Source: Radio New Zealand
By Christian Edwards, CNN
Peter Mandelson, Sarah Ferguson and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor are facing fresh questions about their ties to the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. Getty via CNN Newsource
The US government’s release of more than 3 million documents related to Jeffrey Epstein has raised further questions about the ties of three prominent figures in British public life to the disgraced financier, who appears to have been granted access to the heart of Britain’s government and royal family.
The former Prince Andrew, his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson and Peter Mandelson, the former UK ambassador to the US, are all listed multiple times in the latest trove of Epstein files, ramping up pressure on the trio to explain their ties to the late sex offender and further distance themselves from British institutions.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has urged Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor to testify before the US Congress, while Mandelson – who resigned from the Labour Party on Sunday – is facing calls from leading figures, including Starmer, to retire from the House of Lords.
Here’s how the Justice Department’s latest drop of files is scandalizing Britain.
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor
The former Prince Andrew has for years attempted to bat away questions about his links to Epstein. In a now-infamous interview with the BBC in 2019, Andrew claimed that he had severed all ties with Epstein in 2010, following the financier’s 2008 conviction for soliciting prostitution from an underage girl.
Emails uncovered last year called Andrew’s claim into question. The British media reported that Andrew appeared to contact Epstein again in 2011, telling him to “keep in close touch” and that they were “in this together.” Soon after, King Charles III stripped Andrew, his brother, of his royal titles in October, and began the process to evict him from the royal estate at Windsor.
But the latest trove of Epstein files has heaped further scrutiny on the disgraced royal. Three undated photos appear to show the former prince, now Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, kneeling over what appears to be a female – whose face has been redacted – who is lying fully clothed and supine on the floor. In two photos, Andrew touches her stomach and waist; in a third, he looks at the camera while on all fours, leaning over her body.
It is unclear when or where the images were taken; no captions or context for the photographs was provided with the document release. Neither the photographs nor the email messages suggest any wrongdoing.
Andrew previously faced pressure to explain a 2001 photograph which showed him standing with Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s former girlfriend and a convicted child sex trafficker, and Virginia Giuffre, a prominent accuser of Epstein who died by suicide in April.
Newly released images from the US DOJ appear to show Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor – formerly Prince Andrew – on the floor with an unidentified person. US Department of Justice/Handout via CNN Newsource
In her posthumous memoir, Giuffre accused Andrew of sexually abusing her when she was 17. She wrote that Andrew “believed that having sex with me was his birthright”. Despite claiming never to have met her, Andrew reportedly paid millions of dollars to Giuffre in 2022 to settle a civil case she brought against him. He has repeatedly denied all allegations of wrongdoing and said he never witnessed or suspected any of the behaviour that Epstein was accused of.
The latest Epstein documents also contain an email exchange between Epstein and Andrew in August 2010, in which the financier invites the royal to meet a “friend” – whose name was redacted – for dinner in London. Andrew replied that he would be “delighted to see her” and told Epstein to pass on his contact details. Epstein then describes the woman as a 26-year-old Russian who is “clevere (sic) beautiful, trustworthy,” and confirms that she has Andrew’s email.
In November, Democrats on the House Oversight Committee requested that Andrew come to Washington to give evidence as part of the panel’s investigation into Epstein. Although Andrew did not respond to the request at the time, Starmer on Saturday urged the former prince to submit himself to questioning.
“Anybody who has got information should be prepared to share that information in whatever form they are asked to do that,” Starmer said. “You can’t be victim-centered if you’re not prepared to do that.”
Sarah Ferguson
Andrew’s ex-wife Sarah Ferguson – known as “Fergie” – is also mentioned several times in the latest tranche of files, although this does not indicate any wrongdoing. Ferguson was dropped last year as the patron or ambassador to several British charities after earlier documents showed she had called Epstein her “supreme friend”. At the time, a spokesperson for Ferguson said she regretted her association with Epstein.
But the latest documents are further evidence of the depth of their relationship. In March 2009, Ferguson – then the Duchess of York – sent an email thanking Epstein, touting fashion and media outlets which she said now wanted to work with her.
