Police Scotland announced Friday that they are conducting inquiries into former Prince Andrew's visits to Balmoral Castle with the late financier Jeffrey Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell. The investigation represents a fresh line of inquiry into the activities of the three at the king's private estate in Aberdeenshire.
Images released by the U.S. Department of Justice earlier this year showed what appeared to be Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, as the former prince is now known, on a shooting trip at Balmoral with Epstein. According to multiple sources, Epstein and Maxwell visited Balmoral in 1999 after being invited by Andrew, who held the title of prince at the time. One source noted that detectives are understood to be examining whether women were trafficked to the estate during these visits.
A Police Scotland spokesperson confirmed the inquiry in a statement on Friday, saying: "We have received information and active inquiries are ongoing, but these are at a very early stage. All inquiries are evidence-led, with the needs of victim survivors at the heart of those inquiries. We would never confirm details of ongoing inquiries and it would be inappropriate to comment further."
The investigation marks the latest development in broader police efforts examining Epstein and Maxwell's activities alongside Mountbatten-Windsor in Britain. Multiple police forces have been involved, including Thames Valley, Surrey, and Metropolitan police. In February, Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested and held for hours by British police on suspicion of misconduct in public office, marking the first time in nearly four centuries that a senior British royal had been arrested.
Mountbatten-Windsor was stripped of his royal titles by his brother, King Charles, and has denied any wrongdoing related to Epstein. The former prince initially faced investigation over claims by the now-deceased Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre that she was forced to have sexual relations with him three times starting when she was 17, allegedly on orders from Epstein and Maxwell. He was never charged but paid millions of pounds to Giuffre in a civil settlement while continuing to deny wrongdoing. He also faces separate accusations of misconduct in public office related to allegations that he forwarded confidential trade documents to Epstein during his tenure as UK trade envoy.
The U.S. Department of Justice material includes additional evidence linking the three, including flight logs showing Mountbatten-Windsor and Maxwell flew from Luton to Edinburgh on Epstein's private jet on September 1, 2006—two months after Epstein's arrest in Palm Beach, Florida on a solicitation of prostitution charge. The DOJ file dump also contains more than 80 references to Balmoral. A 2001 email attributed to someone identified as "A" mentioned being at "Balmoral Summer Camp for the Royal Family" and asked Maxwell about finding "inappropriate friends."
A National Police Chiefs Council spokesperson said: "Identifying any further potential offending, suspects, victims or witnesses is a complex process and will take time, but UK policing remains committed to carrying out a meticulous assessment of the material released by the U.S. Department of Justice."
