The latest documents released from the so-called “Epstein Files” have shed further light on the Duke of York’s association with the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. Andrew’s friendship with Epstein led to him stepping down from royal duties in 2019, and the King subsequently stripped him of his HRH style and prince title.
Andrew previously told BBC Newsnight he first met Epstein through his girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, in 1999. However, his then-private secretary Alastair Watson wrote to The Times in March 2011 saying the meeting took place in the “early 1990s”. Andrew later said he saw Epstein “infrequently”, adding “probably no more than only once or twice a year”. During Maxwell’s sex trafficking trial, jurors heard that Andrew flew on Epstein’s private plane with a 14-year-old girl in the mid-1990s.
Virginia Giuffre has claimed she had sex with Andrew “three times, including one orgy”, with the first encounter allegedly taking place at Maxwell’s London townhouse in 2001. She also alleged encounters at Epstein’s New York apartment and at an “orgy” on his private island, Little St James, in the Caribbean. Under oath in 2009, Epstein’s former housekeeper Juan Alessi testified that Andrew had “daily massages” at the financier’s Florida home. After Epstein was released from jail, Andrew was photographed with him in New York’s Central Park, prompting his resignation as UK trade envoy.
In February 2011, Andrew told Epstein “we are in this together”, despite later claiming he had broken off contact in December 2010. Buckingham Palace denied any impropriety after Andrew was named in US court documents. Ms Giuffre later testified that Epstein paid her 15,000 dollars (£11,180) to have sex with Andrew, and described an encounter in Maxwell’s bath in 2001, saying: “He was adorning my young body, particularly my feet, caressing my toes and licking my arches.” Another alleged victim, Johanna Sjoberg, claimed Andrew touched her breast on a couch in Epstein’s Manhattan apartment in 2001. The palace called the allegations “categorically untrue”.
Epstein was found dead in his jail cell in August 2019 after being charged with sex trafficking. Later that month, a pilot on Epstein’s private jet, David Rodgers, claimed Andrew was a passenger on flights with Epstein and a 17-year-old Ms Giuffre, including a trip to the US Virgin Islands on April 11 2001. The palace said the statement had “a number of inconsistencies” and that Andrew was on a different continent in some instances.
