Royals Were Epstein's Favorite Tool

On the morning of February 19, 2026, Norfolk police arrived at Sandringham House, one of the estates of the British royal family, and took a man into custody. A short while later, they released a statement, announcing that they had, indeed, arrested a man in his 60s on suspicion of misconduct in public office, and that he remained in their custody while they carried out additional searches at addresses in Berkshire and Norfolk. The police also noted that, per national guidance, they would not be naming the suspect, and warned “that this case is now active so care should be taken with any publication to avoid being in contempt of court.”

This was all well and good, except for the fact that ten minutes before the police even released the statement, BBC News had already announced that the man taken into custody was the disgraced royal Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. Even among hardcore royalists, Andrew was unlikely to be anyone’s favorite tweed-sporting aristocrat, but in recent years he has become one of Britain’s most loathed and controversial figures following the revelations that he frequently buddied around with the most infamous man of our times, Jeffrey Epstein.

But the Andrew formerly known as Prince was hardly the only posh prick to do so. Jeffrey Epstein’s rolodex contained more double-barrelled surnames than the royal box at the Ascot Derby. But why? What made Epstein stand out among the throngs of people who vied for the attention of the royals on a daily basis? How did he manage to befriend them and enter their inner circle? Those are the questions we are exploring today.

The Crimes of Jeffrey Epstein

They say that you should never assume what your audience knows and doesn’t know. But let’s be real here. If you are reading this, then there is a 99.9 percent chance that you are already aware of who Jeffrey Epstein was and what he did. It’s fair to say that we have gotten some mileage out of that subject. But just to be sure, here is a quick CliffsNotes version of the scandal that is still sending rippling shockwaves throughout society.

Jeffrey Epstein was an American financier who began his career working for Bear Stearns during the mid 1970s. Over the course of the next four-and-a-half decades, Epstein became a prominent name in Corporate America, heading his own financial firms and making fortunes, not just for himself, but for a lot of influential people.

None of that matters, though. If that’s all there was, then Epstein would have been remembered as just another Wall Street douche who probably had a Gordon Gekko poster in his bedroom and could recite the “Greed Is Good” scene verbatim. Instead, Epstein attained infamy from his secondary life as a sex trafficker of women and children.

Many of them were brought to Epstein’s private island, Little Saint James, where they were forced to engage in sexual acts not only with Epstein himself, but with quite a few of his guests, who often included highly-prominent men from all walks of life. As one biographer described him, Epstein was a “people collector,” and even though “he was a diabolical monster… at the same time he was brilliant in a sense that he was able to maintain this incredible network of some of the world’s most powerful individuals.”

Epstein was first convicted in Florida of a state charge of procuring for prostitution of a minor and was sentenced to a year-and-a-half in prison. He avoided a federal charge and he enjoyed an easy stint behind bars, where he was allowed a degree of freedom and luxury that was even cushier than that prison dinner scene in Goodfellas. After 13 months, Epstein was placed under house arrest and given probation, but it was evidently clear that he had no intention of changing his wicked ways.

After all, why would he? The sentence had almost no negative impact on his life. He didn’t lose money.

He didn’t lose power. He didn’t lose influence. Very few people decided to cut ties with Epstein following his 2008 conviction.

Many of them not only stuck around, but even defended him. As it turned out, if you were rich, charismatic, generous with donations and favors, and threw lavish parties with plenty of A-listers, people were perfectly happy to turn a blind eye to the fact that you tried to have sex with a 14-year-old girl.

In 2019, Epstein was arrested again and indicted on sex trafficking charges. He was in custody awaiting trial when he was found dead in his cell. It appeared that he had taken his own life, but not everyone was satisfied with that answer, and questions surrounding his death still linger.

The shit didn’t really hit the fan until after Epstein was gone, because that was when all of his connections to high-profile people started getting exposed. It was becoming clear that many of these influential men weren’t just Epstein’s business associates; they weren’t just his friends, either; they were his clients. What became truly staggering was the extent of the network that Epstein had built over the decades. There weren’t just other rich corporate creeps implicated.

There were also numerous politicians, diplomats, socialites, academics, authors, artists, and entertainers. Epstein caught ‘em all like Pokemon. For a while, it seemed like everyone who was anyone rubbed shoulders with the American financier at one point or another, and we still have no idea of the true scope of the tangled web that Jeffrey Epstein weaved.

