Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor apparently complained to Jeffrey Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell about spending time at the royal family’s “Balmoral Summer Camp” before asking the future convicted sex trafficker, “Have you found me some new inappropriate friends?,” according to a jaw-dropping August 2001 email released overnight by the Justice Department.
The message, from an account labeled “The Invisible Man” and signed “A,” would have been sent just five months after the then-Duke of York allegedly had sex with 17-year-old Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre at Maxwell’s London home.
“I am up here at Balmoral Summer Camp for the Royal Family,” the Aug. 16, 2001, email to Maxwell reads, referring to the British monarch’s summer castle in Scotland. “Activities take place all day and I am totally exhausted at the end of each day. The Girls are completely shattered and I will have to give them an early night today as it is getting tiring splitting them up all the time!”
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor apparently complained to Jeffrey Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell about spending time at the royal family’s “Balmoral Summer Camp” before asking the future convicted sex trafficker: “Have you found me some new inappropriate friends?” POOL/AFP via Getty Images
“How’s LA?” the message then goes on. “Have you found me some new inappropriate friends? Let me know when you are coming over as I am free from 25th August until 2nd Sept and want to go somewhere hot and sunny with some fun people before having to put my nose firmly to the grindstone for the Fall. Any ideas gratefully received!”
Maxwell responded a few hours later, saying: “So sorry to dissapoint [sic] you, however the truth must be told. I have only been able to find appropriate friends. Will let you know about some church meetings on those dates.”
“The Invisible Man” responded two days later: “Distraught! You probably wouldn’t know but I lost my valet on Thursday. He died in his sleep. He had been with me since I was 2. I am a little off balance as not only has my office been restructured, I have left the RN and now my whole life is in turmoil as I have no one to look after me. He was a real rock and almost a part of the family. If you have any good ideas as to how to get my mind back on track I’d be grateful for advice.”
The message, from an account labeled “The Invisible Man” and signed “A,” would have been sent just five months after the then-Duke of York allegedly had sex with 17-year-old Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre at Maxwell’s London home. via REUTERS
Elsewhere in the document, “The Invisible Man” and Maxwell discuss a forthcoming trip to Peru in February 2002, with Andrew embarking on a six-day tour of the South American country. via REUTERS
The email concludes: “See you real soon… I hope if you are coming over.”
While Mountbatten-Windsor does not formally identify himself in the messages, there are obvious clues that he is the sender. For example, the phrase “I have left the RN” appears to refer to his departure from active service in the Royal Navy — which took effect July 31, 2001.
Here’s the latest on the release of the Epstein files
Elsewhere in the document drop, “The Invisible Man” and Maxwell discuss a forthcoming trip to Peru in February 2002, with Andrew embarking on a six-day tour of the South American country the following month to mark his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, spending a half-century on the British throne.
Prince Andrew, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, and Ghislaine Maxwell in London, March 2001. DOJ
Mountbatten-Windsor, 65, has made frequent appearances in the Epstein files, which the Justice Department began releasing Dec. 19.
One widely distributed black-and-white image shows the then-prince sprawled across the laps of five women whose faces are blacked out, while Maxwell leers down from above while standing next to a sixth woman whose face is also obscured.
Another file released overnight Monday confirms that the Justice Department sought assistance from UK authorities in arranging a “voluntary interview” of Andrew about his links to Epstein and Maxwell, as well as fashion designer Peter Nygard, who was sentenced to 11 years in prison last year by a Canadian court after being convicted of sexual assault.
The email is part of the latest Epstein files release by the DOJ on Friday, Dec. 19, 2025. AP
“In the event that the witness declines to participate in a voluntary interview, US authorities request that UK authorities conduct a compelled interview of the witness under oath,” the April 3, 2020, memo reads, adding that “Andrew is not presently a target of the investigation, and US authorities have not, to date, gathered evidence that he has committed any crime under US law.”
No such interview of the former prince is known to have taken place.
Andrew was stripped of all his royal titles earlier this year by his elder brother, King Charles III, with the final humiliation coming last week as he voluntarily surrendered his gun license after police visited him at his Windsor residence, the Royal Lodge.