As the latest release of files related to paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein are made public, disgraced Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is once again being thrust into the spotlight
22:17, 01 Feb 2026Updated 22:54, 01 Feb 2026
Emails released as part of the Epstein files show Andrew was in contact with Jeffrey Epstein for longer than he claimed(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
Christmas at Sandringham is meant to be a moment of ritual, reflection and restraint. It is supposed to be the monarchy at its moral best. Yet in December 2010 that illusion was already collapsing.
After the Queen and royals gathered for church before lunch at their Norfolk estate, one man’s mind was elsewhere. While his family and girls Eugenie and Beatrice would no doubt watch “Mama” deliver her Christmas Day message, he had other priorities. Andrew was not reflecting. He was emailing paedophile pal Jeffrey Epstein. The symbolism alone is nauseating.
Early on Christmas Eve, Andrew had emailed Epstein asking to chat that day.
More emails between Andrew and Epstein have been released by US officials(Image: POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
READ MORE: Epstein accuser’s 10-word blast at Andrew and paedophile in sex abuse claimREAD MORE: Epstein files reveal Andrew sent photos of Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice to paedophile
And the next day, while the rest of the nation exchanged gifts and good wishes, he was maintaining contact with a man convicted in 2008 of soliciting a minor for sex. Days earlier, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor had wished Epstein – a man he described as part of “my US family” – “a wonderful Christmas”.
And he added he hoped his friend would have a “spectacular entry into 2011”. It was a prince choosing loyalty to a disgraced predator over any sense of moral responsibility.
Referring to his stay in New York earlier that December, when the pair were photographed strolling through Central Park, Andrew wrote “it was great to spend time” with Epstein. It is here that Andrew’s defence of his dealings with his pervert pal collapses.
Epstein was seen surrounded by women in one picture released by the Justice Department(Image: House Oversight Democrats/AFP vi)
In his car-crash Newsnight interview in 2019, he insisted that his trip to Manhattan had marked the end of his relationship with Epstein. He told Emily Maitlis: “By mutual agreement during that walk in the park, we decided we would part company, and I left, I think it was the next day, and to this day I never had any contact with him from that day forward.”
That next day was December 6, 2010. But the release of more than three million Epstein files now leaves no room for spin. The paper trail is devastating. The claim simply cannot stand.
Maitlis also asked Andrew about Epstein’s conviction. He replied: “Well, I ceased contact with him after I was aware he was under investigation, and that was later in 2006, and I wasn’t in touch with him again until 2010. It was one of those things somebody’s going through that sort of thing, well, I’m terribly sorry I can’t be… see you.” Maitlis asked: “So, no contact?” Andrew replied: “No contact. ”
Prince Andrew had ‘a car crash interview’ on Newsnight(Image: BBC.com)
But evidence provided in the newly released papers found it to be untrue. In April 2010, Andrew also messaged the financier: “I have no immediate plans to drop by New York but I think I should at some stage soon. It would be good to catch up in person.”
Epstein was barely a year out of jail, still signing a sex offender register. Throughout the following month, Andrew and Epstein discussed meetings, mutual acquaintances, and the sex offender’s mysterious “future ex”.
An email exchange on August 12, 2010, shows Epstein inviting Andrew to dinner with a Russian woman, 26. Even more damaging is evidence that Andrew saw Epstein again before December 2010 – contradicting his claim they had not met since 2006.
Emails between Epstein and Andrew about a ‘beautiful’ Russian(Image: DOJ)
In an email on October 1, 2010, he writes “Great to see you,” signing off with “A”. And on November 28, 2010, Andrew emailed Epstein asking: “What sort of clothes will I need to bring? ie will I need something for the heat in case we go south or will it all be in NY so therefore COLD.”
Epstein said: “Mostly cold, we could go south for a few days but that would mean a bathing suit and easy shirt.” Andrew replied: “See you tomorrow afternoon. Really looking forward to seeing you and spending some time with you after so long. Some interesting things to discuss and plot….”
Timeline of infamy revealed in emails
May 2006: Palm Beach police charge Epstein with multiple counts of unlawful sex with a minor. State Attorney Barry Krischer takes unusual step of sending the case to a grand jury.
July 2006: Grand jury indicts him for soliciting prostitution. The less serious charge angers Palm Beach police.
2007: Lawyers discuss a plea bargain that would avoid a federal prosecution.
June 2008: Epstein pleads guilty to soliciting prostitution and soliciting prostitution from someone under 18. He gets 18 months in jail. In a secret deal, US attorney’s office agrees not to prosecute Epstein for federal crimes. Epstein allowed to leave jail during the day to go to work, then return at night.