Jeff & Andy in New York

There were also members of royal families who had ties to Jeffrey Epstein. That’s not surprising. A man so obsessed with cultivating relations as Epstein would never pass up the chance to add a few lords and ladies to his little black book. Or, better yet, a few princes and princesses. We all know Andrew is the most famous name on this list, so let’s start with him.

When it comes to the relationship between Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Jeffrey Epstein, there seem to be two realities: the real one and the one that Andrew wanted us to believe. He certainly tried to convince the world that his ties to Epstein did not rise above those of a mere acquaintance, but that wasn’t exactly true, was it, Andy? If anything, every new piece of evidence that surfaced suggested an intimate relationship between the two.

The bad times started for Andrew in late 2010, during a trip to New York City when he was photographed alongside Jeffrey Epstein. Remember, this was not long after Epstein’s first conviction. In fact, it happened shortly after he was out of house arrest so, at first glance, it looked like Andrew went to visit Epstein as soon as he was able to do so. Jeff & Andy were enjoying a stroll through Central Park when a photographer snapped a photo of them together and then sold it to the New York Post, who ran it in February 2011 with the title “Prince & Perv - Randy Andy with NYC sex creep.”

This was the first time that the general public was made aware of the connection between the two. Years later, in a now-infamous BBC Newsnight interview that we’ll get to later, Andrew claimed that the whole reason why he flew to New York was to break off his relationship with Epstein due to his conviction. “I felt that doing it over the telephone was the chicken’s way of doing it.

I had to go and see him and talk to him,” Andrew said, but there is the slightest chance that he wasn’t being entirely truthful. Scores of emails released in the Epstein files showed that cutting ties with the disgraced American financier was about the last thing on Andrew’s mind.

The two of them had been planning their little get-together for months. Then, as soon as Epstein wasn’t under house arrest anymore, Andrew sent him an email saying: “Congratulations! DS told me you were allowed out from yesterday.” He even asked Epstein what clothes he should bring, wondering if they would stay in New York the whole trip or if they would travel south to warmer climates, referring here either to Epstein’s house in Florida or his notorious island. Andy wrote:

”…Just one last question from me: what sort of clothes will I need to bring? ie will I need to bring something for the heat in case we go south or will it all be in NY so therefore COLD.

Epstein replied: “mostly cold, we could go south for a few days, but that would mean a bathing suit and easy shirt..” Andrew ended by saying:

So helpful! I will bring something in case of all contingencies. But principally cold. 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… HRH The Duke of York KG

To me, at least, those do not sound like the words of two people about to end their relationship. For his part, Epstein ensured that Prince Andrew was treated, well, like royalty during his stay in New York. One of his greatest skills was making people feel appreciated and important, which, in turn, made them latch on to him. He let Andrew stay at his mansion in Manhattan.

He booked a spa at one of the fanciest clubs in town. He put a car and driver at his disposal. He scheduled a dinner party at the Four Seasons that was full of “young fun people for andrew.” He even offered to help with some financial problems that Andrew’s ex-wife, Fergie, was dealing with, but more on her later.

She’s a whole ‘nother crazy kettle of fish.

Epstein spared no effort or expense when it came to buttering up Andrew, and more emails revealed why the financier went the extra mile when it came to royals. While Andrew was staying with him, Epstein sent messages to two contacts - Tom Pritzker, former executive chairman of Hyatt Hotels, and Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, ex-CEO of DP World - and asked them to schedule several business meetings while Jeff had Andrew in tow. Epstein understood that the presence of royalty, particularly a prince, added a level of prestige and respectability to any event, be it business or pleasure, that you simply could not get with a politician or even an A-list celebrity.

In one email chain, Epstein informed Andrew that he had a business contact “with 20 billion dollars, and hungry for deals,” while the royal asshat replied that he was happy to help him going forward now that he was a free man, saying that he wanted to “pay homage to [Jeffrey’s] new life ahead.” So even if you discount all the alleged criminal activity, the two seemed to have a symbiotic relationship: Epstein treated Andrew like he was the belle of the ball and, in turn, the prince helped him secure business deals.

In that same Newsnight interview from 2019, Andrew claimed that following their jaunt through Central Park that was caught by the paparazzi, he “never had any contact with [Epstein] from that day forward.” Some of you might be shocked to discover this wasn’t true, either. The photo was taken on December 5, 2010. On December 6, Epstein invited an unidentified woman for lunch with Andrew. He was also planning another big dinner with A-listers, although whether it took place or not is unclear.

