Prince Andrew

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor (born February 19, 1960) is the second son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip. He served in the Royal Navy, including during the 1982 Falklands War, and held the title Duke of York from his 1986 marriage to Sarah Ferguson. His association with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell became the subject of sustained press coverage, a 2019 BBC interview, a 2021 civil lawsuit brought by Virginia Giuffre, and a 2022 settlement. In late 2025 King Charles III initiated the removal of Andrew's royal style and titles, after which he is known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. Andrew has consistently denied Giuffre's allegations.¹²

Epstein and Maxwell Friendship

Andrew developed a friendship with Epstein and Maxwell during the 1990s and 2000s, the connection running in part through Maxwell, whom Andrew had known socially in Britain. He stayed at Epstein properties, including the Manhattan townhouse and the Little St. James island, and was photographed in Epstein's company on multiple occasions, and Maxwell attended royal and society events alongside him. Epstein and Maxwell were guests at Windsor and at Sandringham, and Andrew hosted them at royal residences.¹

After Epstein's 2008 Florida conviction, Andrew remained in contact with him. In December 2010 Andrew stayed several days at Epstein's Upper East Side townhouse, and a photograph from that visit showing the two men walking together in New York's Central Park drew criticism when it was published in 2011. Andrew said in 2019 that he had gone to New York to end the friendship in person, an account later disputed by reporting and released emails indicating he had been a guest at a dinner gathering at the townhouse during the stay.¹

Andrew served as a United Kingdom trade envoy, a Special Representative for International Trade and Investment, from 2001 until 2011, when he relinquished the role amid press attention to his associations, including the Central Park photograph and his ties to figures such as the Libyan and Tunisian governments. The relationship with Epstein and Maxwell, and the questions it raised, became the central thread of the controversy that followed.¹

The December 2010 Dinner

The dinner at the townhouse was organized by the publicist Peggy Siegal. Writing to the ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos on December 1, 2010, she said: "I am putting together a very last minute casual dinner for Prince Andrew, who is in New York on an unofficial private visit. Please come and bring [your wife]. The list for far...and we are keeping this private and small... Prince Andrew, Woody Allen and Soon-Yi, Katie Couric....Jeffrey Epstein, where Andrew is staying. Jeffrey's house is one the largest single dwellings in New York...it's beautiful." Stephanopoulos accepted ("We'd love to Peggy...thanks...right around the corner from our house!"), and Siegal replied that the dinner would begin at 8 p.m., "So come on time and you will have private time with Andrew because he is staying at the house." On December 2 Stephanopoulos wrote that he could still come but his wife, Ali Wentworth, could not; Siegal answered, "OK...we will take a chair away." The chain was preserved in Epstein's email account.³ Epstein had been released from his Florida sentence seventeen months earlier.

Business Correspondence, 2010 to 2013

On December 2, 2010 an account displayed as "The Duke" forwarded to Jeffrey Epstein a request of September 30, 2010 to Andrew, copied to his private secretary Amanda Thirsk, from the managing partner of Concord Investment Partners Holdings, Ed Scott. It asked for an introduction to "the appropriate senior banker at Barclays or RBS" for a "$200 million working capital line" for Aria Petroleum, described as "Central Asia's 2nd largest fuel distribution company" and "the preferred vendor of US DoD Defense Logistics." The Duke's covering text to Epstein, signed "HRH The Duke of York KG," reads: "I should have done something about this but not sure if the office did. I am checking but as this is a US institution do you know of anyone who might like to take a look?" Epstein forwarded it to Jes Staley of JPMorgan Chase that evening with the single word "FYI."⁴ The message is dated the day after Peggy Siegal wrote that Andrew was "staying at the house" on the dinner list described above.

On February 28, 2011 David Stern wrote to Epstein: "New company name: WITAN. What do you think? PA likes it and since he did not know what it was when I told him it should be safe." Epstein answered "yes." A message to Epstein of February 21, 2011, with the sender line redacted, quotes an earlier proposed name, "STERLING," followed by the text: "PA says to Starling: 'No. Nasty dirty little bird that flocks and shits.'" The company was Asia Gateway Limited (company no. 05579668), which Companies House records as renamed Witan Limited on August 16, 2012. On February 25 Stern wrote that it would be "my UK private company for PA etc. affairs."⁵⁶ On March 1, 2011 he relayed to Epstein a message from the Duke about a Tim Collins: "PA told him that I have his full trust and Collins would be a fool not to do business with me."⁷