“In just one week, after your lunch, it seems the energy has lifted. I have never been more touched by a friends (sic) kindness,” she wrote. “Thank you Jeffrey for being the brother I have always wished for.”
Sarah Ferguson, pictured in March 2023, said Jeffrey Epstein was her “supreme friend.” Scott Garfitt/Invision/AP via CNN Newsource
In January 2010, she wrote: “You are a legend. I really don’t have the words to describe, my love, gratitude for your generosity and kindness. Xx I am at your service. Just marry me.”
The emails also appear to suggest that Epstein wanted to use Ferguson to help clear his name. In one undated email, Epstein wrote to Mike Sitrick, chair of the crisis management firm Sitrick and Company, which was retained by Epstein’s law firm, saying: “I would like you to draft a statement that in an ideal world fergie would put out.” Sitrick told CNN that he had never 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 am not a pedo.” In reply, Sitrick said there is a “strategy” to “get newspapers to stop calling you a pedophile and get the truth out,” and that one tactic was to “get Fergie to retract”.
The next month, Ferguson wrote in an email to Epstein and James Henderson, her spokesperson at the time, saying she “did not” and “would not” call him a “P”.
In October 2009, she wrote to Epstein saying that she “urgently” needed £20,000 for rent, and that her landlord had “threatened to go to the newspapers if I don’t pay”.
It was not clear if Epstein sent that money. However, in 2001 – years before Ferguson’s request – newly released documents appeared to show that Epstein wired the former Duchess $150,000 after helping her to cash in the share options she earned from her work for Weight Watchers. CNN has asked a spokesperson for Ferguson for comment.
Peter Mandelson
Mandelson, widely known in political circles as the “Prince of Darkness” for his Machiavellian approach to power, was fired as the UK’s ambassador to Washington in September over the deepening scandal surrounding his ties to Epstein. That month, US lawmakers had released a “birthday book,” compiled for Epstein’s 50th birthday in 2003, in which Mandelson penned a handwritten note describing the financier as “my best pal”.
The latest tranche of documents has revealed that Mandelson appeared to leak sensitive UK government tax plans to Epstein. They also show that his partner, Reinaldo Avila da Silva, regularly received undisclosed payments from him.
In September 2009, da Silva – who married Mandelson in 2023 after three decades together – emailed Epstein to ask for £10,000 to help fund his osteopathy course. Epstein replied: “I will wire your loan amount immediated’y (sic).”
In April 2010, da Silva emailed Epstein again, sharing his bank details. Epstein forwarded the message to his accountant, Rich Kahn, adding: “send 13k dollars”.
That same month, Epstein told Kahn to “send 2k per month to reinaldo.” When Kahn asked if this was in addition to the original $13,000, Epstein replied: “no after rethinkoing (sic) send 4000 dollars only.”
Peter Mandelson speaks with Prime Minister Keir Starmer during a welcome reception at the British ambassador’s residence in Washington, DC, in February 2025. Carl Court/Getty Images via CNN Newsource
In October that year, Mandelson asked Epstein, jokingly: “Have you permanently stopped the reinaldo sub?! I may have to put him out to work on the streets.”
The latest files also revealed that Mandelson leaked a sensitive UK government document to the financier while he was business secretary in 2009. The memo, written for then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown, advocated £20 billion asset sale to help relieve Britain’s debt burden following the 2008 financial crisis, and revealed Labour’s tax policy plans.
On Sunday, Mandelson – who also sits in the House of Lords – announced his resignation from Labour, saying he did not want to cause the party “further embarrassment.” He also apologized “to the women and girls whose voices should have been heard long before now”. CNN was unable to contact Mandelson for further comment.
Some lawmakers have called on Mandelson to refer himself to the House of Lords Commissioner for Standards, which investigates alleged breaches of the code of conduct.
Mandelson has been on a leave of absence from the House of Lords since February last year, to allow him to serve as the UK ambassador to the US. On Monday (local time), a Downing Street spokesperson said that Starmer believes that Mandelson should be stripped of his peerage.
“The prime minister has asked for this to be urgently looked at. The prime minister believes that Peter Mandelson should not be a member of the House of Lords or use the title,” the spokesperson said.
– CNN
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
