Latest batch of Epstein files floods Britain

In November 2025, both chambers of the United States Congress approved the Epstein Files Transparency Act by a landslide. President Donald Trump subsequently signed it into law, ordering the Department of Justice to release all Epstein-related documents – from email correspondences and letters to photos – by December 19.

The DoJ released a portion of the files on deadline day, and an additional three million on January 30, 2026.

Jeffrey Epstein: Disgraced financier

Jeffrey Epstein was a disgraced multi-millionaire American financier who maintained an extensive network of ties with powerful and influential figures around the world.

Epstein owned two private islands in the US Virgin Islands, where he hosted numerous parties attended by the social elite, from politicians to film directors and actors. His powerful associates included former US President Bill Clinton and current US President Donald Trump, with whom he shared respective social circles. He also rubbed shoulders with Britain’s ruling class, including former prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and key Labour Party figure Lord Peter Mandelson.

In 2005, Epstein’s public image began to crumble after the parents of a 14-year-old girl accused him of molesting their daughter at his Palm Beach, Florida, residence, where police later found photos of girls throughout the house during a raid.

Despite the seriousness of the allegations, the disgraced financier received a lenient 18-month prison sentence, avoiding federal charges that could have seen him spend the rest of his life in prison.

Epstein was re-arrested in 2019 on sex-trafficking charges and died by apparent suicide in his New York prison cell in August of that year.

Latest Epstein files: The immense fallout in the British parliament and Royal family

The latest developments in the Jeffrey Epstein saga have had significant repercussions in the United Kingdom, with several British names appearing in the newest batch of documents, but two stand out in particular given the extent of their relationship with the multi-millionaire sex offender: former prince Andrew Mountbatten‑Windsor and former UK ambassador to the US and Labour minister Peter Mandelson.

With the latest files dominating the conversation in the UK, major news outlets have repeatedly stressed throughout their coverage of the Epstein scandal that mentions do not in themselves imply a personal relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, noting that other high-profile figures, including Queen Camilla and Sarah Ferguson, are also named.

Mountbatten-Windsor was stripped of his royal title of “prince” and urged to move out of his Royal Lodge home by King Charles III in November 2025 following mounting public pressure over his association with the US financier and convicted sex offender that intensified after the publication of Nobody’s Girl, the posthumous memoir by Virginia Giuffre, who accused both men.

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is the most referenced British name in the Epstein files with 173 mentions as of November 2025, spanning emails and letters.

The US Justice Department’s late January release revealed new details about his relationship with the disgraced financier.

Emails from 2010 in the Epstein files indicate that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor invited Epstein to dinner at Buckingham Palace.

Epstein replied that he was with several women and asked if he should bring them “to add more life.”

Andrew responded that there was “plenty of space […] bring them,” according to the correspondence.

In addition, a 2011 letter from a lawyer alleges that Mountbatten‑Windsor and Epstein pressured his client, an “exotic dancer,” to perform sexual acts at a party at Epstein’s Florida home, where other young women were present and some “appeared to be as young as fourteen.”

As to Peter Mandelson, the documents released in late January revealed that his association to Jefferey Epstein was more than an acquaintance: it was a strong friendship.

Among the references to Peter Mandelson in the documents – which include a photograph of him in his underwear and an email arranging a celebration for Epstein’s 2008 prison release – a particular series of emails has shaken the British parliament.

These emails, within the Epstein files, suggest that Mandelson passed market-sensitive information to the disgraced financier in 2009, while serving as business secretary under Gordon Brown’s administration in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crash.

The former US ambassador has come under public scrutiny as a result, and London’s Metropolitan Police has said it launched a criminal investigation into him over this allegation. He has since resigned from the Labour Party and the House of Lords.

Mandelson first came into the spotlight in September 2025, after Prime Minister Keir Starmer sacked him as US ambassador following the revelation of a series of emails showcasing his association to the convicted sex offender.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer: Not named in the files yet bearing the consequences

After reaching the Royal family and parliament, the Epstein saga’s latest destination was 10 Downing Street, the official residence and office of the prime minister.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has faced intense scrutiny over the past week, similar to that experienced by Mountbatten‑Windsor and Mandelson, even though he is not mentioned in the files

He has been subject to extensive criticism after admitting that the vetting process for appointing Mandelson as US ambassador had already identified a relationship with the disgraced sex offender.

Several key British politicians have publicly called on the prime minister to resign following his admission, such as Scottish Labour Party leader Anas Sarwar, and resignation appeared a very likely outcome until Starmer ruled it out on Tuesday

“I’m not prepared to walk away from my mandate and my responsibility to my country,” Starmer said in a closed meeting with his members of parliament.

Instead, members of his administration resigned, including Downing Street director of communications Tim Allan and chief of staff Morgan McSweeney, who stepped down on Sunday after some Labour MPs held him responsible for the appointment of Mandelson as UK ambassador to the US.

“I advised the prime minister to make that appointment and I take full responsibility for that advice,” McSweeney said in his resignation letter.