Newly Released Epstein Email Confirms Infamous Photo of Andrew with Virginia Giuffre Is Real

This article contains themes of sexual and child abuse that some readers may find distressing. 

Jeffrey Epstein may be long dead, but he’s still managing to upend Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s life from beyond the grave. A newly released email suggests Epstein was far more direct about the now viral photo of Mountbatten Windsor and then 17-year-old Virginia Giuffre, than the former Duke has been. While Mountbatten-Windsor has insisted for years that the image is fabricated, Epstein states the opposite, that too in writing. The email, sent to a reporter in July 2011 and released this week by the US House Oversight Committee, proves it. “Yes, she was on my plane, and yes, she had her picture taken with Andrew, as many of my employees have,” Epstein wrote.

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor with then-17-year-old Virginia Giuffre. (Image Source: U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals)

The photo has been crucial to Giuffre's case for years, becoming a key piece of evidence in her allegation that Epstein trafficked her to Britain and that Mountbatten-Windsor abused her three times, claims the Duke has always denied. Taken in 2001 inside Ghislaine Maxwell’s London townhouse, the picture shows Mountbatten-Windsor with his arm around an underage Giuffre. Maxwell stands in the background, smiling.

For Mountbatten-Windsor, the image has been an ongoing nightmare. His claim that the photograph may have been doctored has remained a cornerstone of his defence. Epstein’s email doesn’t dwell on the image. Instead, he launches into a tirade about Giuffre, writing, “Maybe your paper should jump on and show that (redacted)’s allegations re Andrew [sic] are the same, she also accused numerous people of having s*x with her, dersh, ehud, etc. Not one paper had the balls to question her credibility.”

He continues by insisting that “the girl has fled the country with an outstanding arrest warrant,” and alleges that authorities had already written that “she has no credibility.” He also accuses the press of enabling what he casts as a fabricated story, claiming, “The Daily Mail [sic] paid her money, they admitted it, with the statement that it took money to coax out the truth.” And then comes the most important bit of the rant, stating, “Yes, she was on my plane, and yes, she had her picture taken with Andrew.”

Epstein here, possibly without meaning to, strips away one of Mounbatten-Windsor’s escape hatches. For years, he has questioned the authenticity of the picture, suggesting everything from digital manipulation to faulty memory. In his 2019 Newsnight Interview, he also said he doesn’t remember the now-famous photo being taken and has suggested it may have been altered. He’s argued the picture doesn’t look right to him, pointing to his arm around her waist and saying he isn’t someone who shows affection like that in public. He admitted the image appears to be him, but said he couldn’t explain it.

If you are being subjected to sexual abuse, or know of anyone who is, please call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800.656.HOPE (4673)
If you know of any children who are being subjected to abuse, please contact the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at (800) 422-4453