A newly released photograph from the massive cache of Jeffrey Epstein documents has cast a starkly different light on a weekend Prince Andrew once dismissively described as a 'straightforward shooting' event. The image, part of a trove of 300,000 files, places the disgraced royal at the centre of a raucous gathering at Sandringham Estate in December 2000, directly contradicting his past characterisation.
The Picture That Tells a Different Story
The black-and-white photograph shows Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, who was stripped of his royal titles last month, sprawled across the laps of five elegantly dressed women. He is seen grinning at the camera in a bow tie and dinner jacket, his face close to the bare legs of one woman. Ghislaine Maxwell, now serving a 20-year prison sentence for her role in Epstein's abuse, lurks in the background of the scene.
The Mail on Sunday confirmed the picture captures a party hosted by Andrew for paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein and Maxwell at Sandringham in early December 2000, to mark Maxwell's 39th birthday. The event took place in the estate's opulent saloon, a room the Royal Family traditionally uses for Christmas Eve tea and to watch the monarch's speech.
Allegations of Debauchery at a Royal Sanctuary
Contrary to Andrew's bland description, a bombshell new book alleges the weekend was anything but straightforward. 'The Windsor Legacy' by Robert Jobson cites a palace source claiming staff were 'stunned' to find bathrooms littered with sexual paraphernalia after the party. The items reportedly included lubricants, condoms, and sex drugs known as poppers.
Although not in this particular photograph, Jeffrey Epstein—accused of abusing 1,200 women and girls—is understood to have attended. Royal author Andrew Lownie stated the image of a party in this private inner sanctum of the 237-room Sandringham House would 'horrify his family'.
A Pattern of Access for Epstein and Maxwell
This Sandringham photo is just one in a series released by the US Department of Justice that exposes the extraordinary access to high society Andrew granted the disgraced pair. Other images show Epstein and Maxwell as Andrew's personal guests in the Royal Box at Ascot on 22 June 2000, a Ladies' Day also attended by Queen Elizabeth and the Queen Mother.
Further files include a photograph of the couple shooting on moorland at Balmoral, after Andrew reportedly invited them to the Scottish estate in 1999. The vast tranche of documents also contains digital albums labelled with world leaders' names and hundreds of pictures of nude girls, alongside FBI files detailing Epstein's abuse of victims as young as 12.
Andrew has been dogged for years by allegations he sexually assaulted then 17-year-old Virginia Giuffre, which he vehemently denies. As consequences mount, he is set to move out of his 30-room Royal Lodge in Windsor early in the New Year to a more remote property on the Sandringham estate. The latest revelations from the Epstein files ensure the scandal continues to shadow the monarchy's doorstep.
