Freshly disclosed correspondence from the vast trove of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein has revealed a striking email sent from Balmoral Castle, signed with the initial "A", which asked the convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell for "inappropriate friends".
The 'Invisible Man' Emails from Balmoral
The messages are among four emails released as part of the so-called "Epstein files". One, sent in August 2001 by an individual using the pseudonym "The Invisible Man", informed Maxwell that their "valet" had recently died and that they had "left the RN". Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, had left the Royal Navy the month before this email was sent.
A follow-up email from the same sender, dated 16 August 2001, stated: "I am up here at Balmoral Summer Camp for the Royal Family." It went on to ask Maxwell directly: "How’s LA? Have you found me some new inappropriate friends?" The writer added they were free from 25th August until 2nd September and wished to go "somewhere hot and sunny with some fun people".
Maxwell's Instructions for 'Sight Seeing'
Further context emerged from an email sent by Maxwell to "The Invisible Man" in March 2002. In it, she confirmed she had passed on a message to an unnamed contact, which began: "I just gave Andrew your telephone no." Maxwell's instructions were explicit, stating that "Andrew" would be "very happy" with some "two legged sight seeing".
She elaborated: "Some sight seeing some 2 legged sight seeing (read intelligent pretty fun and from good families) and he will be very happy." Maxwell emphasised the need for discretion, writing: "He does not want to read about any trip in the papers whom or what he saw."
Met Police Review and US Legal Dispute
The latest document dump from the US Department of Justice also includes emails showing the Metropolitan Police contacted the FBI in November. A detective chief inspector stated they were "reviewing" allegations that Andrew had tried to use his protection officers to gather information on Virginia Giuffre, alongside human trafficking claims and Epstein's UK flight logs.
Separately, internal US communications from June 2020 revealed prosecutors believed there were "various factual inaccuracies" in Prince Andrew's accounts of his relationship with Epstein. The then-US attorney, Geoff Berman The fallout from the ongoing scrutiny led King Charles III to officially strip his brother of his HRH style and prince title. Andrew, who settled a civil sexual assault case with Virginia Giuffre for millions in 2022 while denying all wrongdoing, has also faced criticism from US politicians for his "silence" regarding a requested interview. The released files also contained anonymous tips making serious allegations against the former duke, which have not been substantiated. Virginia Giuffre died in April 2024, aged 41.