On December 7, Andrew returned to Britain, writing to Epstein when he was back home that “It was great to spend time with my US family. Looking forward to joining you all again soon,” which is an odd thing to say to someone with whom you supposedly just broke off all contact. But there was more, as Andrew also made sure to wish Epstein a “Happy New Year” on January 1, writing:

Just going into my annual retreat for the next 8 days. This week is all about me; for one week of the year it’s great… Time to put something back into me before the rest of the world starts sucking it out in all their greed and demands. Have a great day.

I guess we should all be ashamed of ourselves for being so greedy and demanding of Andrew, but little did he know that things were about to get worse for him.

The Downfall of a Prince

The image of Andrew and Jeffrey in Central Park was published on the front page of the February 21, 2011, edition of the New York Post. The British tabloids, however, refused to be outdone by an international muckraker, and showed the world that they were still the leaders when it came to royal scandals. Just a few days later, the Daily Mail published a different photograph of Andrew, one which has attained infamy.

It was from 2001 and it showed Andrew with his hand around the waist of a young girl while Ghislaine Maxwell looked on in the background. That young girl was later identified as Virginia Giuffre, who was 17 years old when the photo was taken. She went on to become among the fiercest and most outspoken accusers not just of Jeffrey Epstein, but also of Prince Andrew.

In 2015, Giuffre came forward and alleged that she had been forced to have sex with Andrew on three separate occasions: at Epstein’s house in Manhattan, at Ghislaine Maxwell’s home in London, and during a trip to Epstein’s notorious island. Andrew steadfastly denies this to this day, even claiming that he doesn’t remember meeting Virginia Giuffre at all. For a while, he tried playing the “fake news” card, putting forward the possibility that the photograph could have been doctored. But the emails suggested otherwise.

One email from 2015 from Maxwell to Epstein strongly indicated that the photo was the real deal. It said: “In 2001 I was in London when [redacted] met a number of friends of mine including Prince Andrew. A photograph was taken as I imagine she wanted to show it to friends and family.”

Ever since Mountbatten-Windsor’s ties to Epstein became public knowledge, things started going downhill for the former prince, albeit quite slowly. In 2011, after both the New York Post and the Daily Mail exposed their relationship, Andrew was forced to step down as Britain’s special trade envoy, a cushy position which he had held for ten years. After that, there was a lot of silence, as Andrew still kept up with his royal duties. Undoubtedly, he hoped that the whole thing would blow over, and he could continue his swanky lifestyle as a prince, where all he had to do, basically, was to exist and someone else would take care of the rest.

For a long time, it seemed like he was right. Years went by and nothing. Even in 2015, when Virginia Giuffre went public with her allegations against him, he didn’t suffer much blowback. It wasn’t until Epstein’s high profile arrest and death in 2019 that Andrew found himself in the hotseat again.

Suddenly, Epstein’s name was on everyone’s lips. It was mentioned in every paper and news broadcast in the world. There was no chance the story would simply blow over this time. Epstein’s relations were all closely scrutinized, and there were a lot of them.

If there was one thing we know that Epstein was good at, it was building connections.

From the beginning, one of the relationships that drew the most attention was that between Jeff & Andy. The latter would have us believe that the former was just a casual acquaintance, one of thousands that he accumulated throughout his life as a royal. Just some guy that he met on occasion, said hello to, and had a polite conversation with.

But in the immortal words of Homer Simpson, that was grade “A” bull plop. In 1999, both Epstein and Maxwell were photographed while they vacationed at Balmoral in Scotland, one of the residences of the British royal family. The following year, they were invited to attend Andrew’s 40th birthday at Windsor Castle.

Later that same month, Epstein, Maxwell, and Mountbatten-Windsor went to the Royal Ascot together. That sure sounds like more than just a casual relationship. And hell, in one of the emails I mentioned previously, Andrew literally referred to Epstein as his “US family.”

And the weird thing is that he’s not even the only royal to do so.

Clearly, Andrew had to get ahead of this thing, and he knew just what to do: he would give an interview for the BBC current affairs program Newsnight. That would solve everything.

The Prince Who Could Not Sweat

In case you’ve never seen this trainwreck, it’s basically one hour of watching a man dig his own grave, while interviewer Emily Maitlis looked on incredulously, with an expression on her face that said “Can you believe this asshole?” This is far from your typical interview. It’s literally won awards, it’s been hailed as one of the most shocking interviews the BBC has ever done. It’s even been turned into a movie called Scoop, starring Agent Scully herself, Gillian Anderson.

