Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s downfall as a working royal is certainly intertwined together with his connection to the late disgraced financier and convicted intercourse offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Whereas Mountbatten-Windsor has at all times denied any wrongdoing, he was accused by Epstein sufferer Virginia Giuffre (née Roberts) of sexually assaulting her 3 times when she was 17 years previous. The 2 apparently met by way of Epstein and his companion Ghislaine Maxwell, the latter of whom was convicted of intercourse trafficking of a minor following Epstein’s dying by suicide in 2019. (Maxwell maintains her innocence.)
Mountbatten-Windsor initially stepped again from his royal duties because the Epstein scandal exploded in 2019, however it wasn’t till the allegations resurfaced in October 2025 that he formally gave up his royal title.
“[I will] now not use my title or the honors which have been conferred upon me,” he advised Us Weekly in a press release. “As I’ve stated beforehand, I vigorously deny the accusations in opposition to me.”
Preserve scrolling for a full timeline of Mountbatten-Windsor’s connection to Epstein.
Prince Andrew and Jeffrey Epstein’s Introduction
Mountbatten-Windsor advised Newsnight journalist Emily Maitlis in a bombshell 2019 interview that he was launched to Epstein in 1999, which differs from notes taken by the prince’s personal secretary in 2011, which specified that Mountbatten-Windsor and the financier met in “the early Nineties.”
The 2 males had been reportedly launched by Maxwell, Mountbatten-Windsor’s longtime buddy and Epstein’s companion.
Jeffrey Epstein Visited Prince Andrew at Windsor Citadel
Mountbatten-Windsor confirmed to Newsnight that Epstein visited him at Windsor Citadel and Sandringham in 2000, although he specified that the financier wasn’t given a proper invitation from the royal household.
“[It was] actually at my invitation, not on the Royal Household’s invitation however keep in mind that it was his girlfriend [Maxwell] that was the important thing aspect on this,” Mountbatten-Windsor insisted. “He was, because it had been, plus one, to some extent in that facet.”
That very same 12 months, Mountbatten-Windsor and Epstein had been each noticed at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Seashore, Florida.
Epstein’s Conviction
In 2008, Epstein pleaded responsible to costs of kid prostitution and soliciting a prostitute. As a part of a plea deal, he served solely 13 months behind bars.
Mountbatten-Windsor advised Newsnight that he’d “ceased contact” with Epstein all through the investigation and trial, however bought again in contact in 2010.
“It was a kind of issues that someone’s going by way of that type of factor, ‘Effectively I’m terribly sorry I can’t be [seen with] you,’” he defined.
Prince Andrew’s New York Go to
Mountbatten-Windsor made a really controversial choice to go to Epstein at his New York Metropolis mansion in 2010, following the convicted intercourse offender’s launch from the Palm Seashore County Jail. On Newsnight, the royal was requested why he’d agreed to remain at Epstein’s residence in gentle of his conviction.
“I’ve questioned myself as to why did I’m going and what was I doing and was it the best factor to do?” he stated. “Now, I went there with the only real objective of claiming to him that as a result of he had been convicted, it was inappropriate for us to be seen collectively.”
The 2 had been seen collectively days later when the paparazzi photographed them on a stroll in Central Park.
“We had a possibility to go for a stroll within the park and that was the dialog coincidentally that was photographed which was after I stated to him, I stated, ‘Look, due to what has occurred, I don’t assume it’s acceptable that we should always stay involved,’ and by mutual settlement throughout that stroll within the park we determined that we might half firm and I left,” Mountbatten-Windsor advised Newsnight. “I feel it was the following day and to at the present time I by no means had any contact with him from that day ahead.”
Andrew Resigns From Key Function
The repercussions over Mountbatten-Windsor and Epstein’s Central Park {photograph} had been swift, as Buckingham Palace introduced in 2011 that he would resign as a U.Okay. commerce envoy.
Sexual Assault Allegation In opposition to Andrew
As a part of a sufferer’s rights lawsuit in opposition to Epstein and Maxwell, Giuffre alleged that she was sexually abused by Mountbatten-Windsor when she was 17 years previous in 2001. Following an evening out at London’s Tramp nightclub with Epstein, Maxwell and Mountbatten-Windsor, Giuffre alleged that she was paid $15,000 by Maxwell and advised to “do for [Mountbatten-Windsor] what you do for Epstein” at Maxwell’s condo.
