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DOJ documents reveal first image of Andrew, Mandelson and Epstein
The US Department of Justice has published a previously unseen photograph showing Prince Andrew, former UK minister Peter Mandelson and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein seated together. No date or location is specified in the release.
Photo details and timeline
ITV News reports the image was taken on Martha's Vineyard, an island off Massachusetts, between 1999 and 2000-before Epstein's 2008 conviction for soliciting prostitution from a minor and his subsequent registration as a sex offender.
The picture shows the three men around a wooden deck table with mugs bearing the US flag.
Legal context and denials
Neither Andrew nor Mandelson faces charges related to the photograph itself. Both men were arrested in February on suspicion of misconduct in public office linked to their ties with Epstein and later released under investigation.
Prince Andrew has consistently denied any wrongdoing, including allegations of sexual contact with Virginia Giuffre when she was a teenager. A civil lawsuit brought by Giuffre was settled in 2022 without admission of liability.
Lord Mandelson has stated he accepted Epstein's account of events and only learned the full extent of the financier's crimes after his death in 2019. He maintains he has not acted criminally.
Broader document release
The image emerged among three million pages, 180,000 photographs and 2,000 videos made public by the DOJ in January. Journalists and the public continue to sift through the material.
Earlier batches included photographs of Prince Andrew kneeling beside an unidentified, fully clothed woman on the ground. He has repeatedly rejected any suggestion of impropriety.
Career consequences
Both men have lost prominent roles due to their associations with Epstein. Prince Andrew was stripped of his royal patronages and military titles in 2020. Mandelson was removed as UK ambassador to the United States in 2021 after emails expressing support for Epstein during his 2008 prosecution surfaced.
Additional images released by the DOJ show Mandelson in his underwear. The Metropolitan Police are investigating whether he disclosed market-sensitive information to Epstein while serving as a government minister.
Location clues
The newly released photograph appears to match the setting of another image included in a 2003 "birthday book" compiled for Epstein's 50th birthday. Emails obtained by the BBC suggest Mandelson and Epstein's assistant, Lesley Groff, discussed the location in 2013.
"I think it was Martha's, the first time I met Jeffrey."
Peter Mandelson, email dated 19 July 2013
The Daily Telegraph links the exchange to the photographs now in the public domain.
Ongoing investigations
Prince Andrew was detained in Norfolk in mid-February following a complaint alleging he shared confidential material with Epstein during his tenure as UK trade envoy from 2001 to 2011.
Epstein died by suicide in a New York jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges. Ghislaine Maxwell, his former partner, is serving a 20-year sentence for recruiting and trafficking underage girls for him.
