The Royal Lodge: Epstein’s links to ex-Prince Andrew’s financial meetings

Behind high hedgerows in Windsor Great Park, Royal Lodge sits secluded, its pale stucco facade largely shielded from passing eyes.

In 2003, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor – then Prince Andrew – secured a 75-year lease on the 17th-century property that the United Kingdom’s King George IV once used as a hunting retreat.

Recommended Stories

• list 1 of 4Israel kills more journalists than any nation on record: Media watchdog
• list 2 of 4Demonstrators in frog costumes protest Trump’s State of the Union
• list 3 of 4US issues new Iran sanctions on eve of nuclear talks in Geneva
• list 4 of 4Where the Silence Breaks | Ep 3 – Colombia

The lease gave the then-royal control of one of the monarchy’s most insulated residences. Behind its heavy doors and long dining tables, masked balls and private dinners unfolded. In 2006, it hosted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein before he attended Princess Beatrice’s 18th birthday party. Among the guests at Royal Lodge were jailed sex offender Harvey Weinstein and sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell.

Earlier this week, British police officers spent days searching Royal Lodge’s rooms as part of an inquiry into whether Mountbatten-Windsor, while serving as the UK’s trade envoy, shared confidential government material with Epstein. He was briefly arrested last week on suspicion of misconduct in public office and released without charge.

Newly released files by the United States Department of Justice, reviewed by Al Jazeera, suggest the significance of Royal Lodge extended beyond ceremony and social privilege. Emails from 2009 to 2011 indicate that, at the height of his diplomatic role, Mountbatten-Windsor convened financial meetings at the residence involving Epstein.

The August 2010 meeting

On August 30, 2010 – by which time Epstein was already a registered sex offender – Mountbatten-Windsor hosted a “big meeting” at Royal Lodge, according to an email chain.

An email, where the sender is redacted, asks Epstein if they should attend the meeting. “F writes me below. Its better if I do NOT go, correct? PA says its up to me,” the email reads, before it goes to what “F” wrote to the sender.

“Can you come down to Royal Lodge on sept 1st .. Wednesday.. To a big meeting of the way ahead of ME! Prince Andrew is calling it for 10.30am and then lunch afterwards. I would really need your help,” the email reads.

While the email does not specify who “F” and “PA” are, the exchange appears to be a quote originating from Sarah Ferguson, Mountbatten-Windsor’s then wife, referred to elsewhere in the emails as “F”.

“PA” is how Mountbatten-Windsor – at the time Prince Andrew – is referred to widely in the Epstein files.

In the same chain, Epstein advises on financial strategy, warning: “Ask Andrew what he wants.. she said they might suggest her going bankrupt. when i spoke to her last week. I think you need to go. otherwise, she will go after you.”

Three weeks earlier, on July 20, 2010, another email from a sender, Sarah, to Epstein reads: “In London, at Royal Lodge, to discuss all finances today”.

On July 12, 2010, another email sender told Epstein they would be “with PA at 1200 UK time at Royal Lodge (Windsor)”, adding that Epstein could join by phone.

The emails do not say whether Epstein attended these meetings in person, but they offer a glimpse into how Royal Lodge functioned as a structured venue for coordinated financial discussions where Epstein was being consulted, at a time when Mountbatten-Windsor was representing British commercial interests abroad.

The context for these meetings appears to have been Ferguson’s mounting financial distress. Her company, Hartmoor, appeared to be going bankrupt. At the time, Ferguson reportedly faced debts estimated between 2 million pounds and 5 million pounds and was considering voluntary bankruptcy.

Earlier correspondence from October 2009 shows a proposed settlement being forwarded to Epstein for review by a US lawyer “re the IP situation following a bankruptcy”, using Ferguson’s office address at Royal Lodge. The subject is entitled “Hartmoor Settlement”.

Ferguson ultimately avoided bankruptcy.

Trade envoy and international deals

Correspondence reviewed by Al Jazeera also shows Epstein being looped into discussions about international commercial engagements.

In February 2010, an email from Sarah, reviewed by Al Jazeera, states: “I was introduced to David Stern by Jeffrey. He came to Royal Lodge for dinner. He has been helping me a great deal with an ear and advice to my way ahead. He has a great roladex for China. And infact his company is called Asia Gateway. Anyway, David has offered his help to assist in the wealth Fund idea with China. Jeffrey rates David Stern highly …”

Mountbatten-Windsor has said he cut ties with Epstein in December 2010 and resigned from his trade envoy role in 2011. However, later correspondence challenges that account.

In October 2013, Epstein wrote to David Stern, by then an aide to Mountbatten-Windsor, suggesting the then-prince might wish to host dinner for a “very beautiful friend” visiting London. “Andrew might want to have her for a dinner,” Epstein wrote. In April 2017, Stern emailed Epstein about organising a “super” dinner at Windsor Castle, asking “who else” should be invited.

The UK police have said they are examining whether a criminal offence was committed in relation to the sharing of official material with Epstein. However, no arrest has been made in relation to sexual allegations against Mountbatten-Windsor.

In her memoir, one of Epstein’s victims, Virginia Giuffre, wrote that she was forced to have sex with Mountbatten-Windsor on three occasions, including once in the presence of Epstein and “eight other young girls”. Mountbatten-Windsor has repeatedly denied the allegations and reached a financial settlement with Giuffre in 2022.

Epstein was later charged in 2019 with sex trafficking involving minors before his death by suicide in federal custody.

An empty Royal Lodge

On October 30, 2025, Buckingham Palace announced that Mountbatten-Windsor and his family would vacate Royal Lodge amid renewed scrutiny over his association with Epstein after a tranche of files was released.

In principle, Mountbatten-Windsor was entitled to 488,000 pounds for the early surrender of his 75-year lease. However, a Crown Estate report concluded that the property’s condition was so decrepit that he would, in all likelihood, receive no compensation.

Mountbatten-Windsor left Royal Lodge in February 2026 and relocated to Wood Farm, on the Royal Family’s Sandringham estate, while arrangements were made for a more permanent residence nearby.

The stately home, bought in 1862 as a private royal retreat, spans roughly 80sq km (31 sq miles) of woodland, farms and villages in Norfolk. It remains one of the monarchy’s most expansive estates.

Royal Lodge now stands empty.