All of Andrew’s assertions regarding his ties to Epstein that I already mentioned have come from this interview: about him going to New York to end their relationship, about never contacting him again after that, etc. At the time, of course, the emails had not been released yet, so there was no evidence to suggest otherwise, but you could still count the number of people who believed Andrew on the hands of a Simpsons character.

But there was more. Andrew recounted how his relationship with Epstein started, stating that they first met in 1999 through Ghislaine Maxwell, who Andrew knew since her days at uni. Even this point is in doubt thanks to the prince’s own private secretary, who wrote in a letter in 2011 that the two had known each other since the early 1990s. Andrew then tried to play off their relation as being simply cordial. He said:

It would be, to some extent, a stretch to say that as it were we were close friends. I mean we were friends because of other people and I had a lot of opportunity to go to the United States but I didn’t have much time with him.

Just a quick reminder that in 2000, one year after the two supposedly met for the first time, Andrew invited Epstein and Maxwell to his 40th birthday party at Windsor Castle. And they were photographed together at a bunch of other events. Draw your own conclusions.

Then the interview shifted to more serious matters: the allegations made by Virginia Giuffre. Emily Maitlis asked him in a polite but firm manner:

July of this year, Epstein was arrested on charges of sex trafficking and abusing dozens of underage girls. One of the Epstein’s accusers, Virginia Roberts has made allegations against you. She says she met you in 2001, she says she dined with you, danced with you at Tramp Nightclub in London. She went on to have sex with you in a house in Belgravia belonging to Ghislaine Maxwell, your friend. Your response?

His response was, indeed, memorable and incredibly bizarre. Obviously, Andrew denied that any of this was true. He said that he had no memory of ever meeting his accuser. But specifically, he said he couldn’t have met Virginia Giuffre on the day in question (which was March 10, 2001) because, on that day, he had taken his daughter to a birthday party at a Pizza Express in Woking.

When the interviewer reasonably pointed out that it was a little strange that Andrew remembered what he did on a random day almost 20 years earlier, he replied:

Because going to Pizza Express in Woking is an unusual thing for me to do, a very unusual thing for me to do. I’ve never been… I’ve only been to Woking a couple of times and I remember it weirdly distinctly. As soon as somebody reminded me of it, I went, ‘Oh yes, I remember that.’

Without a doubt, the strangest claim made by Andrew during his car crash interview came when Emily Maitlis recounted the night in question, saying that, according to Giuffre, she and Andrew went to a London club where they danced a lot and the prince sweated profusely. But this was impossible, said Andrew, because he can’t sweat:

There’s a slight problem with the sweating because I have a peculiar medical condition which is that I don’t sweat or I didn’t sweat at the time and that was… was it… yes, I didn’t sweat at the time because I had suffered what I would describe as an overdose of adrenaline in the Falkland’s War when I was shot at and I simply… it was almost impossible for me to sweat. And it’s only because I have done a number of things in the recent past that I am starting to be able to do that again.

So he couldn’t sweat in 2001, but if you happen to see him sweat, he’s gotten better, ok? We should make that clear, just in case some clever editor was getting ready to show on the screen a bunch of pictures of Andrew sweating. Don’t you dare do it!

Weirdly enough, Andrew felt that the interview went well. He even gave the Newsnight crew a tour of the palace afterwards. Everyone else, however, disagreed. People were struggling to come up with new ways of describing just how disastrous it went: “nuclear explosion level bad,” said the Washington Post; “Not One Single Word of Regret,” bemoaned The Mail on Sunday; “No Sweat … and No Regret” was what The Sunday Mirror went with.

Just a few days after the interview, Andrew announced that he was stepping down from his public duties, a move which insiders described as unprecedented to happen to a senior royal so abruptly and publicly. Perhaps the family was still hoping that, if they locked Andrew up in a closet somewhere where he couldn’t open his mouth and talk to anyone for a few years, the heat might still die down.

That didn’t happen. In 2021, Virginia Giuffre filed a civil suit against Andrew in New York, accusing him of sexual assault. They settled for an undisclosed sum in 2022, although The Telegraph reported it was over £12 million. As part of the deal, Andrew didn’t have to admit to any wrongdoing or even apologize to Giuffre, but Queen Elizabeth still punished him by stripping him of all his military affiliations and royal patronages.

