New photo puts Epstein’s buddies Mandelson and Mountbatten-Windsor in the frame

The island of Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts has long been a popular summer retreat for the rich and famous, described as a magical place with stunning waterfront homes, white sand beaches and spectacular ocean views.

It has now also emerged as the location of one of the most striking images involving the convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein: a photograph of the former Prince Andrew and Peter Mandelson lounging in bathrobes with the financier on an outside terrace. It’s the first recorded picture of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, Mandelson and Epstein together, believed to have been taken in 1999 or 2000, around the time the former prince and Mandelson first met Epstein.

While Mountbatten-Windsor and Mandelson have been condemned over their friendship with Epstein, their disgrace has been compounded by the carefully recorded pictures of their times together. This latest image, revealed by ITV News, catches both Mountbatten-Windsor and Mandelson appearing slightly off-guard in white towel robes while Epstein in leisure clothes appears composed and relaxed.

A photograph taken on the same terrace with wooden decking appears in Epstein’s notorious birthday book, compiled by his associate Ghislaine Maxwell for his 50th. In this picture, Mandelson is grinning across from Epstein. Mandelson scrawled above it: “Wherever he is in the world, he remains my best pal!” It is believed Maxwell took the picture.

While Epstein owned a home in Palm Beach, Florida, and a remote Caribbean island in the US Virgin Islands, he was a regular visitor to Martha’s Vineyard. Flight logs reveal he made regular trips to the island in the 1990s and early 2000s.

In the files released by the US Department of Justice in January, Mandelson describes how he first met Epstein at Martha’s Vineyard while staying at the summer home of Lynn Forester de Rothschild, a businesswoman and political fundraiser. She was married to the British financier Sir Evelyn de Rothschild, who died in 2022.

Writing of their first meeting, Mandelson enthused: “The first time we met and I was entranced.” Lady de Rothschild also knew Epstein.

Maxwell claimed in a prison interview in July last year that Mountbatten-Windsor first met Epstein at the Rothschild residence. It has been reported both men attended Sir Evelyn’s 68th birthday celebration on the island in the summer of 1999.

Mountbatten-Windsor is reported to have visited Martha’s Vineyard at least twice during the 1990s, including the August 1999 trip when he was pictured by the press playing golf with former president Bill Clinton.

The two men were pictured grinning together as Clinton drove a buggy across the green. Lady de Rothschild – who has been a major fundraiser for Hillary Clinton – and her husband also attended the golf match. She has said she did not introduce Epstein to Mountbatten-Windsor. She said she cut ties with Epstein in 2000, after he deceived her over a property transaction, and he never stayed at her house.

There is no suggestion of wrongdoing on her part and the New York Times in December reported her comment that she was a “small part of Epstein’s life” and “he was a blip on mine”.

A former employee of Epstein, Christine Kenneally, has claimed she was ordered to give massages to Mountbatten-Windsor and Mandelson during a visit to the Martha’s Vineyard in 1999. She described both men as “perfect gentlemen”, according to the Times, and said nothing inappropriate happened.

Kenneally said she was paid for the trip and given a bonus for the “important people” she massaged. She told the Times: “They were perfect gentlemen and thanked me when I was finished.”

The new picture was among millions of files released by the US Department of Justice. It was taken at least eight years before Epstein was convicted in 2008 of soliciting a minor for prostitution.

Mountbatten-Windsor has denied any wrongdoing. Lady de Rothschild has been contacted for comment.

Photograph courtesy US Department of Justice