On June 7, 2013 Stern asked Epstein: "PA is in Silicon Valley on 25 & 26 June. Anyone you want him to see ?" Epstein answered "Yes , Steve sinofsky," and wrote to Steven Sinofsky, formerly of Microsoft: "PA is prince andrew." Sinofsky replied, "Do you want me to get him any meetings? Can I help with any folks? A dinner? ... I think he would love spending an hour hearing startup guys pitch their products."⁸ On June 19 a message to Epstein read "Arranged: Steve Sinofsky will host a lunch for PA at Andreessen Horowitz." On June 28 Sinofsky forwarded to Epstein a message to him from Thirsk, signed "Private Secretary HRH The Duke of York, KG": "Thank you so much for wednesday - it was so interesting. The Duke was fascinated by the Andressen Horowitz model and found the discussion incredibly stimulating. The portfolio companies were stunning - such incredible energy and vision. I really hope we can help them in terms of their UK aspirations. More widely lots to think about in terms of HRH's aspirations any thoughts observations would be greatly appreciated."⁹ On July 10 Stern wrote to Sinofsky, "There are some very interesting ideas with The Duke involved that I would love to discuss," and Sinofsky asked Epstein, "Do I do this?" Epstein replied "your call."¹⁰

On July 26, 2013 a message from "The Duke" to the financier Gary Winnick, copied to Thirsk, was forwarded to Epstein with the subject "Knowledge Crossing." Andrew wrote that he had "been beavering away with your request to become a member of your advisory board" and "sought higher command consultation," and that "I have been advised that I should not take up the position on the board as you would have liked but that I could and should continue to help you in all you are trying to do with Knowledge Crossing both here in the UK and overseas." The reason given was "the precedent it would set and the consequential 'perceived' point that there would be some sort of compensation. The way we do philanthropic activity here is to become Patron rather than sit on the Board of Trustees," with an exception for a royal charity or social enterprise. He added: "I know you saw David Stern whilst he was in California a week or so ago ... I will be seeing him after the Summer Recess to discuss your discussion and other things."¹¹

On August 28, 2013, the day before the date of the Cantor Fitzgerald term sheet, a message to Epstein with the sender line redacted, whose writer refers to "my entity Witan," read: "PA has access to decision makers and capital (but no deal flow) such as China, UAE, Qatar, Kuwait,.... Kleinwort Benson is a UK bank with merchant banking aspirations, and wanting to do international deals. What is the right structure to combine this? I am the connecting piece joining Kleinwort formally? What are the terms? Or JV with my entity Witan ?"¹² The documents contain no reply.

In the Newsnight interview broadcast on BBC Two on November 16, 2019, Emily Maitlis asked Andrew about Epstein's 2008 conviction and he answered: "I ceased contact with him after I was aware that he was under investigation and that was later in 2006 and I wasn't in touch with him again until 2010." Of the December 2010 visit he said that "we decided that we would part company and I left, I think it was the next day and to this day I never had any contact with him from that day forward."¹³

The 2013 Cantor Fitzgerald Proposal

On July 10, 2013 David Stern, whom the BBC describes as "the prince's business aide," wrote to Jeffrey Epstein: "What is your view on Howard Lutnick ? Just met him with PA." Epstein replied twenty-three minutes later, by the header times: "My neighbor smart." The documents do not state where the meeting took place or expand "PA."¹⁴

On August 9, 2013 a message displayed as sent by "The Duke" forwarded to Stern a solicitor's attendance note of an August 8 telephone call to New York, filed under "Urramoor" and headed "HL Asset Management etc." Stern sent it on to Epstein under the subject "HL Loan - CD/SM call note 8.8.13." The note records that "It is common ground that no PG will be required from AC" and that "the commitment by AC to contribute any profits derived from the similar activity carried on outside the assets management company would be acceptable until such time as the debt was repaid." Epstein answered: "no no no no no, howards main businesss is gambing in las vegas. he will have to disclose to the las vegas commsion his arrangeent and you will have holy hell to pay."¹⁵

