Disgraced Andrew’s secret deals with Epstein pose a grim test for the King

London: An email to Jeffrey Epstein in October 2011 told the paedophile and financier that Prince Andrew was about to fly to China to visit three cities as well as Hong Kong.

“Most meetings by now are organised by me,” wrote David Stern, a secretive businessman who was joining the trip. “I stay in the background/hidden, just make the arrangements.”

That email, made public thanks to the US Congress and Department of Justice, is just one of thousands that shed light on the shadowy dealmaking surrounding Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, then known as Prince Andrew and the Duke of York.

It also highlights the challenge for police in piecing together a mosaic from the files in the hope of proving that the former prince engaged in misconduct.

Weeks after the release of the latest files, new facts are still being discovered in the emails between Epstein and his network of political and business insiders. But a lot of this is emerging years too late. It will require an enormous effort, including full assistance from Buckingham Palace, to assemble a case that stands up in court.

Stern was one of Epstein’s closest business associates. He was also a top aide to the former prince. So he remained the middleman between the two long after the prince, as he was at the time, claimed to have cut off contact with the sex offender.

Stern called Epstein “boss” in their emails and was assigned to help Sarah Ferguson, then the Duchess of York, try to avoid bankruptcy. He was also part of the Pitch@Palace scheme that Mountbatten-Windsor set up to connect investors with young companies.

“I am always on your team!!” Stern told Epstein in 2016. He was on the duke’s team too. That same year, he joined the board of the St George’s House Trust, a charity linked to the royal family. He gained incredible access for a man who seemed to come from nowhere.

In one message to Epstein, he could send happy snaps with Andrew and Sarah. In the next, he sent a raunchy photograph of a young woman with champagne.

We are learning more about Stern thanks to an investigation by The Times into his past and an investigation by The Daily Telegraph of London into his deals in China. The full picture is yet to emerge, but Stern was chasing deals with companies such as Evergrande, the Chinese property company that collapsed under billions of dollars in debt.

In the latest discovery in the files, the London Telegraph reports on a proposed deal sent from Stern to Epstein in 2013 to help Mountbatten-Windsor set up a £1 million company to share commissions for funds management work. It did not go ahead.

The investigation is made more difficult by the way so many shielded the former prince for so long. The British media sought to find out more about what Andrew was doing as trade envoy, for instance, but were usually blocked. UK government files are littered with rejected freedom-of-information requests. At times, officials in the Foreign Office or trade agency refused to confirm or deny they had any documents to be released.

Buckingham Palace protected Queen Elizabeth’s favourite son too. The Epstein files include references to young women gaining access to the palace, or Epstein inviting his contacts to royal dinners, but the royal family has kept tight control of any information about what went on.

This protected Mountbatten-Windsor when he was trade envoy from October 2001 to July 2011, and it continued when he ran the non-government Pitch@Palace network for many years afterwards, seeking deals around the world.

Political leaders did not want to confront awkward questions. Early in 2011, when there were serious revelations about Mountbatten-Windsor and his ties to Epstein, the reflexive response from the government was to back him as trade envoy. “I, for one, believe that the Duke of York does an excellent job,” said one minister, Ed Davey, in parliament. Now, as leader of the Liberal Democrats, he demands answers about the former prince.

There was a shameful inertia among those in charge. It took months for Mountbatten-Windsor to step down from the trade post after the scandal first hit. Later, in 2019, he grudgingly stepped back from public duties after more revelations and a disastrous BBC interview. Then, last October, he volunteered to give up his titles.

Finally, the palace realised it had to take a tougher line. Two weeks after that voluntary move, King Charles III removed his titles and honours.

The sluggish response now has a cost. Documents from the trade envoy years have probably been lost, and emails have been wiped. The police will have a tougher job because of the inaction when genuine concerns were aired.

Former cabinet minister Peter Mandelson is under even more scrutiny for endorsing the prince for the trade post in 2001. One Epstein contact helped another.

The King was clearly reluctant last year to be firm with his younger brother, and this may be understandable given what a rupture this has been for the royal family. Now, however, the King promises “full and wholehearted support and co-operation” for the police inquiry, and he will be judged by that pledge.

“The law must take its course,” he said on Thursday. The palace must prove the King means what he says. It should ensure police access to visitor records, files, emails, diaries, notes from foreign trips and any other documents that shed light on Mountbatten-Windsor’s conduct in public office.

Mountbatten-Windsor has not been charged. It is too soon to think he will ever be charged, simply because of the challenge of assembling evidence to prevail in court. But it is about time there was a thorough investigation – and the palace will have to help.

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