Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's Festive Greetings to Epstein Undermine Public Statements
The Epstein Files have unveiled a startling contradiction in Prince Andrew's narrative regarding his relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Documents reveal the Duke of York personally signed and dispatched a Christmas card to Epstein in December 2011, a full year after he publicly asserted he had severed all contact with the paedophile financier.
Intimate Family Photos Included in Controversial Correspondence
The 2011 greeting card, sent from Andrew's official 'HRH The Duke of York' stationery, contained multiple personal photographs that have raised serious questions about royal judgment. Among the images were three separate pictures of his daughters Princess Beatrice, then 23, and Princess Eugenie, then 21. These included photographs of the young women with their father, a picture of the sisters together in the snow, and an image of their grace-and-favour Royal Lodge residence in Windsor.
The card's handwritten message wished Epstein 'much joy and happiness at this time and for the year ahead', despite Epstein having recently completed a prison sentence for child prostitution offences. This directly contradicts Andrew's 2019 statement to BBC Newsnight presenter Emily Maitlis, where he claimed with apparent sincerity: 'To this day, I never had any contact with him from that day forward', referring to their last photographed meeting in Central Park in December 2010.
Pattern of Continued Contact Emerges from Documents
Further examination of the Epstein Files reveals this was not an isolated incident. Andrew sent another Christmas card to Epstein in December 2012, again featuring photographs of his children. This second card included images of Princess Beatrice mountain climbing on Mont Blanc and Princess Eugenie participating in a charity bike ride through London. Additional photographs showed Andrew abseiling down The Shard and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson walking across Great Slave Lake in Canada.
A royal insider expressed disbelief at these revelations, telling sources: 'What was Andrew thinking? It doesn't look great sending photos of your daughters to a convicted sex offender.' The source added that the Epstein Files demonstrate 'just how entwined the Yorks were with Epstein, even after he was jailed for child prostitution offences.'
Daughters Drawn into Epstein's Orbit
The documents paint a troubling picture of how Andrew and Sarah Ferguson repeatedly involved their daughters in their relationship with Epstein. Records show Ferguson took Beatrice and Eugenie to visit Epstein in Florida just days after his release from prison in 2009, when the princesses were teenagers. Emails released by the US Justice Department indicate the sisters were regularly called upon to entertain Epstein's contacts and provide tours of Buckingham Palace.
In one particularly disturbing email, Epstein reassured a friend who was due to meet Beatrice: 'She likes me its ok [sic].' Other correspondence reveals Ferguson discussed her youngest daughter's sex life with Epstein, declaring in one message that 19-year-old Eugenie had been away on a 'sh*gging weekend.'
Royal Events and Financial Entanglements
The Epstein Files further disclose that Ferguson and her daughters invited Epstein to Andrew's intimate 50th birthday party at St James's Palace in February 2010, shortly after his release from jail. The invitation requested Epstein bring his 'presents, presence and your humour' to the private family gathering. Andrew had previously hosted Epstein, along with Ghislaine Maxwell and Harvey Weinstein, at Royal Lodge for Beatrice's 18th birthday in 2006, despite an outstanding arrest warrant for the financier at that time.
Financial pressures appear to have influenced the relationship, with Epstein attempting to broker deals to help Ferguson avoid bankruptcy. In April 2011, Ferguson claimed her daughter Beatrice supported her decision to brief journalists that Epstein had 'done his penance' and should not be called a sex offender. 'Beatrice and I had a discussion and we agreed it was important,' Ferguson wrote in an email.
Lasting Consequences and Public Embarrassment
Sources close to the royal family indicate Beatrice and Eugenie are 'appalled' and 'embarrassed' by their parents' prolonged association with Epstein. The princesses appear to have been unwitting participants in a relationship that has caused significant damage to the royal family's reputation.
Beatrice's involvement extended to Andrew's disastrous 2019 Newsnight interview, where she attended pre-production meetings and ultimately became her father's alibi for the night he allegedly met Virginia Giuffre. The Christmas cards and accompanying photographs now stand as physical evidence contradicting Andrew's repeated assertions that he severed ties with Epstein after their 2010 Central Park meeting.
These revelations from the Epstein Files continue to raise serious questions about judgment, transparency, and the extent of the royal family's connections to a convicted sex offender who operated within the highest echelons of society.
