Email from Balmoral Highlights Epstein Files Controversy

Fri Dec 26 2025 04:51:25 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

A newly released email from 'Balmoral' has surfaced as part of the Epstein files, revealing a request for 'inappropriate friends.' The email adds to ongoing scrutiny around Prince Andrew's connections with Jeffrey Epstein.

An email sent from 'Balmoral' by an anonymous individual soliciting Ghislaine Maxwell for 'inappropriate friends' has emerged in recent Epstein document releases. The correspondence, dated August 16, 2001, suggests ongoing connections among those implicated in Epstein's activities. The exchanges, including responses from Maxwell, do not indicate illegal behavior but have reignited discussions regarding associated palace figures, especially Prince Andrew. In January, his titles were stripped amidst scrutiny of his alleged connections to Epstein and Maxwell’s network.

An email sent from an individual named A, saying they are at Balmoral and asking Ghislaine Maxwell for inappropriate friends, is among the latest tranche of Epstein files released on Tuesday.

The message, sent to Maxwell on 16 August 2001, begins: I am up here at Balmoral Summer Camp for the Royal Family. Later in the email, the sender asks: How's LA? Have you found me some new inappropriate friends? before signing off see ya A xxx.

Balmoral Castle is a royal residence.

The emails do not indicate any wrongdoing. The BBC has contacted Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's team for a response. The former prince has previously denied all wrongdoing.

He has also previously said he did not see, witness or suspect any behaviour of the sort that subsequently led to his [Epstein's] arrest and conviction.

The message was sent from email address abx17@dial.pipex.com entitled The Invisible Man and forms part of the more than 11,000 files published on Tuesday.

In an email sent back to this address on the same day, Maxwell wrote: So sorry to disappoint you, however the truth must be told. I have only been able to find appropriate friends.

A different email address - aace@dial.pipex.com - is listed in Epstein's phone book under a contact labelled Duke of York, a previously released image showed.

The US Department of Justice has been releasing documents, known as the Epstein files, relating to two criminal investigations into the convicted sex offender during his lifetime. Congress passed a law mandating the files be released in their entirety by 19 December, although not all documents have yet been released.

Also among the newly released documents is a formal request from the US Department of Justice (DOJ) dating to April 2020 asking for assistance from the British authorities to interview H.R.H Prince Andrew Albert Christian Edward regarding the Epstein investigations. The DOJ has stated that Andrew is not a target in the investigation, and no evidence has been gathered that he has committed any crime under US law.

This latest leak has sparked renewed attention on Prince Andrew, particularly after he recently lost the use of his royal titles amid scrutiny over his ties to Epstein.

Furthermore, documents released include details relating to other high-profile individuals, including Donald Trump, suggesting he had more connections to Epstein than previously reported.