The US justice department has released a tranche of photographs and documents from its investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, appearing to show how Prince Andrew facilitated the convicted sex offender's access to British high society. Among the images are photographs of Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell hunting with the former prince at Balmoral, and with him in the royal box at Ascot.
One undated image, which Sky News reported was taken at Sandringham, the late Queen Elizabeth's Norfolk estate, shows Prince Andrew reclining across the legs of five people whose faces have been redacted, with Maxwell peering down and smiling at him. Another photograph, believed to be from 2002, shows Maxwell posing in Winston Churchill's war rooms alongside a group including the former US president Bill Clinton and the actor Kevin Spacey.
The release followed the passing of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which required the US justice department to make public all files related to the investigation by midnight on Friday. Deputy attorney general Todd Blanche said "several hundred thousand" documents would be released before the legal deadline, with thousands more to follow in the coming weeks. Many of the photographs and documents have been heavily redacted, prompting criticism from US lawmakers and lawyers representing Epstein's victims.
The images also include the former wife of Prince Andrew, Sarah Ferguson, and help illustrate how he gave Epstein and Maxwell access to the upper echelons of British life. Epstein and Maxwell were invited to ladies day at Ascot on 22 June 2000 by Prince Andrew, who later said they were his guests. Epstein died by suicide in a federal jail in Manhattan in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges, and Maxwell was convicted of child sex trafficking and sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2021.
Prince Andrew's association with Epstein ultimately led to his departure from royal life. He stepped down from official duties in 2019 and later settled a lawsuit with Virginia Giuffre, who claimed she was sexually assaulted by him when she was trafficked by Epstein as a teenager. He was stripped of his royal titles by King Charles in October. Photographs of other public figures, including Bill Clinton, Mick Jagger and Michael Jackson, also feature in the files, though there is no suggestion of any wrongdoing on their part.