A term sheet dated August 29, 2013, "Preliminary Draft for Discussion Purposes Only," described a joint venture "to be known as Cantor Urramoor Asset Management" between a wholly owned subsidiary of Cantor Fitzgerald and "[Urramoor], an entity owned by a trust created by Mr. T." It provided that "the Company would advance the sum of £1,000,000 to Urramoor which would accrue interest at an annual rate of 3.5%, compounded annually," and that "Mr. T would refer all business opportunities (including his affiliates' business opportunities) to the Company." It ends: "It is not a commitment to form the Company, either express or implied." On September 2, 2013 Stern forwarded it to Epstein as "term sheet from Howard to PA. I think madness. They are still at it. We kill it ?" Epstein proposed a counter: "fifty fifty split, first 1 millino to offset loan, no subs acting without written agreement as to fee and profits . no exclusivity." Stern asked, "Instead of 50/50, can we do 40/40/20 ? 20 for me.... This is original PA idea," and Epstein answered "yes."¹⁶

A draft "Agreement for Referrals" of November 2013 between Cantor Opportunities, LLC and "Urramoor Limited," with blank signature blocks and a joinder line headed "David Stern," replaced the joint venture with a referral arrangement in which a referral fee to Cantor "would be split 50/50 with UML." On November 16, 2013 Stern asked Epstein, "Have you seen Cantor Fitzgerald proposal?" and Epstein replied "goofy."¹⁷

Companies House lists Urramoor Limited (company number 08424933, incorporated February 28, 2013, dissolved April 1, 2025) with a person with significant control named "Hrh Andrew Inverness," notified April 6, 2016, whose nature of control is "Has significant influence or control over the trustees of a trust."¹⁵

The BBC reported on July 14, 2026 that Simon Andriesz found in the released files that a firm of Howard Lutnick "had made plans in 2013 to go into business with" Andrew, and that "Under the proposed terms of the deal, £1m would be loaned to a firm controlled by the prince, which would then be bound to do business exclusively with Cantor Fitzgerald." The BBC wrote that Lutnick "had been friends with Ferguson" (Andrew's former wife, Sarah Ferguson) "since the 1990s and was a guest at Princess Eugenie's wedding in 2018," and that advisers to both sides "discussed the deal for four months, from August to November 2013, but it came to nothing." Cantor Fitzgerald "did not deny the talks took place but told the BBC it did not go into business with the former prince." Andrew "did not respond to a request for comment."¹⁸

JPMorgan's Project Jeep Review

After Epstein's July 2019 arrest, JPMorgan's compliance staff reviewed his correspondence with the bank's executives in an internal project code-named "Project Jeep." Its October 2019 summary, quoted by the United States Virgin Islands in its 2023 suit against the bank, stated: "Jeffrey Epstein appears to maintain a particularly close relationship with Prince Andrew the [Duke] of York and Lord Peter Mandelson, a senior member of the British Government. He also appears to have a close relationship with Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem who is a senior UAE official involved in ownership of the Dubai Ports."¹⁹ Peter Mandelson had been business secretary from 2008 to 2010, while Andrew was trade envoy; Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem then headed the Dubai ports operator DP World.²⁰²¹

On January 6, 2015 a correspondent whose name is redacted wrote to Epstein's personal email address: "What hidden cameras in guest room walls?" The message contained only a link to a Mirror article whose address read "prince-andrew-been-secretly-filmed."²²

The Mutual Legal Assistance Request

On June 8, 2020, after The Hill reported that prosecutors in New York had asked to question Andrew, an agent in the FBI's New York field office forwarded the story to a supervisor with the question: "what's the latest with the Epstein case? Anything new on this MLAT request for Prince Andrew?" Another agent in the chain wrote that "SDNY planned on speaking with the USA a week or so ago," referring to the Southern District of New York and the United States Attorney.²³

The 2001 Photograph

A photograph dated to March 2001 shows Andrew with his arm around the waist of Giuffre, then 17, with Maxwell standing behind them in a doorway. According to the account associated with the image and with Giuffre's later filings, the photograph was taken at Maxwell's home in the Belgravia district of London. The Mail on Sunday published a cropped version of the photograph in 2011 and the full image circulated in 2019.²⁴

Giuffre said she had been flown to London by Epstein, had gone to the Tramp nightclub with Andrew and others on the evening of March 10, 2001, and was then directed to have sex with Andrew at Maxwell's Belgravia house, an account Andrew has denied. Andrew questioned the photograph in public statements, saying in 2019 he had "no recollection" of the image being taken and could not confirm whether it had been doctored, while noting he was not in the habit of wearing the clothes shown. Maxwell, in her own statements, has at points cast doubt on the surrounding account. The Mirror reported that Giuffre's lawyers held the original photograph, and questions about the absence of the negative recurred in commentary.²⁴ In her posthumous memoir Nobody's Girl, Giuffre wrote that Epstein himself took the photograph.²⁵

