A collected photo of ex-Prince Andrew

LONDON, Jan 31, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Britain's former prince Andrew was again 
engulfed Saturday by the Epstein scandal, after newly released files included 
photographs of him kneeling on all fours over a woman lying on the floor.

The images were among millions of new documents disclosed Friday by the US 
Justice Department from the Jeffrey Epstein files, which also featured the 
late sex offender proposing in 2010 that the then-prince meet a Russian 
woman.

That was two years after the disgraced US financier had pleaded guilty in 
Florida to soliciting a minor for prostitution.

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, as the ex-prince he is now known, has long been 
dogged by his links to Epstein, who died in 2019 by suicide in jail as he 
awaited trial for sex crimes against minors.

The 65-year-old Briton has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, but stepped back 
from royal duties that year over their links.

Then last October, King Charles III stripped him of all his royal titles and 
honours after the late Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre recounted in a 
posthumous memoir shocking claims against the disgraced royal.

Giuffre, a US and Australian citizen who took her own life last year, has 
alleged she was trafficked to have sex with Andrew three times, including 
twice when she was 17.

After she launched a lawsuit against him, he paid her a multi-million-pound 
settlement in 2022 without making any admission of guilt.

- 'Beautiful, trustworthy' -

The latest disclosures in Washington come with Andrew reportedly set to leave 
his 30-room mansion on the royal estate at Windsor imminently after Charles 
ousted him, and are likely to fuel further criticism.

He will also face fresh pressure to testify in the US over what he knew about 
Epstein's conduct.

One of the undated pictures of Andrew and the unidentified female, both of 
them clothed, appears to show the former duke touching her abdomen. In 
another he stares, crouching over her, directly into the camera.

No context is provided for the images and it is unclear where and when they 
were taken.

Meanwhile, in the August 2010 email, Epstein told Andrew -- addressed as "The 
Duke" -- that he had "a friend who I think you might enjoy having dinner 
with" in London later that month.

In the exchanges, Epstein said the woman was "26, Russian, clevere [clever] 
beautiful, trustworthy", noting that he had given her the prince's email.

Andrew eventually replied he "would be delighted to see her".

It is unclear if any meeting subsequently took place.

- 'Private time' -

Weeks later, he and Epstein appeared to discuss having dinner at Buckingham 
Palace after the American contacted Andrew while in London saying they needed 
to have some "private time".

Andrew replied they could "have dinner at Buckingham Palace and lots of 
privacy".

Two days later the ex-duke emailed again that he was "delighted for you to 
come here to BP (Buckingham Palace)". "Come with whomever..." he added.

It was not clear whether any dinner at the palace -- then the official London 
residence of the late Queen Elizabeth II -- ever took place.

In a 2019 BBC interview, Andrew claimed he had cut ties with Epstein after 
December 2010, but court documents revealed later showed he continued to 
communicate with him.

Other documents made public last year and Giuffre's memoir have reignited UK 
anger over their ties and the claims against Andrew.

The new files also again spotlight the relationship between Epstein and 
former British ambassador to Washington and UK minister Peter Mandelson.

Mandelson resigned from the US post last year after emails emerged showing he 
had also maintained friendly contact with him after the American's 2008 
conviction.

The latest disclosures show Epstein in 2009 wired thousands of pounds to 
Mandelson's husband after he had asked the American to pay for the fees for 
an osteopathy course.