Mandelson's Covert Efforts to Assist Epstein in Prince Andrew Scandal
Peter Mandelson secretly attempted to help Jeffrey Epstein shut down a groundbreaking Mail on Sunday investigation into the paedophile's friendship with Prince Andrew, newly unearthed emails reveal. The extraordinary correspondence from the Epstein Files exposes how, just days after this newspaper exclusively published the first interview with Andrew's accuser Virginia Giuffre, Mandelson began advising the convicted sex offender on how to "fight back" against the allegations.
Spin Doctor's Strategic Guidance
Mandelson, famously dubbed the Dark Lord for his skills as a spin-doctor, urged Epstein to engage Schillings, a highly combative law firm known for representing oligarchs and celebrities. He also suggested potentially seeking public relations advice from Stuart Higgins, a former editor of The Sun newspaper. The former Labour cabinet minister even appears to have drafted a press statement as part of a comprehensive PR strategy for the sex offender.
These efforts formed part of what now appears to be a double-pronged bid to derail this newspaper's investigation into Andrew's connections with Epstein. The revelations come alongside previous disclosures about Prince Andrew's own attempts to discredit Ms Giuffre, including involving the Metropolitan Police and one of Queen Elizabeth's most senior aides in a campaign to smear her.
Coordinated Damage Control
On March 6, 2011, the day the Mail on Sunday published its story about the looming FBI probe into Epstein, Mandelson emailed the paedophile stating: "Andrew story now running third item on BBC news. You/Ghislainc [sic] need to instruct Schillings. Rod [Christie-Miller] contacted yet?" He later followed up, chasing Epstein with: "Let me know when Schillings contacted."
In another email, which appears to reference the Mail on Sunday's revelation that Epstein's Little Black address book contained ten telephone numbers for Mandelson, the Labour peer advised Epstein on media briefing tactics. He suggested: "Any statement [should] not name Ghislaine as owner. But [should] be made very clear that phone book does not belong to you. This [should] go out to [the Press Association] news desk as an advisory from lawyers asap."
Prince Andrew's Parallel Campaign
The seeds of Andrew's downfall were sown on February 27, 2011, when the Mail on Sunday published a wide-ranging interview with Ms Giuffre, who detailed how she had been sexually exploited and abused by Epstein for years. Speaking to reporter Sharon Churcher, Ms Giuffre, who tragically took her own life last year, explained how in 2001 she had been flown across the world to meet Prince Andrew.
Accompanying the story was the now-infamous photograph of Andrew with his arm around Ms Giuffre's naked waist, an image that continues to haunt the former prince to this day. The following Sunday, this newspaper revealed on its front page that the FBI was reopening its investigation into Epstein and detailed how British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell supplied teenage girls, including Virginia, for Epstein to abuse.
Legal Recommendations and Denials
Mandelson specifically urged Epstein that he and his legal team "must start setting down the irrefutable facts, build a narrative and then fight back." He told the sex offender that he needed a "UK libel lawyer" and recommended Rod Christie-Miller at Schillings, providing his contact details and advising Epstein to "say you got the number from friends in London."
Both Stuart Higgins and Rod Christie-Miller have since denied any involvement. Mr Higgins stated this weekend: "I've never been contacted in connection with this, either then or ever since." Mr Christie-Miller similarly said: "Neither I nor the firm worked for Epstein, nor were we ever contacted by him."
Mandelson's Recent Statements
The emails provide damning evidence that Mandelson was fully aware of the harrowing allegations Virginia Giuffre was making about Epstein. Despite this, Mandelson last month spoke about Epstein's victims, saying: "I didn't hear their voices, other people didn't hear their voices, they were disempowered within that system."
In a BBC interview, he claimed there was "a system that refused to hear their voices," adding: "The crux of this is that so many hundreds of young women were completely trapped, powerless in the system that did not listen to what they had to say." Addressing the volume of emails he sent Epstein, he stated: "Do you think I would have written emails like that if I had one iota of knowledge or suspicion of what he was doing? I certainly would not."
Official Response and Regret
Last night, a spokesman for Mandelson said: "Lord Mandelson regrets, and will regret until his dying day, that he believed Epstein's lies about his criminality. Lord Mandelson did not discover the truth about Epstein until after his death in 2019. He is profoundly sorry that powerless and vulnerable women and girls were not given the protection they deserved."
The Metropolitan Police announced in December that it would not launch a criminal investigation into Prince Andrew, a decision that dismayed Ms Giuffre's family. These new revelations about Mandelson's involvement add another layer to the complex web of relationships and damage control efforts surrounding the Epstein scandal and its connections to British establishment figures.