Asked in the 2019 interview about the photograph of him with Giuffre, Andrew said: "Nobody can prove whether or not that photograph has been doctored but I don't recollect that photograph ever being taken." Asked about her account, he said: "I have no recollection of ever meeting this lady, none whatsoever."¹³

The Sjoberg Deposition and Other Testimony

Johanna Sjoberg, who worked for Epstein as a masseuse, testified in a 2016 deposition in Giuffre v. Maxwell that in 2001, when she was 21, she was at Epstein's Manhattan home with Andrew and Giuffre when Maxwell took her to fetch a caricature puppet of Andrew from the satirical television series Spitting Image. She testified that she sat on Andrew's lap while Giuffre sat beside him with the puppet on her lap, that the group was photographed with the puppet's hand placed on Giuffre's breast, and that Andrew then put his hand on Sjoberg's breast. Asked about the puppet in her own deposition, Maxwell said: "Not a puppet. I don't know how you would describe it. A caricature of Prince Andrew," and "I recollect the puppet but I don't recollect anything around the puppet." Buckingham Palace had earlier called Sjoberg's allegations "categorically untrue." After the deposition was released in the January 2024 unsealing, the Metropolitan Police said: "No investigation has been launched."²⁶

Adriana Ross, a former Epstein employee named in the 2007 non-prosecution agreement as a potential co-conspirator, repeatedly invoked her Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination when questioned in 2010 about Andrew's alleged involvement.²⁷

The 2019 BBC Newsnight Interview

On November 16, 2019, Andrew recorded an interview at Buckingham Palace with Emily Maitlis for the BBC program Newsnight, broadcast on November 16 and running about 58 minutes, addressing his relationship with Epstein and Giuffre's allegations. Andrew said he could not have been with Giuffre on the night of March 10, 2001, that she described because he had been at home and had taken his daughter Princess Beatrice to a Pizza Express restaurant in Woking for a children's party, an outing he said he remembered because going to a Pizza Express in Woking was "an unusual thing for me to do."¹³

Andrew also said he had "a peculiar medical condition" that meant he did not sweat at the time, which he attributed to "an overdose of adrenalin in the Falkland's War when I was shot at," in response to Giuffre's description of him perspiring at the Tramp nightclub. He described his stay at Epstein's home after the 2008 conviction by saying "It was a convenient place to stay." Asked whether he regretted the whole friendship with Epstein, he answered: "Now, still not," citing the contacts it had brought.¹³

The interview was widely characterized as damaging to Andrew. Within days, on November 20, 2019, he announced he was stepping back from public royal duties "for the foreseeable future," saying his association with Epstein had become "a major disruption to my family's work." He said he continued to "unequivocally regret" the association, denied Giuffre's allegations, and said he was willing to assist any appropriate law enforcement agency if required. A Netflix dramatization, Scoop, and other accounts later reconstructed the negotiation and conduct of the interview.¹

The 2021 Lawsuit and 2022 Settlement

On August 9, 2021, Giuffre filed a civil lawsuit against Andrew, captioned against "Prince Andrew, Duke of York, a/k/a Andrew Albert Christian Edward, in his personal capacity," in the Southern District of New York, Giuffre v. Prince Andrew (No. 1:21-cv-06702), alleging he had sexually abused her on three occasions when she was 17, including at Maxwell's London home, at Epstein's Manhattan townhouse, and on Little St. James. The suit was brought under New York's Child Victims Act, which had temporarily revived expired civil claims. Andrew strenuously denied the allegations and sought dismissal.²²⁸

