The Epstein scandal returned to the centre of royal coverage this week after biographer Andrew Lownie claimed in a podcast interview that Jeffrey Epstein used Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor to gain status, access and, potentially, entry to other members of the Royal Family.
Speaking on The Royalist podcast, Lownie said the former Duke of York was 'very, very helpful' to Epstein and suggested the story may extend beyond Andrew, though he offered allegations and reported anecdotes rather than confirmed evidence.
Speaking on The Royalist Podcast from The Daily Beast, Andrew Lownie argued that Epstein understood precisely what Prince Andrew could offer him and worked to extract maximum advantage.
Asked what Epstein saw in the royal, Lownie replied that the billionaire 'had targeted several royal families', not only the Windsors, and regarded Andrew as a particularly valuable asset. In Lownie's words, Epstein 'saw him as someone who gave Epstein credibility, gave him access to various people, not least perhaps other members of the royal family.'
Lownie told host Tom Sykes that, in his assessment, 'for Epstein, Andrew was very, very helpful.' He described how being able to show off photographs of Andrew 'sitting on the throne in Buckingham Palace or going up to Sandringham' functioned as a calling card in Epstein's world, a way to impress and reassure other powerful figures.
According to Lownie, the suggestion that Epstein could offer a 'shooting weekend up in Sandringham' became a 'useful sort of negotiating tool with other people.'
These claims mirror, and expand on, the research in Lownie's book Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York, in which he portrays Andrew as 'easy prey' and a 'useful i***t' exploited for his social status.
The line that will trouble the Palace most is Lownie's suggestion that the Andrew‑Epstein connection might not be an isolated case. He told the podcast there were 'stories that perhaps other members of the royal family may have been involved with Epstein', though he did not name those individuals as confirmed participants.
Lownie said he had spoken to one woman who alleged that Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, had dinner with Epstein in 1994, when she was dating Prince Edward. As of writing, there is no indication from the material provided that Sophie has responded publicly to it.
Even so, the anecdote underscores Lownie's broader point: that Epstein appears to have sought contact with multiple royal households and not just one wayward prince.
Source: International Business Times UK