His actions were brought back into the limelight in April 2025 when Virginia Giuffre died at the age of 41, seemingly after taking her own life. Then, later that year, Epstein emails began being released to the public which contradicted the stuff that Andrew said which, to be honest, most people didn’t believe, anyway. But now that Charles was king, Andrew’s mom wasn’t around to protect him anymore, so, in October of last year, he was forced to relinquish all his royal titles and honors. Prince Andrew was now just Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, citizen.

And that, more or less, brings us to Andrew’s arrest on February 19, 2026. He was released after 12 hours in custody and it still remains to be seen if anything actually comes of it. It’s worth pointing out that Andrew’s arrest has nothing to do with any alleged sex crimes. He was charged with suspicion of misconduct while in public office because he might have used his position as UK trade envoy to provide Epstein with confidential information.

One example from October 2010 showed that Andrew forwarded classified reports from his visits to Asia to Epstein just minutes after he received them.

This goes to show that, prince or not, Andrew was just a tool for Epstein. The latter kept him happy, but only because he was useful.

The Duchess in Debt

Moving away from Andrew, but staying with the same family, let’s take a look at his ex-wife and how she ended up in Jeffrey Epstein’s circle of friends. She is Sarah Ferguson, the former Duchess of York, or just plain ol’ Fergie, to you and me. After splitting up with Andrew in 1996, she tried to launch multiple business ventures on her own, and most of them were unsuccessful. If you lived in Britain and were an avid reader of tabloids during the 2000s, you probably would have been aware of her constant money woes that were a regular source of journalistic ridicule.

In her case, it’s pretty easy to work out why she latched on to Epstein: he helped her out financially, sometimes by providing her with business advice and other times by just straight up giving her money. Ferguson admitted to receiving a one-time loan of £15,000 from Epstein, something which she called a “gigantic error.” However, there are other emails where she asked Epstein for money, although whether or not she received it is unclear.

In one email worth pointing out Fergie asked to borrow $50 or $100,000 “to help get through the small bills that are pushing [her] over,” which only makes one wonder what kind of money she needed to cover the large bills. In a separate email to a third party, Epstein mentioned that he had bankrolled the duchess for 15 years, something which she has steadfastly denied.

Whatever the level of assistance provided by Epstein might have been, it was more than enough to help Fergie forget about his pesky conviction from 2008. In fact, in one email Epstein claimed that the Duchess of York was the first to visit him following his release from prison, even bringing her two daughters along to ask the convicted financier for help with her charities.

Fergie, unsurprisingly, denied having any recollection of such a visit. There is no evidence to suggest otherwise, although Fergie had been emailing Epstein while he was still in prison, so it’s fair to say that she was eagerly awaiting his input. Specifically, she wanted help launching a new company called Mothers Army, which was meant “to help amplify the voices of Mothers all over the world.”

And, of course, who better to help with that than a man who was, at the time, in prison for soliciting prostitution from a minor? But Epstein was good when it came to the wheelings and dealings of the financial world and he dispensed his advice generously and free of charge to people like the duchess, so I guess that’s all that truly mattered. Whatever he told her seemed to work a treat, because later that year Fergie sent him another email where she said:

My dear spectacular and special friend Jeffrey. You are a legend, and I am so proud of you… I have read and devoured your email and am putting into action what you said. Then I will come back to you with a business plan and all you need and I need to see if it is the great oracle realm.!! Thanks for being such a friend. Lots of love Sarah. Xxxx

As vomit-inducing as that fawning display of brown-nosing was, it still was nowhere near the most sycophantic things that Fergie wrote to Epstein. On different occasions, she said to him:

I have never been more touched by a friends [sic] kindness than your compliment to me in front of my girls.”

“You are a legend. I really don’t have the words to describe my love, gratitude for your generosity and kindness.”

“Thank you Jeffrey for being the brother I have always wished for.

And last, but not least:

Xx I am at your service. Just marry me.

Even if we weren’t talking about someone as vile as Epstein, that last one is still a weird thing to say to someone you consider your brother. It’s pretty clear why the duchess sucked up to Epstein. She was depending on his financial help. On more than one occasion, she even suggested that Epstein give her a job as a “house assistant,” writing: “But why I don’t understand, don’t you just get me to be your House Assistant. I am the most capable and desperately need the money. Please, Jeffrey, think about it.”

