Police Scotland confirmed Friday that active inquiries are underway into new information about disgraced former Prince Andrew’s ties to Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell at the royal family’s Balmoral estate.
The force said the investigation is at a very early stage and evidence-led, with victim survivors’ needs at its heart. A spokesperson declined to confirm details or comment further on the ongoing work.
The Daily Express reported that the new information alleges women were trafficked to the Scottish retreat, where Queen Elizabeth II regularly summered. Scottish police did not verify that specific claim but acknowledged receiving fresh intelligence that prompted the probe.
Epstein and Maxwell, both convicted sex offenders, were long associated with Andrew, 66, who was stripped of his royal titles by his older brother King Charles. The 1999 Balmoral visit surfaced in evidence at Maxwell’s 2021 sex trafficking trial, with photos showing Maxwell resting her arm on the financier’s leg as both appeared relaxed amid the estate’s hospitality. Department of Justice files released last December included additional images of the pair on a shooting trip there.
The same document dump contained more than 80 results relating to Balmoral, including a 2001 email signed only “A” and sent by someone referred to as the “Invisible Man.” The message to Maxwell opened with a reference to the sender’s location.
“I am up here at Balmoral Summer Camp for the Royal Family,” the email read. “How’s LA? Have you found me some new inappropriate friends.”
The sender asked when Maxwell would be free and signed off “A xxx.” The source of the email has not been officially confirmed, though the signature and nickname have drawn attention in coverage of the files.
Flight logs from the DOJ release showed Andrew and Maxwell flew from Luton to Edinburgh aboard Epstein’s private jet on September 1, 2006, two months after Epstein’s arrest in Palm Beach, Florida, on a solicitation of prostitution charge. The financier was not on that flight. British police said in February they were keen to speak to anyone with information about the 2006 journey.
The Balmoral inquiries add to Andrew’s existing legal exposure. He was arrested in disgrace on his 66th birthday in February at the royals’ Sandringham Estate in eastern England. That arrest related to a separate accusation of misconduct in public office, alleging he forwarded confidential trade documents to Epstein during his tenure as UK trade envoy.
Andrew has consistently denied wrongdoing regarding Epstein’s trafficking operation. He was never criminally charged over claims by the now-deceased Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre that she was made to have sex with him three times starting at age 17, on orders from Epstein and Maxwell. He paid millions of pounds to Giuffre in a civil settlement while maintaining his innocence.
The 1999 Balmoral visit is believed to be the only reported stay there by Epstein and Maxwell together, though the DOJ files suggest broader documentation of the estate in the case materials. Andrew also allegedly hosted a model in her 20s during that visit.