The US Department of Justice has released a trove of documents and photographs placing Prince Andrew at the heart of Jeffrey Epstein's social circle, showing the former royal introducing the convicted paedophile to British high society.
Incriminating Images from Royal Estates
Thousands of files were uploaded to the department's website on Friday, 20 December 2025, following the passing of the Epstein Files Transparency Act. Among them are several undated photographs featuring Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the disgraced former Duke of York.
One image, described as a photograph of a picture in a frame, shows the former prince lying across the laps of five women with his head near one woman's lap, his eyes closed and smiling. The faces of six women in the shot have been redacted. Sky News reported the location as The Saloon inside Sandringham, the King's private Norfolk estate, comparing the distinctive fireplace.
Another photograph places Andrew alongside Epstein and his convicted accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell in the royal box at Ascot. A third image appears to show Andrew taking the pair shooting, holding a hunting rifle with his back to the camera at a location widely believed to be on the Balmoral estate in Scotland.
Famous Faces and Political Fallout
The document dump, which caused an "extremely high volume of search requests" that held users in a queue, also included images of other notable figures. These included Andrew's ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, popstar Michael Jackson, former US president Bill Clinton, US President Donald Trump, Sir Mick Jagger, and former UK minister Lord Mandelson.
Lord Mandelson, sacked earlier this year as the UK's ambassador to the US, is seen with Epstein being presented with a giant birthday cake. None of the photographs suggest any wrongdoing and they are all undated.
The release has intensified political pressure. US politicians have criticised Andrew for his "silence" after he missed a deadline to respond to a request for an interview about Epstein. Democrat Suhas Subramanyam of the US House oversight committee told CNN the DoJ was "absolutely in violation of the law" for not releasing everything by the mandated deadline.
A Legacy of Scandal and Ongoing Scrutiny
This latest scrutiny follows Andrew's withdrawal from royal duties in 2019 after his disastrous Newsnight interview. The subsequent publication of Virginia Giuffre's memoir and the release of documents from Epstein's estate led King Charles III to strip his brother of his HRH style and prince title.
Jeffrey Epstein was found dead in his Manhattan jail cell in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges; his death was ruled a suicide. US deputy attorney general Todd Blanche stated that hundreds of thousands more documents would be released in the coming weeks to protect Epstein's victims.
The release has sparked criticism over redactions. New York senator Chuck Schumer said the "heavily redacted" documents were "just a fraction" of the evidence, arguing that pages of blacked-out text "violates the spirit of transparency".