Now let’s look at the other side of the coin: what was Epstein getting out of it? Well, pretty much the same thing he was getting from Andrew, just on a smaller scale: the cachet of having a royal in your inner circle. It wasn’t quite as good as a prince, but being a close personal friend of the Duchess of York still opened a few doors for him. There’s at least one email Epstein sent to a couple of business contacts where he wrote: “fergie said she could organize tea in the buckingham palace apts.. or windsor castle.. she said you should call her directly…”

But it seems that Epstein had a far greater purpose in mind for Fergie: to help him clean up his image. This happened in 2011, after tabloids began publicizing the relationship between Epstein and Andrew. That was the first time in his life that people began distancing themselves from him, at least in public. Fergie did, as well, after not just her ex-husband’s, but her own ties to Epstein had been exposed. In an interview, the Duchess of York said:

I personally, on behalf of myself, deeply regret that Jeffrey Epstein became involved in any way with me… I abhor paedophilia and any sexual abuse of children and know that this was a gigantic error of judgment on my behalf. I am just so contrite I cannot say.

Fergie also promised to repay the loan and have nothing more to do with Epstein from then on. You can guess for yourselves whether or not that actually happened. The emails were her undoing, just like her ex-husband. Although publicly, she hung Epstein out to dry, in private she apologized to him, writing:

I know you also feel hellaciously let down by me, from what you were either told or read, and I must humbly apologise to you and your heart for that… You have always been a steadfast, generous and supreme friend to me and my family.

To make up for it, Epstein hired a crisis management publicist and devised a strategy to rebuild his reputation. As a close friend and a royal, Fergie was intended to play a key role. The publicist insisted that they needed her to publish a retraction, calling it “critical” and “a major turning point [that would] be picked up everywhere.” Epstein and his publicist even discussed how far they were willing to go to get Fergie on board, starting with “gentle persuasion,” and, if that didn’t work, “[turning] up the heat even to the point of sending her a draft defamation lawsuit.”

There’s no evidence to suggest that the duchess agreed to take part in this PR stunt, although she did send Epstein one email before doing an interview with Oprah where she asked him straight up how he would like her to answer regarding their relationship.

Her private obsequiousness to Epstein after decrying him in public landed Fergie in hot water once the emails were released. She is now what a marketing expert would describe as a toxic brand. Multiple companies and charities have severed all ties with her and her publisher has withdrawn her upcoming book from sale. One insider said:

Any notion she might have had about keeping her American dream alive now seems to have been killed off completely. Commercially, as the failed book deal shows, she’s become a pariah.

The Crown Princess of Norway

From Britain, we sail the North Sea and arrive in Norway to meet with their royal family: King Harald V, his wife, Queen Sonja, his son and heir, Crown Prince Haakon, and his wife, Crown Princess Mette-Marit. To be honest, only that last one interests us since she is the only one who had close ties to Jeffrey Epstein.

Like in Andrew’s case, there seems to be the reality that Mette-Marit tried to present to the world, and then the actual one that was exposed with the release of the Epstein files. She first issued a statement in 2019, following the death of the convicted sex offender and not long after Andrew did his disastrous interview with the BBC. At the time, at least, her story was a little more believable.

A spokesperson for the royal family asserted that Mette-Marit first encountered Epstein in 2011 at an event and that the two met socially a few more times until 2013, at which point she broke off all contact because “she felt that Mr. Epstein attempted to trade on the relationship he had to the crown princess, and use it for his own gain in other relations.” That last part we definitely can believe.

It has become quite clear that it was Epstein’s main interest in building bonds with the royals.

During those years of contact, the crown princess “was not aware of the scope, nor the character of the crimes he had been convicted of, and subsequently served time in jail.” She apologized for not doing her due diligence on Epstein earlier and said she would have never associated with him if she knew the seriousness of his crimes.

Right. That was the version from 2019. Now let’s see if the emails released in 2025 had something different to say. Here’s one from October 2011, not long after meeting Epstein for the first time, where Mette-Marit wrote to him: “Googled u after last email. Agree didn’t look too good.”

Well, that certainly puts a damper on the idea that she didn’t know of his criminal past. But wait, because there’s more. In other emails the crown princess sent to Epstein, she wrote:

You always make me smile Because you tickle my brain”

“I too like to help people Just like you Soft hearted,”

“You r such a sweetheart

And, by far, the weirdest one was when the crown princess asked Epstein if it would be inappropriate to suggest a wallpaper for her 15-year-old son depicting two naked women carrying a surfboard. Besides revealing that Mette-Marit knew who Epstein really was, these emails also suggested a relationship much more intimate than the casual one she tried to indicate, where they would just meet at events and shoot the breeze for a few minutes.

