Andrew's Friend Dismisses Epstein Party Photo as ‘Hi-Jinks’: 'We Don’t See What the Problem Is'

Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, who served in the Royal Navy during the Falklands conflict, attends a parade for Falkland Veterans, commemorating 25 years since the end of the Falklands War. (Cover Image Source: Getty Images | Tim Graham Photo Library)

Dec. 22 2025, Published 08:17 AM. ET

If Andrew Mountbatten Windsor’s own record was not controversial enough, the defence now being mounted by his allies has only deepened the backlash. A photograph newly surfaced from the vast cache of documents known as the Epstein Files shows Mountbatten Windsor sprawled across the laps of five young women, grinning broadly, as Ghislaine Maxwell smiles in the background. The scene is set inside Sandringham House, one of the royal family’s most private and closely guarded retreats.

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor lying across row of women in photo during black-tie event with Ghislaine Maxwell has been released as part of the Epstein files.
Department of Justice — Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, lying across a row of women in a photo during a black-tie event with Ghislaine Maxwell, has been released as part of the Epstein files. (Image Source: US Department of Justice)

For his allies, the image is being overinterpreted. A friend of the former Prince told The Telegraph: “We don’t see what the problem is. It’s just hi-jinks at a party. He’s fully clothed.” Because for many observers, the issue is not what Mountbatten Windsor was wearing, but who was present, where the gathering took place, and what has since come to light about those in attendance.

According to The Mail, the photograph was taken in early December 2000 at a party hosted by Mountbatten Windsor for Jeffrey Epstein and Maxwell to celebrate her 39th birthday. The choice of venue, Sandringham, the late Queen Elizabeth’s cherished Norfolk home, has only intensified the fallout. While he has previously framed the evening as light-hearted, other accounts suggest a far more troubling atmosphere.

(Prince Andrew leaves the headquarters of Crossrail on March 7, 2011, in London. Image Source: Getty Images| Dan Kitwood) — Andrew Mountbatten Windsor leaves the headquarters of Crossrail on March 7, 2011, in London. (Image Source: Getty Images| Dan Kitwood)

In The Windsor Legacy, royal author Robert Jobson alleges that staff were left stunned by what they discovered after the party. Citing a Palace source, he writes, “Staff were stunned to discover the bathrooms were stocked not only with toiletries, but poppers, lube and condoms.” Epstein does not appear in the photograph itself, but multiple reports indicate he was present that night.

The location of the image has added another layer of discomfort. The photograph was taken in Sandringham’s opulent saloon, a room traditionally used for family gatherings, afternoon tea on Christmas Eve, and watching the monarch’s Christmas Day broadcast. Royal historian Andrew Lownie said the image would “horrify his family,” adding that it showed Mountbatten Windsor treating one of the family’s “private inner sanctums… as just another place to have fun and show off to his friends.”

Andrew Mountbatten Windsor walks behind the coffin during the ceremonial procession of the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall on September 14, 2022 in London, United Kingdom. (Cover Image Source: Getty Images | Martin Meissner) — Andrew Mountbatten Windsor walks behind the coffin during the ceremonial procession of the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall on September 14, 2022, in London, United Kingdom. (Image Source: Getty Images | Martin Meissner)

The Sandringham photograph is not an outlier. The Epstein Files contain a series of images illustrating the access Mountbatten Windsor granted Epstein and Maxwell. One shows the pair with him in the Royal Box at Ascot on Ladies’ Day in June 2000, attended by the Queen and the Queen Mother. Mountbatten Windsor later described Epstein as his 'plus one,' insisting he was not a guest of the royal family. Other images place Epstein and Maxwell at Balmoral, where Mountbatten Windsor reportedly invited them to stay in 1999.