Andrew's lawyers argued that a 2009 settlement Giuffre had signed with Epstein, under which Epstein paid her 500,000 dollars and she released a category of potential defendants, also barred her claim against Andrew. Andrew's lawyers placed the 2009 agreement before the court as Exhibit A to an October 29, 2021 request for judicial notice. The agreement, which resolved Giuffre's Florida suit as Jane Doe No. 102, released Epstein's agents and employees and "any other person or entity who could have been included as a potential defendant," and recited that it was made "pursuant to and in fulfillment of" Epstein's obligations under his 2007 non-prosecution agreement with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida.²⁹ On December 16, 2021, Judge Lewis Kaplan took judicial notice of the agreement but declined to notice Andrew's other proposed exhibits (ECF No. 57), and on December 31, 2021 he denied Andrew's request to depose Giuffre and take "limited jurisdictional discovery" before ruling on the motion (ECF No. 61). After the 2009 agreement was unsealed on January 3, 2022, Kaplan signed an opinion on January 11, 2022, filed January 12 (ECF No. 64), holding that the release language was ambiguous and did not clearly cover Andrew, and denying the motion to dismiss "in all respects." He added that "nothing in this opinion or previously in these proceedings properly may be construed as indicating a view with respect to the truth of the charges or countercharges or as to the intention of the parties in entering into the 2009 Agreement." The 2009 document did not name Andrew.³⁰³¹

The day after Kaplan's ruling, on January 13, 2022, Buckingham Palace announced with the Queen's "approval and agreement" that Andrew's military affiliations and royal patronages, including his role as Colonel of the Grenadier Guards, were being returned to the Queen and that Andrew would no longer use the style His Royal Highness in any official capacity, defending the case thereafter as a private citizen.³² On February 15, 2022, the parties filed notice of a settlement before Kaplan. The filing stated that Andrew intended to make "a substantial donation to Ms. Giuffre's charity in support of victims' rights," that "Prince Andrew has never intended to malign Ms. Giuffre's character," and that he "accepts that she has suffered both as an established victim of abuse and as a result of unfair public attacks." The settlement contained no admission of liability, and the filing stated that the sum was not being disclosed. Press reporting estimated the value in the range of 12 million pounds, with other reporting citing figures around 7.5 million pounds; the actual amount was not made public. The stipulation of dismissal, filed and so-ordered on March 8, 2022 (ECF No. 83), recites "the parties' settlement agreement dated February 12, 2022," three days before the public notice.²²⁸³⁰ After Giuffre's death in April 2025, the Western Australian proceedings over her estate described its assets as including what remained of the settlement, reported at 12 million pounds.³³

Removal of Titles

On October 17, 2025, Andrew announced he would no longer use his title of Duke of York or the other honors conferred on him, while continuing to deny the allegations against him. The announcement came amid renewed attention following Giuffre's death and the imminent publication of her posthumous memoir Nobody's Girl, and after reporting on emails and on the terms of his occupation of Royal Lodge.³⁴

On October 30, 2025, Buckingham Palace announced that King Charles III had that day "initiated a formal process to remove the Style, Titles and Honours of Prince Andrew." A Warrant under the King's Royal Sign Manual dated October 30, 2025, directed the Secretary of State to cause the Duke of York to be removed from the Roll of the Peerage with immediate effect. Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the Realm dated November 3, 2025, declared that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor would no longer be entitled to hold the style "Royal Highness" or the titular dignity of "Prince." The actions were effected through the royal prerogative and published in the London Gazette by the Crown Office, rather than through Parliament.³⁵³⁶

The House of Commons Library noted that removal from the Roll of the Peerage and the withdrawal of the style and dignity by Letters Patent are distinct from abolishing the Dukedom of York itself, which is a hereditary peerage that can be removed only by an Act of Parliament. Andrew's daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, retained their princess styles, conferred under a separate 1917 Letters Patent. The Palace announced Andrew would leave Royal Lodge, his 30-room residence in Windsor Great Park held under a long lease, and relocate to privately funded accommodation on the Sandringham estate in Norfolk. He continued to deny the allegations throughout.³⁵³⁶

The 2026 Arrest

After the Justice Department's January 2026 release of Epstein files under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, Thames Valley Police said it was examining allegations that Andrew had sent confidential trade reports to Epstein during his time as the United Kingdom's trade envoy. On February 19, 2026, his sixty-sixth birthday, the force arrested "a man in his sixties from Norfolk" on "suspicion of misconduct in public office" and searched addresses in Berkshire and Norfolk. Assistant Chief Constable Oliver Wright said: "Following a thorough assessment, we have now opened an investigation into this allegation of misconduct in public office." Andrew was released that evening and remained under investigation. King Charles III, confirming that the arrested man was his brother, said: "Let me state clearly: the law must take its course." Andrew did not respond to requests for comment; he has previously denied any wrongdoing relating to Epstein.³⁷ Four days later the Metropolitan Police arrested Peter Mandelson on suspicion of the same offense, over messages suggesting he had passed government information to Epstein while business secretary in 2009 and 2010.²⁰