Jeffrey Epstein was an American financier who ran a sex trafficking operation on American soil and was ultimately arrested by U.S. authorities. But somehow, it is Great Britain that seems most thoroughly rocked by the staggered release of the case files by the U.S. Department of Justice — the latest cache of which has left Prime Minister Keir Starmer fighting for his political life.
“Don’t think that this scandal is just another political scandal … This involves sex, it involves money, it involves the royal family. It involves the leaking of market-sensitive, confidential information,” Reform UK party leader Nigel Farage said of the debacle on Thursday.
He emphasized, “This is the biggest scandal in British politics for over one century.”
Emails released over the weekend indicate that British Ambassador to the U.S. Lord Peter Mandelson received $75,000 from Epstein and offered the convicted sex trafficker insights on affairs while serving in former Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s Cabinet.
Sensitive information shared with Epstein includes forewarning of a multibillion-dollar bailout for the European Union, over $27 billion in asset sales, Labour tax plans, and even Brown’s resignation.
Reinaldo Avila da Silva — Mandelson’s partner, whom he married in 2023 after a decadeslong relationship — was wired tens of thousands of dollars by Epstein. The first of these payments was made to fund da Silva’s alternative medicine endeavors, with recurring payments of multiple thousands of dollars afterward.
Additionally, a photo emerged showing Mandelson interacting with a woman while wearing just a T-shirt and white briefs.
The Metropolitan Police of London announced on Tuesday that it has launched a criminal investigation into Mandelson’s conduct.
Labour pains
Starmer was forced to admit in front of the House of Commons on Wednesday that he had been informed of Mandelson’s relationship with Epstein prior to appointing him as ambassador.
“Did the official security vetting [the prime minister] received mention Mandelson’s ongoing relationship with the pedophile Jeffrey Epstein?” asked Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch.
“Yes, it did,” Starmer responded, stuttering at multiple points as jeers and gasps filled the House of Commons. “As a result, various questions were put to him.”
He defended himself, saying, “I want to make sure this House sees the full documentation, so it will see for itself the extent to which — time and time again — Mandelson completely misrepresented the extent of his relationship with Epstein and lied throughout the process, including in the response to the due diligence.”
Calls are emerging for the party to gut the staff at 10 Downing Street and start over, characterizing the debacle as the culmination of a broken political party rotted to the core by self-interest.
Labour-aligned advocacy group Mainstream blamed the situation on a “system that elevates factional loyalty over integrity, that values connections over character and that treats rigorous vetting as an inconvenience.”
“Everyone who participated in this process — from those who championed the appointment, to those who turned a blind eye, to those who silenced doubts in the name of political convenience — must be held to account,” the group wrote.
A key figure in the unfolding scandal is Starmer’s chief of staff and Labour strategist Morgan McSweeney — a political protege of Mandelson who reportedly pushed for his former mentor to become the ambassador to the United States.
McSweeney also reportedly fought against the decision to oust Mandelson after the first round of Epstein disclosures revealed the ambassador’s involvement with the sex trafficker.
Labour critics have demanded the chief of staff be sacked for his role in the scandal, but a spokesman for 10 Downing Street stunned the public on Thursday when he announced that the government maintains “full confidence” in McSweeney.
Some Labour leaders are calling for the prime minister himself to face the music.
“We may need a caretaker leader specifically appointed for a time-limited period to undertake a cleansing of our party and politics before we elect a new leader,” said former shadow chancellor John McDonnell.
“He’s got to stop blaming Mandelson and saying, ‘He lied to me,’” said Labour heavyweight Harriet Harman. “He should never have been considering him in the first place. And to say ‘He lied to me’ makes it look weak and naive and gullible. So it’s just completely the wrong thing.
She added, “He should be reflecting on why he made that appointment, not angry at the evilness of Peter Mandelson.”
Royally screwed
Vulgar partisans are not the only British leaders with dirty hands — Epstein ties run right up to the top of high society.
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly known as Prince Andrew, has been knee-deep in the Epstein swamp since the early 2010s, and the latest release of documents seems to have been the coup de grâce on his public life.
King Charles III, Mountbatten-Windsor’s brother, stripped him of his royal titles, chivalric orders, military decorations, and all other state dignities late last year. He also instructed his brother to begin preparing to leave his Royal Lodge.
Following the release of photos depicting Mountbatten-Windsor perched over a female minor lying on the floor, it appears the king was done waiting. The former prince spirited off from the Royal Lodge in the middle of the night and has reportedly taken up residence in a cottage in Sandringham.
Starmer said earlier this week that Andrew should testify before the U.S. Congress on the Epstein investigation if called to do so.
“Anybody who has got information should be prepared to share that information in whatever form they are asked to do that,” he said. “You can’t be victim-centered if you’re not prepared to do that.”
Mountbatten-Windsor maintains his innocence on all counts, though he has apologized for showing a lack of prudence in continuing his relationship with Epstein following the latter’s conviction on sex crime charges.
Sarah Ferguson, the former prince’s ex-wife, is also implicated in the release after emails records show she maintained a close relationship with Epstein following his conviction. She referred to the pedophile as her “pillar” and offered to manage his estates, occasionally opening up about her feelings of depression and isolation to him.
