A series of emails to Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein’s longtime associate, from a sender she refers to as “Andrew” are among a newly released tranche of Justice Department files, including one message in which the sender asks if she has “found me some new inappropriate friends.”
The series of messages — in which the sender identifies themself only as “A” — includes emails saying “A” is staying at a British royal residence. The messages also offer a number of details that match those of Prince Andrew, who was recently stripped of his title because of his lingering ties to Mr. Epstein and is now known simply as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.
Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor’s friendship with Mr. Epstein, and allegations that he sexually abused a young woman trafficked to him by the financier, led to public scandal and a precipitous fall from grace. He became a person of interest to federal prosecutors investigating Ms. Maxwell in 2021, a fact which was also noted in emails released late Monday.
Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor has long denied that he raped the woman, Virginia Roberts Giuffre. But in October, he was stripped of his royal titles after new disclosures showed the extent of his closeness with Mr. Epstein.
In an email sent in August 2001, “A” writes: “I am up here at Balmoral Summer Camp for the Royal Family. Activities take place all day and I am totally exhausted at the end of each day.”
The message continues: “How’s LA? Have you found me some new inappropriate friends? Let me know when you are coming over as I am free from 25th August until 2nd Sept and want to go somewhere hot and sunny with some fun people before having to put my nose firmly to the grindstone for the Fall.”
Ms. Maxwell, who is serving a federal prison sentence for helping Mr. Epstein traffic underage girls, wrote back the same day: “So sorry to disappoint you, however the truth must be told. I have only been able to find appropriate friends.”
“A” replied to Ms. Maxwell that he or she was “Distraught!” and then told Ms. Maxwell that his valet had died.
“I am a little off balance,” “A” wrote, “as not only has my office been restructured, I have left the RN and now my whole life is in turmoil as I have no one to look after me,” appearing to refer to the Royal Navy.
Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor retired from the British Navy in 2001.
Other emails from Ms. Maxwell to, and about, “The Invisible Man,” dating from a few months after the Balmoral correspondence, also appeared in the new files.
In February 2002, Ms. Maxwell received an email from someone called Juan Esteban Ganoza, who appeared to be a tour guide, offering options for entertaining a male friend of Ms. Maxwell who was planning a trip to Peru. The writer suggested activities that included riding Peruvian Paso horses, lunch in front of the sea, a polo game, water skiing, or renting a small plane to visit “the Nazca lines.”
Then Mr. Ganoza wrote: “About the girls … how old is he? I doubt it that he will find someone here, but we can try.”
Ms. Maxwell forwarded the email to the address, [email protected], and asked: “What do you think?”
The response came from a different email address, [email protected], but it was also labeled with the alias “The Invisible Man” and signed off as “A.”
“Horses and I do not mix,” the sender wrote, but he added: “As for girls, well I leave that entirely to you and Juan Estoban!”
Ms. Maxwell, a few days later, wrote back to Mr. Ganoza. “I just gave Andrew your telephone number,” she said — suggesting the “A” did indeed refer to an Andrew.
She said that he was less interested in riding horses, but would prefer some “2 legged sight seeing (read intelligent pretty fun and from good families).”
She said she trusted the guide to “only introduce him to friends that you can trust,” adding, “He does not want to read about any trip in the papers whom or what he saw.”
Then she added: “You can expect a very English sounding gentleman to call up and say hi.”
The New York Times reached out to the tour guide at the email address provided in the emails, but he did not immediately respond.
Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor, then Prince Andrew, went on an official visit to Peru in March 2002, the month after the email correspondence, at one point posing for a photo with firefighters in Lima.
The emails and court filings released late Monday also show that in 2020, U.S. authorities hoped to interview Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor about “two ongoing criminal investigations.”
In a 22-page document from the Justice Department dated April 3, 2020, federal prosecutors and the F.B.I. reached out to their counterparts in the United Kingdom to request assistance in talking to the former prince about both an investigation into Mr. Epstein, and separately, an investigation into Peter Nygard, a fashion mogul convicted of multiple incidents of sexual assault.
“The investigation has revealed that, on at least one occasion, Prince Andrew traveled to Nygard Cay in the Bahamas, a location where Nygard is believed to have trafficked minor and adult female victims,” the document read. “U.S. authorities seek to question Prince Andrew regarding his visit(s).”
Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Buckingham Palace declined to comment.
Stephen Castle is a London correspondent of The Times, writing widely about Britain, its politics and the country’s relationship with Europe.
The post New Epstein Papers Appear to Show Former Prince Andrew Seeking ‘Girls’ appeared first on New York Times.
