The latest Epstein file release alleges a connection between former prince Andrew and Ghislaine Maxwell, including emails in which an individual identified as 'A' requested 'inappropriate friends.'

London

Recently released documents from the US Department of Justice include an email sent to Ghislaine Maxwell, allegedly from Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly Prince Andrew, referencing Balmoral, the royal family's summer estate. The email and other documents have renewed scrutiny of Andrew's connections to Jeffrey Epstein and raised questions about his involvement.

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has consistently denied any wrongdoing, has never been convicted, and settled a civil case without admitting liability. In response to ongoing controversy, the royal family has stripped him of all titles and distanced itself, with Buckingham Palace stating he is no longer a working royal and declining further comment.

Latest Epstein release alleges new link to ex-prince Andrew

So, as Steve mentioned, there was also that email sent to Ghislaine Maxwell from an email address entitled The Invisible Man, and that email began, I'm here at Balmoral summer camp for the royal family. There are reports suggesting that may be, as you just heard, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the former Prince Andrew. So, to talk more about this, Chris Shipp is the royal editor for the British network ITV, and he joins us now. Thank you for making time for us. Hi, thank you for having me. Let's talk about what is being suggested here from this latest trove of documents and the potential connection here to the royal family. Why is there so much interest in this specific email? It's all about the potential connection, as you rightly say. It's an email from someone who calls themselves A. What does that A mean? Who does it stand for? Who's it referring to? And these are all the questions that this particular email have triggered. Now, of course, the other thing that links it to the royal family is that the email says it's written from Balmoral, which is, of course, where the royal family spend most of their summers in the Balmoral estate in Aberdeenshire in Scotland. And it speaks about having girls. He doesn't name who the girls are, but the reference could be to the email author's daughters. And he put all those things together and you can see why there are questions as to whether or not this email to Ghislaine Maxwell was indeed written by the former Prince Andrew. Now, of course, Mr. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, after his brother, the King, removed all of his titles just a few weeks ago over what the King called Andrew's serious errors of judgment. To that end now, Chris, of course, we have seen that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has repeatedly denied all wrongdoing. We know, as you just noted there, that he lost his Duke of York title, the Prince Andrew title as well over the scrutiny, in some cases, his links to Geoffrey Epstein, rather. So I'm wondering here, in the British public, how is this, how is this latest drop of emails being received and being digested? I think in the UK, there is clearly a strong interest in anything in these Epstein emails. This latest trove of emails has been released by the US Department of Justice. And our focus here, of course, is on any potential links between the former Prince Andrew, now Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, to his former friend and associate, Geoffrey Epstein. So a lot of the focus is on that, rather than, of course, there is another big story, including any links that a certain president in the United States may or may not have with Mr. Epstein. But clearly the UK public is focused very much on Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. The thing is, I have to be clear, that the reputation of this certain Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor could not really be any lower. You're right to say he's always denied the allegations against him. You're also right to say that he's never been convicted in a court of law of any wrongdoing. And the settlement he made with one of his accusers, Virginia Geoffrey, was without admitting any liability whatsoever. That said, we've now got emails talking about finding, quote unquote, inappropriate friends from someone calling themselves A and saying that they wrote this email from Balmoral. Clearly a whole load of new questions for Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor himself. You know, I finally want to ask you about a Canadian link that has come out of this recent drop of documents because they suggest that the former prince went to Canadian Peter Nygaard's notorious sex trafficking island. So given his lack of title since October, what can we expect to hear from the royal family about this, if anything? The if anything is probably the key part of your question there. There is not a lot that the royal family will now say. They feel like they've done everything they possibly can. Yes, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is still the brother of the king, but in terms of the institution of monarchy, they've tried to put as much clear blue water between monarchy and Andrew as they possibly can, which is why the King Charles recently tried to make sure he left no stone unturned. So prince title, get rid of that. Dukedom, get rid of that. His knighthood, that goes as well. Everything that he can possibly do to try and remove the problem of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, I refer you back to the conversation we just had about the fact he's always denied any wrongdoing, but the problem that exists of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the monarchy's tried to put as much distance between him and them as they possibly can. So if you ask anyone in Buckingham Palace about Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, they will just say, well, we no longer represent him. He's no longer a working member of the royal family, and they won't give you any comment at all. And particularly, this has been a very difficult year for the king, and many people will say that Queen Elizabeth left an unexploded time bomb for her son, King Charles. It was the one piece of unfinished work, perhaps you could call it, that she handed down to her son when the reign changed from that of Elizabeth to Charles. And it's a problem that he's had to confront this year, and they've tried to do it in the most fulsome way that they possibly can. Chris, I want to thank you for your insights on this. We appreciate your time. Chris Schipp is ITV's royal editor. Thank you.

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