July 2009: Epstein released. Women who say they are his victims begin a decade-long legal fight to get federal non-prosecution agreement voided.
April 2010: Andrew tells Epstein: “It would be good to catch up in person.”
May 2010: Andrew tells Epstein in an email that Peter Mandelson wouldn’t be getting “any favours” from David Cameron’s newly elected government.
August 2010: “I have a friend I think you might enjoy having dinner with,” Epstein writes to Andrew. He later adds the friend was 26, Russian, clever, beautiful and trustworthy. Andrew says he would be “delighted”.
November 2010: The two men discuss Andrew’s trip to New York. Andrew looks forward to spending time together “after so long.”
December 2010: Epstein strolls in Central Park with the then-prince.
January 2011: Andrew asks him to help solve debt issue for ex-wife Sarah.
March 2011: Andrew writes to Epstein: “Call me please.”
August 2019: Epstein dies in jail awaiting trial for child sex offences.
November 2019: Andrew tells BBC’s Emily Maitlis he had no contact with Epstein after 2006 until they met again in December 2010. He claims that after meeting in New York, he had no contact at all with the American.
But what was being plotted on a trip supposedly designed to end a friendship? Barely had 2011 begun when Andrew was back in touch.
“Happy New Year,” he wrote, seeking help to broker a deal involving ex-wife Sarah Ferguson’s former employee John O’Sullivan, to whom she owed just short of £80,000. Epstein assisted Ferguson financially. Emails previously disclosed in court papers also show the then Duke of York was in contact with Epstein for longer than he had admitted.
Andrew with Epstein and Maxwell at Balmoral(Image: DOJ)
One message sent in February 2011 from a “member of the British Royal Family”, believed to be Andrew, is particularly damning. The author wrote to the billionaire: “Keep in close touch, and we’ll play some more soon!!!!”
The email, in papers released by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority, exposed yet another gap between what Andrew told the public and what he was actually doing. The two men spoke on the phone, and stayed in contact as headlines mounted – discreet now, but never distant. The conclusion, from the evidence provided, is unavoidable.
Andrew lied. He lied about when he cut contact. He lied about why he went to New York. He lied about the nature of his relationship with Epstein. And he lied on national television, believing there would be no consequences.
Andrew’s 2019 BBC interview backfired(Image: BBC)
Andrew spoke to Newsnight in November 2019, assuming that the truth was buried with Epstein who died in July that year. He was wrong.
Now the ghost of Epstein hangs permanently over Andrew’s public life, exposing not just catastrophic judgment but a willingness to deceive the public, his family, the monarchy and, most painfully, the victims. This was not a lapse. It was a pattern. A sustained attempt to rewrite history. An arrogance so entrenched that he believed his word alone would suffice. It did not.
And, for that, he deserves everything that has befallen him.
Timeline of infamy revealed in emails
May 2006: Palm Beach police charge Epstein with multiple counts of unlawful sex with a minor. State Attorney Barry Krischer takes unusual step of sending case to a grand jury.
July 2006: Grand jury indicts him for soliciting prostitution. The less serious charge angers Palm Beach police.
2007: Lawyers discuss a plea bargain that would avoid a federal prosecution.
June 2008: Epstein pleads guilty to soliciting prostitution and soliciting prostitution from someone under 18. He gets 18 months in jail. In a secret deal, US attorney’s office agrees not to prosecute Epstein for federal crimes. Epstein allowed to leave jail during the day to go to work, then return at night.
July 2009: Epstein released. Women who say they are his victims begin a decade-long legal fight to get federal non-prosecution agreement voided.
April 2010: Andrew tells Epstein: “It would be good to catch up in person.”
May 2010: Andrew tells Epstein in an email that Peter Mandelson wouldn’t be getting “any favours” from David Cameron’s newly elected government.
August 2010: “I have a friend I think you might enjoy having dinner with,” Epstein writes to Andrew. He later adds the friend was 26, Russian, clever, beautiful and trustworthy. Andrew says he would be “delighted”.
November 2010: The two men discuss Andrew’s trip to New York. Andrew looks forward to spending time together “after so long”.
December 2010: Epstein strolls in Central Park with the then-prince.
January 2011: Andrew asks him to help solve debt issue for ex-wife Sarah.
March 2011: Andrew writes to Epstein: “Call me please.”
August 2019: Epstein dies in jail awaiting trial for child sex offences.
November 2019: Andrew tells BBC’s Emily Maitlis he had no contact with Epstein after 2006 until they met again in December 2010. He claims that after meeting in New York, he had no contact at all with the American.