PRINCE Andrew told paedo pal Jeffrey Epstein “we are in this together” in an email — three months after the date he said he’d severed contact.
The Duke, 65, messaged on February 28, 2011 a day after the infamous photo emerged of him with Virginia Giuffre.
On February 27, 2011, an image showing Andrew with teen Virginia is published for the first time[/caption]
The bombshell February 28 2011 message, obtained by this newspaper, proves Andrew, 65, lied when he told BBC Newsnight he ceased contact with the financier three months earlier, in December 2010.
It brings new context to his links with Epstein, and piles more pressure on the Royal Family to further ostracise him.
Andrew contacted his financier pal just hours after accuser Virginia Giuffre set out how, aged 17, she was flown to London to party with the Duke in March 2001.
The photo, published for the first time on February 27, 2011, showed Andrew with his arm around Virginia’s waist at the London townhouse of Epstein’s then- girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell.
‘In this together’
The extraordinary February 28 email also casts doubt on Andrew’s 2019 Newsnight claim he had “no recollection” of meeting Virginia.
In his message, Andrew assured Epstein: “I’m just as concerned for you! Don’t worry about me! It would seem we are in this together and will have to rise above it.”
And Andrew appeared to have no plans to end the friendship, urging Epstein to “keep in close touch”.
Disturbingly, he told the predator: “We’ll play some more soon!!!!”
The message was sent from Andrew’s official email address which had the automated signature “HRH The Duke of York KG”.
The address for Epstein has been previously confirmed as his in official records.
Royal author Ingrid Seward said: “I’m afraid this looks very, very bad for Andrew. It’s a small but hugely damning email.
“By getting caught in this lie, he has put one foot in the mire and slipped and got his whole body in the muck.
“If it was his contention that he had never met Virginia, or indeed that the infamous image was a creation, then surely he would have said something straight away?
“Andrew is often misguidedly loyal to friends. Even so it is astonishing he seems to care more about Epstein’s reputation than his own.
This is the point of no return for Andrew. The lifeless tentacles of Epstein’s reputation are ruinous to many people and I can’t see a way back from this
Royal author Ingrid Seward
“Maybe he thought as a prince of the blood he was above incrimination. Given what we know about Epstein, to say ‘we’re in this together’ has terrible connotations.
“This is the point of no return for Andrew. The lifeless tentacles of Epstein’s reputation are ruinous to many people and I can’t see a way back from this.”
Andrew told Newsnight’s Emily Maitlis he stopped all contact with Epstein after they were pictured in New York’s Central Park in early December 2010.
The Duke insisted his visit to the financier’s home was to inform him that it was no longer “appropriate” for them to remain friends.
He claimed ending the relationship over the phone would have been “the chicken’s way of doing it”.
He told Newsnight: “By mutual agreement, during that walk in the park, we decided that we would part company and I left, I think it was the next day.
FEB 28, 2011: ANDREW SENDS EMAIL TO EPSTEIN DAY AFTER PICTURE IS PUBLISHED
From: tdoy@*****.com
Sent: Mon Feb 28, 2011
To: Jeevacation@gmail.com
Subject: RE:
I’m just as concerned for you! Don’t worry about me!
It would seem we are in this together and will have to rise above it.
Otherwise keep in close touch and we’ll play some more soon!!!!
A
HRH The Duke of York KG
“And to this day I never had any contact with him from that day forward.”
But our email proves the pair maintained a close relationship 12 weeks later.
Andrew also insisted to Ms Maitlis that the London encounter with Virginia “never happened”.
He even suggested the Virginia picture could have been forged, saying: “Nobody can prove whether or not that photograph has been doctored but I don’t recollect that photograph ever being taken.”
But Andrew made no mention of his theory in the email to Epstein a day after the image was published.
In 2015 allegations that Andrew had sex with Virginia emerged in court documents related to Epstein.
Andrew has always vehemently denied claims she was trafficked to London for sex with him.
Epstein was found dead in jail in 2019 aged 66[/caption]
The scandal has seen him lose his royal titles and patronages.
In 2022 he agreed to pay Virginia a reported £12million settlement, while maintaining his denials of her allegations.
He lives at 30-room Royal Lodge, Windsor.
Epstein was found dead in jail in 2019 aged 66.
Maxwell, 63, is serving 20 years’ jail for sex trafficking.
Mother-of-three Virginia died by suicide this April aged 41.
The February 2011 email from Andrew to Epstein was first mentioned in legal filings involving ex-Barclays Bank boss Jes Staley.
It came to light after Mr Staley appealed against a decision by the Financial Conduct Authority.
A short section of the email was quoted in legal documents, and only made reference to “a member of the British Royal Family”.
The email’s veracity and full contents have not been confirmed until now.
It raises questions over the extent of which the Yorks’ fortunes were linked to Epstein.
Andrew stated in his Newsnight interview that he first met Epstein in 1999 through Maxwell.
‘Supreme friend’
The couple were guests at events hosted by the Duke, including a shooting weekend for Maxwell’s birthday and a Sandringham party.
Even after an arrest warrant was issued for Epstein on charges related to the sexual assault of a minor in Florida, Epstein and Maxwell were guests at Andrew’s daughter Beatrice’s 18th birthday party at Windsor Castle in 2006.
In July 2008 Epstein was jailed for 18 months after pleading guilty to procuring underage girls.
He was released before Andrew’s 2010 visit to New York.
Last month we told how Andrew’s ex-wife Sarah Ferguson called Epstein her “supreme friend” in an email on April 26, 2011.
A month earlier, she had apologised for accepting money from Epstein and denounced him.
Our story saw Fergie dropped by seven charities.
She and Andrew were also disinvited from the Royal Family’s Christmas celebrations.
Last week it emerged then-PM Sir Tony Blair hosted Epstein at No10 in 2002 amid lobbying from Lord Mandelson.
In a briefing, Epstein was described as super-rich and “close to the Duke of York”.
Sir Tony’s spokesperson said the pair held a 30-minute meeting and “he never met or engaged with him subsequently”.
Lord Mandelson was fired as the UK’s US ambassador last month over links to Epstein.
Prince Andrew and Buckingham Palace declined to comment.
- Daphne Barak is a world-renowned documentary filmmaker who has interviewed the likes of Nelson Mandela, Michel Jackson, Amy Winehouse and Donald Trump. Watch/Stream on 5, Monday 13th October, 9pm: Exclusive: Prince Andrew & the Epstein Email Scandal
PRINCE MUST QUIT UK
ANDREW’S Jeffrey Epstein scandal will not go away so maybe it’s finally time the arrogant Duke did.
The Palace has let it be known that Andy should at the very least “uninvite himself” for Christmas with the family.
But the notion that he is capable of using his best judgment for the wider benefit of himself and his family is naive and laughable.
The late Queen and now the King have tried everything to punish the Duke but are now left with few levers to pull.
He has a cast-iron lease at Royal Lodge and stripping his Duke of York title is in the power of the Government, not the King.
It is now clear Andrew’s Newsnight interview was not only a car crash but not completely candid either.
He did not cut off contact with Epstein like he claimed, as our email reveals.
King Charles will be shocked by his brother’s sheer brass neck but no longer surprised.
Andrew once claimed visiting Epstein in New York was the “honourable and right thing to do”.
If he has an honourable bone in his own body, he should leave the country.