Obviously, once the true nature of her relationship to Epstein was exposed, the crown princess had to issue a second apology which isn’t worth reproducing here because it’s just more boilerplate PR speak. This is still an ongoing scandal and it’s not even the only one the royal family is dealing with at the moment. Her son from before her royal marriage is currently on trial for over 38 criminal charges, including four counts of rape. Whether or not Mette-Marit will suffer any actual consequences remains to be seen.

These are the main royals with a proven relationship to Jeffrey Epstein, although others have been named as having some kind of connection to him. Just a quick reminder that simply having your name included in the Epstein files is not indicative of any wrongdoing. In fact, in certain cases, it can mean that you were once a potential victim. That seems to be the case with Princess Sofia of Sweden.

She was mentioned in some emails from 2005 when a common acquaintance was trying to introduce her to Epstein. She was a young, aspiring actress at the time, not royalty, so Epstein, smelling blood in the water, invited her to his island. Fortunately for Sofia, she turned down his invitation.

Prince Laurent of Belgium was also mentioned in an email between Epstein and his assistant. Initially, the prince said in a statement that he never met Epstein, even though the latter tried to make contact multiple times when the former was working in the US. However, just a few hours later, Prince Laurent issued a second statement, saying that, actually, he did meet Epstein twice in private, but never had any in-depth contact.

The financier thought he had found another royal target he could cozy up to, who would open new business avenues for him. Specifically, he wanted to meet the prince’s parents, King Albert and Queen Paola, but Laurent denied his request, stating that they were “not for sale.” Sounded pretty good, although the prince didn’t do himself any favors by changing his statement instead of coming out with the full truth at once. His credibility has taken a hit, although at the time of writing, that is still the official version.

Maybe more emails will be released in the future that will contradict him, or maybe they will prove him right. We’ll have to wait and see.

To be honest, this is a topic that will probably get revisited as these matters are far from resolved. More revelations are bound to come out in the future, and more people are going to find themselves in hot water for their past actions and associations with the monster that was Jeffrey Epstein. And when they do, we’ll be there to name & shame them.

Frequently Asked Questions

When was Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor arrested and what was he charged with?

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested on February 19, 2026, on suspicion of misconduct in public office. The arrest was related to allegations that he might have used his position as UK trade envoy to provide Epstein with confidential information, not alleged sex crimes. He was released after 12 hours in custody.

How did Prince Andrew and Jeffrey Epstein first meet?

According to Prince Andrew’s 2019 BBC Newsnight interview, he first met Jeffrey Epstein in 1999 through Ghislaine Maxwell, whom Andrew had known since her university days. However, Andrew’s own private secretary wrote in a 2011 letter that the two had known each other since the early 1990s, contradicting Andrew’s account.

What evidence contradicted Prince Andrew’s claim that he went to New York in 2010 to break off his relationship with Epstein?

Emails released in the Epstein files showed that Andrew and Epstein had been planning their get-together for months. Andrew sent Epstein an email saying ‘Congratulations! DS told me you were allowed out from yesterday,’ asked what clothes to bring for potentially going south to warmer climates, and wrote ‘Really looking forward to seeing you and spending some time with you after so long’ and ‘Some interesting things to discuss and plot…’ These communications occurred before and during the trip, contradicting Andrew’s claim that he went to end the relationship.

What was Prince Andrew’s explanation for why he couldn’t have danced with Virginia Giuffre at Tramp Nightclub?

Prince Andrew claimed he couldn’t have danced with Virginia Giuffre at Tramp Nightclub because he has a ‘peculiar medical condition’ that prevented him from sweating at that time. He stated he suffered ‘an overdose of adrenaline in the Falkland’s War when I was shot at’ which made it ‘almost impossible for me to sweat,’ though he noted he was ‘starting to be able to do that again’ in recent years.

What was the outcome of Virginia Giuffre’s civil suit against Prince Andrew?

