...
By Jack Royston
Chief Royal Correspondent
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly Prince Andrew, was "considering abdication" in the months after he was first tied to the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, an email from the Epstein Files suggests.
Why It Matters
Virginia Giuffre sued Mountbatten-Windsor in 2021, accusing him of raping her in 2001 when she was a 17-year-old Epstein sex trafficking victim. Mountbatten-Windsor denied the allegation and settled out of court for an undisclosed sum without admitting liability.
Read More on News
Years earlier though, Giuffre described publicly for the first time being flown by Epstein to London to meet Andrew in an interview with The Mail on Sunday, published at the end of February 2011.
...
The U.K. Sunday tabloid also published for the first time a now famous image of Mountbatten-Windsor with his arm around Giuffre's waist. The coverage marked the start of Mountbatten-Windsor's involvement in the Epstein scandal. Giuffre did not actually state she had been made to have sex with Mountbatten-Windsor until lawsuits filed in America in 2015.
The Andrew Abdication Email
In May 2011, after Giuffre's interview, a woman named only as Melanie emailed Epstein after an apparent visit to see Mountbatten-Windsor and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson: "Stuff bad for A's girls. Got royal protection taken away. Queen said np royal list, get a job. S has a specific question for you.
"A is sad and frustrated. Considering abdication but he's like a zoo animal, no way esp now for him to thrive. I took my laundry to their house yesterday they were a little shocked. I hope that wasn't rude. A said yes, but S wasn't amused. I needed yoga clothes."
Epstein sent a short reply which has been redacted and the original sender then answered that message by saying: "So you aren't even curious?"
Abdication, in reality, is for monarchs and Andrew was nowhere near becoming king even back in 2011, before the birth of Prince William's children pushed him even further down the Line of Succession. With Queen Elizabeth II still on the throne he was fourth, behind King Charles III [then still a prince], Prince William and Prince Harry.
It is likely the abdication reference may have been aiming at a move closer to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's decision to quit life as working royals. It is unclear whether the phrase was used by Mountbatten-Windsor and Ferguson or just by the guest who emailed Epstein.
Relations With Epstein Break Down
The email is also significant because it largely follows a breakdown in relations between Ferguson and Epstein earlier that year after news stories about Ferguson borrowing money from him broke in the British press.
Ferguson responded with a public statement in March 2011: "I personally, on behalf of myself, deeply regret that Jeffrey Epstein became involved in any way with me.
"I abhor paedophilia and any sexual abuse of children and know that this was a gigantic error of judgment on my behalf. I am just so contrite I cannot say."
"Whenever I can I will repay the money and will have nothing ever to do with Jeffrey Epstein ever again," she continued. "What he did was wrong and for which he was rightly jailed."
Epstein threatened to sue Ferguson so on April 26, 2011 Ferguson sent him a message aimed at calming the tension: "I know you feel hellaciously let down by me from what you were either told or read and I must humbly apologise to you and your heart for that."
All of that was before the visitor emailed Epstein to say Mountbatten-Windsor was considering "abdicating" and that Ferguson had a question for Epstein.
In September, 2011 a message was relayed to Epstein by a third party who said it came from "F": "Don't know if you are still on this bbm but heard from The Duke that you have had a baby boy.
"Even though you never kept in touch, I still am here with love, friendship and congratulations on your baby boy. Sarah xx"
A follow-up from the same sender read: "You have disappeared. I did not even know you were having a baby. It was sooooo crystal clear to me that you were only friends with me to get to Andrew. And that really hurt me deeeply. More than you will know."
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines