News Flash
LONDON, Jan 31, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Britain's former prince Andrew was again
engulfed Saturday by the Epstein scandal, after newly released files included
photographs of him kneeling on all fours over a woman lying on the floor.
The images were among millions of new documents disclosed Friday by the US
Justice Department from the Jeffrey Epstein files, which also featured the
late sex offender proposing in 2010 that the then-prince meet a Russian
woman.
That was two years after the disgraced US financier had pleaded guilty in
Florida to soliciting a minor for prostitution.
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, as the ex-prince he is now known, has long been
dogged by his links to Epstein, who died in 2019 by suicide in jail as he
awaited trial for sex crimes against minors.
The 65-year-old Briton has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, but stepped back
from royal duties that year over their links.
Then last October, King Charles III stripped him of all his royal titles and
honours after the late Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre recounted in a
posthumous memoir shocking claims against the disgraced royal.
Giuffre, a US and Australian citizen who took her own life last year, has
alleged she was trafficked to have sex with Andrew three times, including
twice when she was 17.
After she launched a lawsuit against him, he paid her a multi-million-pound
settlement in 2022 without making any admission of guilt.
- 'Beautiful, trustworthy' -
The latest disclosures in Washington come with Andrew reportedly set to leave
his 30-room mansion on the royal estate at Windsor imminently after Charles
ousted him, and are likely to fuel further criticism.
He will also face fresh pressure to testify in the US over what he knew about
Epstein's conduct.
One of the undated pictures of Andrew and the unidentified female, both of
them clothed, appears to show the former duke touching her abdomen. In
another he stares, crouching over her, directly into the camera.
No context is provided for the images and it is unclear where and when they
were taken.
Meanwhile, in the August 2010 email, Epstein told Andrew -- addressed as "The
Duke" -- that he had "a friend who I think you might enjoy having dinner
with" in London later that month.
In the exchanges, Epstein said the woman was "26, Russian, clevere [clever]
beautiful, trustworthy", noting that he had given her the prince's email.
Andrew eventually replied he "would be delighted to see her".
It is unclear if any meeting subsequently took place.
- 'Private time' -
Weeks later, he and Epstein appeared to discuss having dinner at Buckingham
Palace after the American contacted Andrew while in London saying they needed
to have some "private time".
Andrew replied they could "have dinner at Buckingham Palace and lots of
privacy".
Two days later the ex-duke emailed again that he was "delighted for you to
come here to BP (Buckingham Palace)". "Come with whomever..." he added.
It was not clear whether any dinner at the palace -- then the official London
residence of the late Queen Elizabeth II -- ever took place.
In a 2019 BBC interview, Andrew claimed he had cut ties with Epstein after
December 2010, but court documents revealed later showed he continued to
communicate with him.
Other documents made public last year and Giuffre's memoir have reignited UK
anger over their ties and the claims against Andrew.
The new files also again spotlight the relationship between Epstein and
former British ambassador to Washington and UK minister Peter Mandelson.
Mandelson resigned from the US post last year after emails emerged showing he
had also maintained friendly contact with him after the American's 2008
conviction.
The latest disclosures show Epstein in 2009 wired thousands of pounds to
Mandelson's husband after he had asked the American to pay for the fees for
an osteopathy course.