“I’ve no recollection of ever assembly her. I’m, nearly, in actual fact I’m satisfied that I used to be by no means in Tramps together with her,” Mountbatten-Windsor advised Newsnight in 2019. “There are a selection of issues which might be fallacious with that story, one in every of which is that I don’t know the place the bar is in Tramps. I don’t drink. I don’t assume I’ve ever purchased a drink in Tramps each time I used to be there.”
In one other fiery trade from his Newsnight interview, Maitlis introduced up Giuffre’s reminiscence of Mountbatten-Windsor “profusely sweating” as they danced collectively at Tramps.
“There’s a slight drawback with the sweating as a result of I’ve a peculiar medical situation which is that I don’t sweat or I didn’t sweat on the time and that was … was it … sure, I didn’t sweat on the time as a result of I had suffered what I’d describe as an overdose of adrenalin within the Falkland’s Struggle after I was shot at and I merely … it was nearly inconceivable for me to sweat,” he replied.
{A photograph} of Mountbatten-Windsor and Giuffre exists although he denied the “{photograph} was taken” by Epstein with a view to compel him to contribute to a rehabilitation of the financier’s picture.
“If that {photograph} was taken with that objective in thoughts, then it doesn’t … equate to what truly occurred,” he insisted.
Giuffre received a defamation lawsuit in opposition to Maxwell in 2017 and settled a separate swimsuit with Epstein in 2009.
Epstein’s 2nd Arrest
The financier was taken into custody on federal costs of intercourse trafficking minors on July 6, 2019. Federal officers apprehended Epstein at Teterboro airport in New Jersey as he returned from a flight to Paris.
Episode Discovered Lifeless
Epstein was discovered lifeless of a suspected suicide in his jail cell at New York Metropolis’s Metropolitan Correctional Heart on August 10, 2019.
Newsnight Interview
Mountbatten-Windsor sat down for a 58-minute TV interview with BBC Newsnight journalist Emily Maitlis, the place he hesitated when requested if he regretted his friendship with Epstein.
“Nonetheless not and the reason is is that the people who I met and the alternatives that I used to be given to be taught both by him or due to him had been truly very helpful,” Mountbatten-Windsor answered. “He himself not, because it had been, as shut as you may assume, we weren’t that shut. So subsequently, I imply sure, I’d go and keep in his home however that was due to his girlfriend, not due to him.”
Responding to Giuffre’s accusations, Mountbatten-Windsor stated he had “no recollection of ever assembly” her and denied any wrongdoing.
Stepping Again
In gentle of his disastrous Newsnight look, Mountbatten-Windsor introduced in November 2019 that he was stepping again from royal duties.
“It has turn into clear to me over the previous couple of days that the circumstance regarding my former affiliation with Jeffrey Epstein has turn into a significant disruption to my household’s work and the dear work happening within the many organizations and charities that I’m proud to help,” he stated. “Subsequently, I’ve requested Her Majesty if I could step again from public duties for the foreseeable future, and she or he has given her permission.”
Lawsuit and Non-public Settlement
Giuffre accused Mountbatten-Windsor of sexual assault and intentional infliction of emotional misery in a lawsuit filed in 2021. Attorneys for the royal confirmed in February 2022 that he’d settled the lawsuit for an undisclosed sum. Mountbatten-Windsor continued to keep up his innocence.
“Prince Andrew intends to make a considerable donation to Ms. Giuffre’s charity in help of victims’ rights,” a letter from his attorneys learn. “Prince Andrew has by no means meant to malign Ms. Giuffre’s character, and he accepts that she has suffered each as a longtime sufferer of abuse and on account of unfair public assaults.”
Giuffre died by suicide at age 41 in April 2025.
New E book on Prince Andrew Exposes Alleged Emails
Andrew Lownie’s tell-all 2025 guide Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the Home of York set off a firestorm of latest allegations concerning the prince’s connection to Epstein. A number of U.Okay. retailers revealed alleged e-mail correspondence between Mountbatten-Windsor, his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson and Epstein.
One alleged e-mail despatched in 2011 noticed Mountbatten-Windsor writing to Epstein that they had been “on this collectively and must rise above it.” One other e-mail allegedly despatched after Ferguson publicly distanced herself from Epstein in 2011 noticed her tackle the convicted intercourse offender as “a steadfast, beneficiant and supreme buddy to me and my household.”
