Zürcher Nachrichten - Latest Epstein file dump rocks UK royals, politics

The cache of documents included multiple emails between notable UK figures and Epstein, often revealing warm relations, illicit financial dealings and private photos.

The fallout continued on Monday, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer's spokesperson saying Peter Mandelson, the UK's former ambassador to the United States, should be stripped of his membership of the House of Lords, Britain's upper chamber of parliament.

Starmer has also ordered an inquiry into Mandelson's contacts with Epstein, after allegations that he passed a confidential government memo to the disgraced financier.

Mandelson, 72, who was sacked as ambassador to the US last year over his ties to Epstein, also allegedly received several payments from Epstein in the early 2000s, according to documents.

One exchange appears to show Mandelson sending a sensitive economic briefing meant for then-prime minister Gordon Brown to Epstein in 2009, when he was Brown's business secretary.

Mandelson also appears in newly released, undated photographs, wearing a T‑shirt and underwear beside a woman whose face has been redacted by US authorities.

The politician gave up his decades-long membership of the Labour Party on Sunday, while maintaining that the allegations were "false".

Meanwhile, calls grew for Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor -- who was stripped of his royal titles last October -- to testify in front of the US Congress about Epstein's crimes, as another woman alleged she was trafficked to Britain for a sexual encounter with the then-prince.

- 'Just marry me' -

The second sexual claim was allegedly made over a decade after Virginia Giuffre said she was trafficked by Epstein and sexually assaulted three times by Andrew, including when she was 17.

After Giuffre launched a lawsuit against Andrew, who has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing linked to Epstein, the brother of King Charles III paid her a multi-million-pound settlement in 2022 without making any admission of guilt.

British head of state Charles has already moved to strip Andrew of all his titles and ordered that he quit Royal Lodge, his home of two decades on the Windsor estate west of London.

While the former Duke of York and Epstein's friendship has been in the spotlight for years, the latest emails also appeared to shine a new light on the extent of the ties between Andrew's ex-wife Sarah Ferguson and Epstein.

"Thank you Jeffrey for being the brother I have always wished for," Ferguson, nicknamed "Fergie", wrote in an email dated August 2009 -- a year after Epstein was convicted for procuring a minor for prostitution.

"You are a legend," read a June 2010 email from "Sarah", although the email address is redacted as in the other exchanges.

"I really don't have the words to describe, my love, gratitude for your generosity and kindness. Xx I am at your service. Just marry me."

Multiple exchanges appear to involve invitations to parties and plans to meet, as well as discussions of Ferguson's business ventures and money problems following her 1996 divorce from Andrew.

In one exchange about a possible meeting, Ferguson tells Epstein she was waiting for her younger daughter, Eugenie, to return from "a shagging weekend".

However, the relationship soured after "Fergie" apologised for her friendship and financial dealings with Epstein in a 2011 interview, saying she "abhorred paedophilia" and was cutting ties with him.

She also called a £15,000 ($20,000) loan that she took from him to help pay off her debts a "gigantic error of judgement".

- Uni drops US envoy's name -

A top university in Northern Ireland on Monday said it was also dropping the former US senator George Mitchell's name from one of its institutes because of his links with Epstein.

"Queen's University Belfast has taken the decision to remove the name of its former Chancellor, Senator George J. Mitchell, from the Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice," said a statement sent to AFP.

Mitchell brokered the negotiations which led to the 1998 peace agreement that ended three decades of conflict over British rule in Northern Ireland, and was chancellor of the prestigious university from 1999-2009.

The latest tranche of documents includes 339 references to Mitchell, including several get-togethers, appointments and lunches.

Mitchell has previously said he regrets having met and known Epstein and said he had no knowledge of any of his illegal actions.

A.P.Huber--NZN