Prince Andrew did not respond to the request at the time, but Prime Minister Starmer on Saturday urged the former prince to come forward for questioning.
Mr Starmer said: “Anyone who has information should be prepared to share that information in any way they are asked to do so.” “You can’t be victim-centered if you’re not ready to do that.”
Andrew’s ex-wife Sarah Ferguson (nicknamed ‘Fergie’) is also mentioned several times in the latest batch of files, but this does not indicate any wrongdoing. Mr Ferguson was removed as a patron or ambassador of several British charities last year after earlier documents revealed that he had called Mr Epstein his “best friend”. At the time, a spokeswoman for Mr. Ferguson said he regretted his relationship with Mr. Epstein.
However, the latest documents further prove the depth of their relationship. In March 2009, Ferguson, then the Duchess of York, sent Epstein an email thanking him and advertising fashion and media companies wanting to work with him.
“I feel like my energy has increased in just a week after lunch. I have never been more touched by the kindness of a friend,” she wrote. “Jeffrey, thank you for being the brother I always wanted.”
In January 2010, she wrote: “You are a legend. I love you, words truly cannot express your generosity and kindness. Xx I am all for you. Please marry me.”
The emails also seem to suggest that Epstein wanted to use Ferguson to clear his name. In an undated email, Epstein wrote to Mike Sitrick, chairman of Sitrick & Company, a crisis management firm employed by Epstein’s law firm: “I want you to draft the statement that Fergie would issue in an ideal world.” Sitrick told CNN he has not contacted Ferguson or her representatives directly.
In a March 2011 email to Sitrick and two others, Epstein wrote: “I think Fergie can now say I’m not a pedo.” In response, Sitrick said there was a “strategy” to “get newspapers to stop calling me a pedophile and report the truth,” and one of those tactics was to “get Fergie to recant.”
The following month, Mr. Ferguson said in an email to Mr. Epstein and then-publicist James Henderson that he “did not” and “would not” refer to him as “P.”
In October 2009, she wrote a letter to Epstein saying she needed £20,000 in rent “urgently” and that her landlord had “threatened to go to the newspapers if he didn’t pay”.
It is not clear whether Epstein transferred the funds. But newly released documents from 2001, years before Mr. Ferguson’s request, appear to show that Mr. Epstein transferred $150,000 to Mr. Epstein after helping the former duchess cash out stock options she earned from her job at Weight Watchers. CNN has reached out to Ferguson’s spokesperson for comment.
peter mandelson
Mandelson, widely known in political circles as the “Prince of Darkness” for his Machiavellian approach to power, was fired as Britain’s ambassador to Washington in September amid a deepening scandal over his relationship with Epstein. That same month, U.S. lawmakers released a “birthday book” compiled for Mr. Epstein’s 50th birthday in 2003, in which Mr. Mandelson wrote a handwritten note describing the investor as “my best friend.”
The latest set of documents revealed that Mr. Mandelson leaked the British government’s sensitive tax plans to Mr. Epstein. They also show that his partner, Reinaldo Avila da Silva, regularly received undisclosed payments from him.
In September 2009, Ms da Silva, who will marry Mandelson in 2023 after 30 years of dating, emailed Mr Epstein asking for £10,000 to fund an osteopathic course. Epstein replied, “I will transfer your loan amount immediately (sic).”
In April 2010, da Silva emailed Epstein again, sharing his bank account details. Epstein forwarded the message to his accountant, Rich Kahn, adding, “Send $13,000.”
That same month, Epstein instructed Khan to “send Reynaldo 2,000 yen a month.” When Mr. Khan asked if he would add on to the original $13,000, Mr. Epstein replied, “After thinking about it, no, I’ll just send you $4,000.”
In October of that year, Mr. Mandelson jokingly asked Mr. Epstein: “Have you stopped the Reynaldo submarine forever?! You might have to put him to work on the street.”
The latest files also revealed that Mr Mandelson leaked confidential British government documents to financiers in 2009 when he was business secretary. The memo was written to then Prime Minister Gordon Brown and set out Labour’s tax policy plans, advocating a £20bn asset sale to ease the UK’s debt burden after the 2008 financial crisis.
Mr Mandelson, who is also a member of the House of Lords, announced his resignation from the Labor Party on Sunday, saying he “does not want to cause further embarrassment” to the party. He also apologized “to the women and girls whose voices should have been heard long ago.” CNN was unable to reach Mandelson for further comment.
Some MPs are calling on Mr Mandelson to refer himself to the House of Lords Standards Committee, which will investigate the alleged breaches of the code of conduct.
Mandelson has been on leave from the House of Lords since February last year to serve as Britain’s ambassador to the United States. A Downing Street spokesperson said on Monday that Mr Starmer believed Mr Mandelson should be stripped of his title.
“The Prime Minister has asked for this matter to be considered urgently. The Prime Minister believes that Peter Mandelson should not be a member of the House of Lords and should not use that title,” the spokesperson said.