In response to the resurfaced messages, Ferguson’s spokesperson advised BBC Information: “The duchess spoke of her remorse about her affiliation with Epstein a few years in the past, and as they’ve at all times been, her first ideas are together with his victims. Like many individuals, she was taken in by his lies. As quickly as she was conscious of the extent of the allegations in opposition to him, she not solely reduce off contact however condemned him publicly, to the extent that he then threatened to sue her for defamation for associating him with paedophilia.”
Prince Andrew Formally Resigns From Royal Duties, Provides Up His Title
With pressure as soon as once more mounting over the Epstein scandal, Mountbatten-Windsor introduced in October 2025 that he would hand over his royal title.
Jeffrey Epstein and Prince Andrew’s accuser, Virginia Giuffre, died in April 2025, together with her household confirming her dying was as a consequence of suicide. Giuffre, who was simply 41 on the time of her dying in Neergabby, Australia, had been on the heart of accusations in opposition to Prince Andrew and the late Epstein involving sexual abuse and intercourse […]
“In dialogue with The King, and my speedy and wider household, we’ve concluded the continued accusations about me distract from the work of His Majesty and the Royal Household,” Mountbatten-Windsor stated in a press release to Us on October 17, 2025. “I’ve determined, as I at all times have, to place my obligation to my household and nation first. I stand by my choice 5 years in the past to face again from public life.”
He concluded, “With His Majesty’s settlement, we really feel I need to now go a step additional. I’ll subsequently now not use my title or the honors which have been conferred upon me. As I’ve stated beforehand, I vigorously deny the accusations in opposition to me.”
Buckingham Palace Begins Course of to Strip Prince Andrew of His Royal Titles
A palace spokesperson introduced on October 30, 2025, that King Charles III had initiated the method to strip his brother of his royal titles. Because of this, his sibling would “now be often called Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor,” the palace confirmed.
Mountbatten-Windsor might be required to maneuver out of his residence at Royal Lodge, which he acquired as a part of a peppercorn lease settlement in 2003.
“[Mountbatten-Windsor’s] lease on Royal Lodge has, so far, supplied him with authorized safety to proceed in residence,” Buckingham Palace advised Us in a press release. “Formal discover has now been served to give up the lease and he’ll transfer to different personal lodging. These censures are deemed crucial, however the truth that he continues to disclaim the allegations in opposition to him.”
Prince Andrew Seen in Newly Launched Photographs from Jeffrey Epstein’s Property
On December 12, 2025, Democrats from the Home Oversight Committee launched 19 pictures of greater than 95,000 recovered from Epstein’s property. President Trump, former President Invoice Clinton, director Woody Allen and former Microsoft chairman Invoice Gates had been all featured within the pictures however all have denied any data of Epstein’s wrongdoing.
The photographs had been obtained as a part of the Home Oversight Committee’s settlement with the Epstein property to assessment pictures and movies “taken at any property owned, rented, operated, or utilized by Epstein from January 1, 1990 by way of August 10, 2019.”
Invoice Gates and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor in picture obtained from Epstein property. Courtesy of Oversight Dems/X
Mountbatten-Windsor is proven alongside Gates in one of many newly launched pictures. The tech magnate advised the Wall Avenue Journal in January 2025 that it was “silly” to spend time with Epstein.
“He type of bought time with numerous individuals by spending time with different individuals,” Gates stated. “So, sure, I feel I used to be fairly silly. I assumed it might assist me with world well being philanthropy. In actual fact, it failed to do this. It was simply an enormous mistake.”
Us reached out to Buckingham Palace for remark.
Prince Andrew Gained’t Face Police Motion Over Bodyguard Allegation
A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police advised BBC Information on December 13, 2025, that police would take “no additional motion” in opposition to Mountbatten-Windsor over accusations that he requested his taxpayer funded police safety officer for data on Giuffre.
The Mail on Sunday reported in October that Mountbatten-Windsor gave Giuffre’s date of start and social safety quantity to a safety officer. Mountbatten-Windsor has not commented on the allegations.
“The Met stays dedicated to totally assessing any new data that would help on this matter,” they stated. “Thus far, we’ve not obtained any extra proof that might help reopening the investigation. Within the absence of any additional data, we might be taking no additional motion.”
The police assertion continued, “As with every different matter, ought to new and related data be dropped at our consideration, together with in any data ensuing from the discharge of fabric within the U.S., we are going to assess it.”
Giuffre’s household stated in a press release that they had been “deeply disillusioned” that U.Okay. police dropped the probe “with out rationalization and with out talking to us.”
Us reached out to Buckingham Palace for remark.
