Prince Andrew was reportedly being lined up to become one of Jeffrey Epstein’s “star advisors” for a new business, messages have revealed.
The billionaire paedophile had planned to bring the Duke of York and Peter Mandelson into plans for his new consultancy firm. The revelation came from emails between Epstein, who died in a New York jail cell as he awaited trial in August 2019, and his private banker Jes Stanley.
They are believed to have been sent after disgraced Epstein was released from an 18-month jail sentence for child prostitution crimes in July 2009.
Epstein was arrested again in July 2019, on charges for the sex trafficking of minors in Florida and New York.
According to MailOnline, Epstein wrote: “I need to decide how to gear up my advisory business.
“Grab a group from Goldman [Sachs, the investment bank]?.. Hire 5-10 stars? Larry? Peter? Andrew?”'
Larry is believed to be Larry Summers, former US Treasury Secretary at the White House, and Peter was Peter Mandelson.
It is not believed any of them took up the roles.
The emails were released as part of the US Virgin Islands’ lawsuit against JP Morgan.
It is alleged the bank was “complicit in the crimes of Jeffrey Epstein”. In a counterclaim, the bank accuses the territory’s officials of taking money and favours from Epstein in return for looking the other way as he trafficked women to be abused on his island hideaway.
On August 31, 2011, in another email to JP Morgan, Epstein touted Andrew as a potential investment partner.
He wrote: “He is now allowed to make money.”.
In his bombshell Newsnight interview, the duke told Emily Maitlis he had cut contact with Epstein in December 2010, when he visited him in New York.
She then asked him: “Did you see him or speak to him again?” The duke replied: “No.”
US attorney Spencer Kuvin, who represents Epstein victims, previously told the Mirror: “It appears that either Epstein was highly overselling his relationship with Prince Andrew or that the duke may not have been entirely truthful about when his friendship ended.”
Last month a report found Epstein was able to kill himself through a "combination of negligence and misconduct" by jail staff.
America’s Justice Department’s watchdog cited the Federal Bureau of Prisons' failure to assign the sex offender a cellmate - after his previous one left - and problems with surveillance cameras as factors in Epstein’s death.
Inspector General Michael Horowitz also said Epstein was left in his cell with too many bed linens, which are a security issue and were used in his suicide.
Representatives for Prince Andrew and Peter Mandelson have been contacted by the Mirror for comment.
