A photograph released as part of the latest tranche of Epstein files shows Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor lying across the laps of five women, with the faces of the women redacted.
The undated image, which appears to be a photograph of a picture in a broken frame, also features Ghislaine Maxwell smiling in the background. The photo is believed to have been taken in front of a large fireplace.
Andrew stepped back from royal duties in 2019 following his widely criticised BBC Newsnight interview concerning his association with Jeffrey Epstein, a relationship that has continued to attract scrutiny.
Renewed attention followed the publication of Virginia Giuffre’s posthumous memoir and the release of additional documents by the United States Department of Justice from Epstein’s estate.
The renewed scrutiny ultimately led to Charles III formally stripping his brother of his HRH style and princely title. Andrew has consistently denied any wrongdoing.
US lawmakers have also criticised Andrew for what they described as “silence” after he failed to meet a deadline to respond to a request to sit for an interview related to Epstein.
On Friday night, the Department of Justice uploaded thousands of documents, including court filings, photographs and video footage, to its website. The release temporarily overwhelmed the platform, placing users in a queue due to what officials described as “extremely high volume of search requests”.
The image cache includes appearances by several high-profile figures, including Michael Jackson, Bill Clinton, Donald Trump, Mick Jagger, and Peter Mandelson.
Two photographs of Andrew’s former wife, Sarah Ferguson, with unidentified women were also included in the document release.
One image shows Mandelson with Epstein during what appears to be a birthday celebration, while another shows Jagger alongside Clinton with an unidentified woman whose face was redacted. Maxwell, Clinton and Kevin Spacey also appear in photographs taken inside Churchill War Rooms.
Additional photos show Epstein with Jackson and Maxwell standing outside 10 Downing Street. None of the images are dated, and officials stressed that they do not, on their own, establish wrongdoing.
The document release followed remarks by US Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who said the need to protect victims meant that hundreds of thousands of additional documents would be released in stages.
The Justice Department was legally required to publish all Epstein-related files by midnight Friday under the Epstein Files Transparency Act. Epstein was found dead in his Manhattan jail cell in August 2019 while awaiting trial on federal s3x trafficking charges, a death ruled a suicide.
A spokesperson for Senator Dick Durbin said the release “continues this administration’s pattern of protecting President Trump and other perpetrators”.
Clinton’s spokesman, Angel Urena, said in a statement: “There are two types of people here. The first group knew nothing and cut Epstein off before his crimes came to light. The second group continued relationships after that. We’re in the first.”
Several US lawmakers and lawyers representing Epstein’s victims criticised the heavy redactions in the files. Congressman Suhas Subramanyam told CNN: “They are absolutely in violation of the law. The law said they needed to release everything by today.”
Similarly, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said the documents released were “just a fraction of the whole body of evidence”, adding that extensive redactions “violate the spirit of transparency and the letter of the law.”
