Three emails show how Andrew's problems are worsening
The messages are damning. And could pose even more problems for the embattled royal.
Trade secrets … not
The sordid revelations around Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein have taken on a whole new dimension with the discovery of an email chain in the release of millions of files by the U.S. Department of Justice. That email chain, which is from November 30, 2010, appears to show the then-Duke of York receiving confidential government information from Amit Patel, identified as special advisor to HRH the Duke of York, regarding trips the royal had recently taken as U.K. trade envoy. The email has Word document attachments that appear to be the “visit reports” for referenced in Patel’s email for Hong Kong, Singapore, Vietnam, as well as Shenzhen, China.
According to the time stamps on the Department of Justice scan (EFTA00751685) of the email chain, Andrew forwarded Patel’s email with its attachments to Jeffrey Epstein within five minutes of receiving it. Epstein was a convicted sex offender in November 2010. (The information was first reported by the BBC)
Andrew could be in serious legal trouble for sharing such sensitive government information. Though Andrew was not a civil servant, his role of trade envoy “carries with it a duty of confidentiality in relation to information received. This may include sensitive, commercial, or political information shared about relevant markets/visits,” according to official terms of reference cited by the BBC. Furthermore, “This duty of confidentiality will continue to apply after the expiry of their term of office. In addition, the Official Secrets Acts 1911 and 1989 will apply.”
On Monday, Thames Valley Police said it was assessing these newest allegations against Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.
Investing in Afghanistan?
If that wasn’t enough, there’s another email in the DOJ files (EFTA02033746) that also poses legal trouble for Andrew as it suggests he was sending confidential files to a wider group of people, not just Epstein.
Remarkably, the email was sent to Jeffrey Epstein on Christmas Eve 2010. In it, Andrew references the attached “confidential brief produced by the Provincial Reconstruction Team in Helmand Province” of Afghanistan. Andrew also states, “I am going to offer this elsewhere in my network (including in Abu Dhabi) but would be very interested in your comments, views or ideas as to whom I could also usefully show this to attract some interest.”
The BBC also cites another email from February 9, 2011, in which “Andrew suggests Epstein might invest in a private equity firm he visited a week before.”
That infamous photo with Virginia Giuffre
If that wasn’t enough, there’s an email that traces back to the very beginning of the scandal. It casts doubt on Andrew’s narrative of what he did and didn’t do.
On February 27, 2011, the Mail on Sunday published the now-famous image of Andrew with his arm around Virginia Giuffre while Ghislaine Maxwell stood behind them. It was the start of the public Andrew-Epstein scandal that continues to this day.
Giuffre said the photo was taken a decade earlier in March 2001 inside Maxwell’s home. In that Mail interview, Giuffre didn’t explicitly say she was forced by Maxwell and Epstein to have sex with the prince while she was an underage teen. That bombshell would come later, along with a civil lawsuit against Andrew, which he settled for millions.
Andrew has long cast doubts on the validity of that image. In his infamous 2019 BBC interview, he stated that he didn’t remember meeting Giuffre, posing for the image, or having sex: “I can tell you categorically I don't remember meeting her at all. I do not remember a photograph being taken and I've said consistently and frequently that we never had any sort of sexual contact whatever,” adding, “I’ve been through it and through it and through it, over and over and over again, and no, nothing. It just never happened.”
Yet, in a newly discovered email chain dated on March 4, 2011, found in the DOJ Epstein files (EFTA01990860), Andrew’s private secretary, Amanda Thirsk, emails her boss a draft statement (which appears to be in the voice of Ghislaine Maxwell), which Andrew forwards to Epstein. That email chain was created in the immediate fallout of that Mail story.
The Thirsk draft reads:
I would go with something along the following lines ….
The allegations that are made by [name redacted by the DOJ] in paragraph 6 in relation to The Duke of York are completely untrue and without foundation. The only time I recall them meeting was at my home in 2001 in London—you have published a photo. They did not have sex. They may have met again in New York but I categorically state that Prince Andrew did not grope Ms [name redacted] and [name redacted] nor did they have sex. There was no orgy in Little St James.
That email not only suggests that the photo published in the Mail is authentic but that Andrew and his private secretary knew Giuffre’s allegations would eventually include sex.
In addition, that email chain from 2011 syncs with a draft statement written by Ghislaine Maxwell in 2015, which was also in the DOJ Epstein files, and which also indicates that the Andrew-Giuffre photo is real.
I wrote about that draft statement from 2015 in a previous post, “Andrew, Epstein, and Elizabeth II”:
Though names are redacted, the Maxwell draft statement appears to address claims by Giuffre. “In 2001 I was in London when [redacted name, believed to be Giuffre] met a number of friends of mine including Prince Andrew. A photo was taken as I imagine she wanted to show it to friends and family.”
The royal family responds
On Monday, the seriousness of the troubles swirling around Andrew proved so urgent that both Kensington and Buckingham Palaces issued statements.
First, the spokesperson for the Prince and Princess of Wales issued a statement ahead of the beginning of Prince William’s official visit to Saudi Arabia:
I can confirm that the Prince and Princess of Wales have been deeply concerned by the continuing revelations. Their thoughts remain focused on the victims.
There’s no need to explain what “continuing revelations” are being referenced.
Then, Buckingham Palace issued an even more pointed statement through a spokesperson:
The King has made clear, in words and through unprecedented actions, his profound concern at allegations which continue to come to light in respect of Mr Mountbatten-Windsor’s conduct.
While the specific claims in question are for Mr Mountbatten-Windsor to address, if we are approached by Thames Valley Police we stand ready to support them as you would expect.
As was previously stated, Their Majesties’ thoughts and sympathies have been, and remain with, the victims of any and all forms of abuse.