Prince Andrew linked Epstein to Afghan investment deal

According to new U.S. Justice Department documents, Prince Andrew connected Jeffrey Epstein to an investment proposal in Afghanistan just weeks after publicly stating he had severed all ties with the convicted sex offender.

Media reports indicate that emails show the 65-year-old former Duke of York sent Epstein a «confidential» document titled «Investment Opportunities in Helmand Province,» outlining plans for British-led reconstruction projects in the war-torn province.

The exchange took place on Christmas Eve 2010, while British troops were still fighting the Taliban, and just weeks after Andrew visited Epstein at his Manhattan mansion.

In the letter, the prince told the financier he would be «very interested» in his «comments, views, or ideas» and asked for advice on «who else might be shown this document to generate interest.»

This correspondence raises new questions about the former prince«s relationship with the disgraced billionaire, who had been released from a Florida prison 17 months earlier after being convicted for crimes involving minors.

Previously, Andrew stated in a BBC interview that he went to New York to end the friendship with Epstein because it was «the honorable and right thing to do.»

But the new revelations show that communication between them continued after that meeting.

Prince Andrew received the Helmand document in his capacity as the UK«s trade envoy.

He stepped down from that role in 2011 after photos were published of him walking with Epstein in Central Park—effectively ending his public career.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has called on Andrew to testify before the U.S. Congress following the release of over three million documents related to Epstein.

The head of government stated that Epstein«s victims should be »the priority,« and urged the former prince to fully cooperate with the investigation.

Starmer noted that the issue of apologies should be decided by Andrew himself, but anyone with information should be prepared to share it.

The Justice Department documents also revealed that Andrew sent photos of his daughters, Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice, to Epstein as Christmas greetings in 2011 and 2012, years after his claims of severing ties.

At the time, Eugenie was 21 and 22 years old, and Beatrice was 23 and 24.

The images, capturing personal family moments, became part of holiday correspondence that continued up to two years after Epstein was convicted for procuring a minor for prostitution.

Their inclusion in the correspondence adds to the picture of private contacts between the men long after Andrew declared the friendship over.

According to one royal family expert, the scandal has plunged the princesses into «what is probably the most difficult period of their lives.»

Epstein«s wealth and connections masked years of sexual abuse.

Born in 1953, he cultivated elite connections in politics, finance, and royal circles, operating a private network involved in trafficking underage girls.

Convicted in Florida in 2008 for procuring a minor, he received a controversial plea deal.

Arrested again in 2019 on federal sex trafficking charges, Epstein died in prison, intensifying scrutiny of the institutions that enabled his crimes and spawning numerous conspiracy theories that he was a spy running a global «honey trap» network.