Prince Andrew had a $200 massage paid for by sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein the day before both men partied with Donald Trump, The Royalist can reveal.
The payment is shown in new documentation released by Democrats on the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and forms part of the third batch of documents to be released from the Epstein estate.
In a list of payments made by Epstein, two entries for “massage” are shown with the reference “Andrew.”
One of these is dated May 16, 2000, just days after Andrew flew by private jet from New Jersey to Palm Beach with Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.
The other “Andrew” massage payment of $200 is dated Feb. 11. The very next day saw Andrew and Epstein party with Donald and Melania Trump at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Florida. A dated photograph of Andrew and Epstein with Melania has been widely circulated.
The timing of this new disclosure could hardly be worse for Prince Andrew.
Sarah Ferguson is still reeling from the leak of a 2011 email in which she thanked Epstein for his “supreme friendship,” just days after telling a newspaper she would never speak to him again and accused him of pedophilia.
Sarah has seen her career of relentless reinvention go up in smoke, and has been dropped by several charities of which she was a patron. The email was an unmistakable reminder of the dirt that remains in the Epstein vaults and how easily individuals can be brought down.
The Democratic Oversight Committee’s press release listed a roll call of Epstein’s political and Silicon Valley acquaintances, including Peter Thiel, Elon Musk, and Steve Bannon.
Oversight spokesperson Sara Guerrero said, “It should be clear to every American that Jeffrey Epstein was friends with some of the most powerful and wealthiest men in the world. Every new document produced provides new information as we work to bring justice for the survivors and victims. Oversight Democrats will not stop until we identify everyone complicit in Epstein’s heinous crimes. It’s past time for Attorney General Bondi to release all the files now.”
For Andrew, it is another grisly chapter in a saga that includes the catastrophic Newsnight interview with Emily Maitlis, in which he insisted he did not regret his friendship with Epstein because it had introduced him to “useful people,” and the $14 million settlement with Virginia Giuffre, who died by suicide earlier this year.
Andrew’s massages may provide some material for King Charles and his heir Prince William to discuss, as the two men have retreated to Scotland this week.
Palace aides have billed this as an informal summit and an indication of how close William and his father are, pushing back after The Royalist revealed that the two men, who have long had a strained relationship, are at loggerheads over the question of how to deal with Andrew and Harry.
However, The Royalist can reveal that the king and his heir are not even staying in the same house: William is at Balmoral Castle while his father is eight miles away, at his own home on the estate, Birkhall.
William is understood to be planning to shoot grouse for much of the weekend and has invited friends to join him. Charles no longer shoots. Neither William nor the king’s press teams replied to a request for comment.
The Royalist has led worldwide reporting on how William believes that Charles has been foolish and weak, and has enabled Andrew to muddy the waters concerning his royal status.
Under Queen Elizabeth, the policy was simple: the Duke of York was out. After the Newsnight debacle, Andrew was stripped of his public duties and vanished from the balcony. Even when the queen indulged him—as she did at Prince Philip’s memorial, when she allowed him to escort her down the aisle—there was an understanding this was a one-off.
Charles, by contrast, has let Andrew creep back into the frame with astonishing regularity such that he seems, once again, to be a semi-permanent cast member of the great soap opera of royal life: church at Sandringham on Christmas Day, a palace at the Order of the Garter, and the odd family gathering.
On the steps of Westminster Cathedral last week, for the Duchess of Kent’s funeral, the contrast in attitudes was stark: the king amiably chatting to Andrew; William, aghast, pointedly blanking his uncle.
Andrew still lives in his 30-room mansion at Royal Lodge, defying Charles’ very publicly telegraphed desire to see him gone, a humiliation for the king a stronger monarch would not stand for.
For William’s cause, Friday’s news could not be better timed. For months, his allies have been making the case to The Royalist that Andrew cannot be allowed to “normalize” his return to royal life.
He gets the optics of monarchy somewhat better than his father: the idea that the monarchy can afford endless front-page reminders of Epstein-era sleaze is absurd.
Yet here it is, courtesy of the U.S. Congress.
With the flight log now enshrined in the congressional record, it isn’t easy to see how even Charles can justify continued public association with his brother. This is not a tabloid hit job or a dramatized Netflix series.
Why on earth Charles has indulged the massage-loving Andrew so long is the real mystery. The king’s side has tried to hint they fear that he could write a memoir if given the boot, but let’s be honest, no reputable publisher would touch it. Who wants to pay $20 million to hear a man explain his friendship with the most notorious sex criminal of the modern age? In the absence of any credible path to redemption, his only route back to public life was through the family’s front door.
Charles opened it. William now looks poised to slam it shut.
Friday’s revelations are a vivid illustration of why Queen Elizabeth kept Andrew in quarantine, and of how damaging Charles’ softer approach has been. They also signal what William’s reign will look like to those who cross the firm: tougher.
Oversight’s release was only a snippet. More disclosures are expected. Each one will drag the Yorks back into the Epstein scandal.
For Charles, it serves as a reminder that indulgence comes at a price. For William, it is an opportunity to accelerate the future.
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