In one email exchange from 2011, Epstein complained about a London Standard story that called him a pedophile and how Ferguson had told the newspaper she had “deep regret” about their association. Ferguson responded that she “did not” and “would not” call him a “P.”
“I had to protect my own brand in the statement,” she wrote.
Her charity, Sarah’s Trust, was forced to shut down following the revelations.
“Our chair Sarah Ferguson and the board of trustees have agreed that with regret the charity will shortly close for the foreseeable future,’’ the trust said in a Monday statement. “This has been under discussion and in train for some months.’’
King Charles has done his best to float above the muck, but hecklers have begun to appear at public events.
A man shouted at the king during a Thursday walkabout in the Essex village of Dedham, asking if the monarch had pressured police to investigate his brother. A reporter allegedly attempted to ask a similar question, but King Charles did not acknowledge either.
Prince Edward is the only royal to have commented thus far after being asked about the situation during a forum in Dubai.
“I’m not sure this is the audience that is probably the least bit interested in that,” he replied, adding, “I think it’s all really important always to remember the victims, and who are the victims in all this, a lot of victims in all this.”
Pressed on all sides
The unique ferocity of the Epstein debacle in the U.K. is at least partially due to differences between the American and British press.
Keith Gladdis — senior director at MHP Group, a British-based communications firm, and a former Fleet Street journalist — told the Washington Examiner that “the difference in approach” between the U.S. and U.K. coverage has been “stark.”
“There was nothing conclusive on Trump, so it seems interest in the U.S. has waned, but in the U.K. it still dominates the headlines,” Gladdis said. “That’s partly because U.K. media is naturally more aggressive. When it senses a scalp, especially a political one, it won’t stop until it’s delivered.”
British outlets have not backed down from the story in the week since it went public, and show no signs of stopping, as daily newspapers plaster Mountbatten-Windsor, Mandelson, and Starmer across their front pages.
While U.S. citizens scrutinize business leaders soiled by the latest release — such as Microsoft CEO Bill Gates, who emails suggest suffered a sexually transmitted disease from “Russian girls” supplied by Epstein — those stories carry less staying power than sex and corruption mixed into high-powered politics.
“The focus is on Andrew Mountbatten Windsor and Peter Mandelson for good reason,” Gladdis said. “Andrew is the brother of the king, a principal player in the royal family. Mandelson was the ambassador to the U.S. and has been a key player in the Labour Party for generations.”
The British press has already taken its scalps from Mountbatten-Windsor and Mandelson, but the fire rises as reporters turn their fire on those seen as the enablers — the prime minister and the king.
Dishonorable mentions from around the world
While Britain is suffering perhaps the most dramatic upheaval in the wake of the latest batch of Epstein files, association with the billionaire is popping up across the globe like a pandemic of questionable judgment.
Norwegian Crown Princess Mette-Marit claimed she should have “investigated Epstein’s background more thoroughly” after emails showed she stayed at the billionaire’s Florida residence and kept in regular contact with him.
It’s a weak defense, considering an email she sent Epstein in 2011, approximately three years after he was convicted for procuring a child for prostitution.
“Googled u after last email,” Mette Marit wrote. “Agree didn’t look too good : ).”
Other emails show banter between them over the course of several years, such as Mette-Marit asking if it is “inappropriate for a mother to suggest two naked women carrying a surfboard for my 15 yr old son’s wallpaper.”
At another point, she jokes to Epstein — who at the time was on a “wife hunt” in Paris — that the French city is “good for adultery” but that “[Scandinavians are] better wife material,” adding, “But then again who am I to talk?”
Anil Ambani, billionaire and right-hand man of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was in consistent communication with Epstein in the years following his conviction.
Following U.S. President Donald Trump’s first election, Ambani messaged Epstein to say “leadership” was requesting help connecting with the president’s camp. The two also discussed foreign policy, with Epstein lobbying heavily for India to embrace Israel as an ally.
Following Modi’s visit to Israel in 2017 — the first such visit by an Indian prime minister — Epstein wrote in an email to an unidentified individual: “The Indian Prime minister modi took advice. and danced and sang in israel for the benefit of the US president. they had met a few weeks ago.. IT WORKED. !”
Slovakian national security adviser Miroslav Lajčák was forced to resign over Epstein communications, such as in October 2018, when he texted the billionaire, “Why don’t you invite me for these games? I would take the ‘MI’ girl.”
“Who wouldn’t,” Epstein replied. “You can have them both, I am not possessive. And their sisters.”
Lajčák stepped down to avoid damaging his ally, Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico, but denies any material wrongdoing.
STARMER APOLOGIZES TO EPSTEIN VICTIMS FOR APPOINTING MANDELSON AS AMBASSADOR
“Those messages were nothing more than foolish male egos in action, self-satisfied male banter,” Lajčák told Radio Slovakia. “There were no girls … the fact that someone is communicating with a sexual predator does not make him a sexual predator.”
Fico accepted the resignation, calling Lajčák “an incredible source of experience in diplomacy and foreign policy.”