Virginia Giuffre filed a civil suit against Andrew in New York in 2021, accusing him of sexual assault. They settled for an undisclosed sum in 2022, with The Telegraph reporting it was over £12 million. As part of the deal, Andrew didn’t have to admit to any wrongdoing or apologize to Giuffre. However, Queen Elizabeth stripped him of all his military affiliations and royal patronages. In October 2025, he was forced to relinquish all his royal titles and honors.

How did Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, become involved with Jeffrey Epstein?

Sarah Ferguson became involved with Jeffrey Epstein primarily for financial assistance after her divorce from Prince Andrew. She admitted to receiving a £15,000 loan from Epstein, which she called a ‘gigantic error.’ Emails show she asked Epstein for additional money, including $50,000 or $100,000 ‘to help get through the small bills.’ Epstein claimed he had bankrolled her for 15 years, which she denied. She also sought his business advice for ventures like ‘Mothers Army.‘

What role was Sarah Ferguson intended to play in Epstein’s crisis management and reputation rehabilitation strategy in 2011?

After publicly distancing herself from Epstein in 2011, Fergie privately apologized to him. Epstein then hired a crisis management publicist who devised a strategy to rebuild Epstein’s reputation, with Fergie intended to play a key role as a close friend and royal. The publicist insisted they needed her to publish a retraction, calling it ‘critical’ and ‘a major turning point [that would] be picked up everywhere.’ They discussed using ‘gentle persuasion’ and potentially ‘sending her a draft defamation lawsuit’ if that didn’t work.

What evidence contradicted Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway’s claim that she didn’t know about Epstein’s criminal past?

In an October 2011 email sent not long after meeting Epstein, Mette-Marit wrote: ‘Googled u after last email. Agree didn’t look too good.’ This directly contradicted her 2019 statement that she ‘was not aware of the scope, nor the character of the crimes he had been convicted of.’ Additionally, emails showed a much more intimate relationship than she claimed, including messages saying ‘You always make me smile Because you tickle my brain,’ ‘I too like to help people Just like you Soft hearted,’ and ‘You r such a sweetheart.‘

What was Jeffrey Epstein’s main motivation for cultivating relationships with royalty?

Epstein’s main motivation for cultivating relationships with royalty was to use their prestige and respectability to enhance his own status and open business doors. The article notes that ‘Epstein understood that the presence of royalty, particularly a prince, added a level of prestige and respectability to any event, be it business or pleasure, that you simply could not get with a politician or even an A-list celebrity.’ With Andrew specifically, Epstein used him to secure business meetings with contacts like Tom Pritzker and Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, and treated him lavishly to maintain this useful connection.

What happened to Princess Sofia of Sweden in relation to Jeffrey Epstein?

Princess Sofia of Sweden was mentioned in 2005 emails when a common acquaintance tried to introduce her to Epstein. At the time, she was a young, aspiring actress, not royalty. Epstein invited her to his island, but she turned down his invitation. The article notes that simply having one’s name in the Epstein files is not indicative of wrongdoing and can, in certain cases, mean that person was once a potential victim.

Sources

• Original Decoding the Unknown video: Royals Were Epstein’s Favorite Tool
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relationship_of_Prince_Andrew_and_Jeffrey_Epstein
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relationship_of_Mette-Marit,_Crown_Princess_of_Norway,_and_Jeffrey_Epstein
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connections_of_Jeffrey_Epstein
• https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/dec/20/epstein-files-which-royalty-politicians-musicians-and-actors-are-in-the-photos
• https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5ylepx85nxo
• https://www.bbc.com/news/live/c70kjr9wjw0t?page=6
• https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02-20/andrew-mountbatten-windsor-arrest-timeline-explained/106366940
• https://edition.cnn.com/2026/02/19/world/timeline-andrew-arrest-jeffrey-epstein-intl
• https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/nov/13/latest-epstein-emails-cast-further-doubt-andrew-claim-cutting-ties
• https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2023/apr/27/set-up-for-failure-the-wild-story-behind-the-car-crash-interview-which-destroyed-prince-andrew
• https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/fergie-epstein-prince-andrew-timeline-b2912778.html
• https://www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/arts-and-culture/a60296556/prince-andrew-jeffrey-epstein-relationship-timeline/
• https://www.townandcountrymag.com/society/tradition/a60320453/scoop-prince-andrew-pizza-express-alibi-true-story/
• https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/20/world/europe/prince-andrew-quits-epstein.html
• https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/nov/17/meetings-rehearsals-and-approval-from-mum-newsnights-prince-andrew-coup
• Hero image source by John Fielding / openverse, by.