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NEWLY released documents from the US Justice Department reveal emails in which a man believed to be former Prince Andrew appears to have discussed arranging meetings with “inappropriate friends” with Ghislaine Maxwell, the convicted accomplice of notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The correspondence, part of nearly 30,000 pages made public under a US transparency law, provides additional detail to the long-running controversy surrounding Andrew’s connections to Epstein and Maxwell.
AFP cited on Wednesday that the emails, dating from 2001 and 2002, were sent from an account using the alias “The Invisible Man” and signed off as “A.”
In an August 2001 message, the writer, reportedly at Balmoral, the British royal family’s summer residence in Scotland, asks Maxwell: “Have you found me some new inappropriate friends?”
While the author is not explicitly named, several contextual clues point to the former prince, whose royal titles were removed following the Epstein scandal. The emails reference Balmoral, a valet who had served the writer since childhood, and the departure from the Royal Navy in July 2001 — all details consistent with Andrew’s biography.
Maxwell responded apologetically that she had found only “appropriate” friends, prompting a terse reply from “A”: “Distraught!”
Another chain from early 2002 refers to a proposed trip to Peru, in which Maxwell suggests introducing “Andrew” to companions described as “friendly and discreet” and makes a reference to organising some “two-legged sight-seeing.”
Maxwell is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for sex trafficking.
The documents also reveal tensions between Andrew and US prosecutors, including internal Justice Department emails discussing how to respond to claims by his legal team that he was willing to cooperate. Prosecutors privately disputed those claims and later alleged that he had offered “zero cooperation” when asked to participate in an interview.
US authorities sought to question Andrew as part of their investigations into Epstein. He was never a criminal target.
In 2022, Andrew settled a US civil lawsuit filed by Virginia Giuffre, who claimed she was trafficked by Epstein and coerced into sexual relations with the royal as a teenager. He did not admit liability. Giuffre died by suicide in April, and the subsequent posthumous publication of her memoir contributed to Andrew being stripped of his remaining royal titles.
Andrew has previously acknowledged his friendship with Maxwell and Epstein but has consistently denied any wrongdoing. - December 24, 2025