Ex-Prince Andrew Tied to Epstein 'Afghan Money Deal' in Secret Contact After Conviction

The walls are closing in on Andrew Windsor, and the timing could hardly be more damaging. Just months after being stripped of his princely title, the disgraced former royal is reportedly on the brink of leaving Britain for the Middle East, a move that coincides with the release of damning new evidence undermining his long-held defence regarding convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Reports suggest the 65-year-old is preparing to decamp to Bahrain amid mounting public fury, with sources claiming he could vacate the Royal Lodge by his birthday on Feb. 19. The potential exile comes as fresh documents expose a level of collusion with Epstein that contradicts Andrew's previous claims that their friendship had ended.

Andrew Windsor Linked to Secret Afghan Investment Pitch

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor linked Jeffrey Epstein to an investment pitch in Afghanistan weeks after publicly claiming to have severed all ties with the convicted sex offender, according to new US Department of Justice documents.

RadarOnline reports that emails show the former Duke of York sent Epstein a confidential briefing titled 'Helmand Investment Opportunities Brief Final.doc', outlining plans for UK-led reconstruction projects in the war-torn province. The exchange took place on Christmas Eve 2010, when British troops were still fighting Taliban insurgents, and only weeks after Andrew visited Epstein at his $82 million Manhattan mansion.

In the message, Andrew told the financier he would be 'very interested' in his 'comments, views or ideas' and sought Epstein's advice 'as to whom I could also usefully show this to attract some interest'. The revelation undermines the narrative that Andrew's New York visit was solely a noble mission to end their association.

The correspondence raises fresh questions about the former prince's relationship with the disgraced billionaire, who had been released 17 months earlier from a Florida jail for child sex offences. Andrew previously told the BBC's Newsnight that he went to New York to end his friendship with Epstein because it was 'the honourable and right thing to do'.

But the latest disclosures suggest communication between the men continued well after that meeting. Reports indicate Andrew obtained the Helmand document in his capacity as the UK's trade envoy.

He stepped down from the role in 2011 after photographs emerged of him walking with Epstein through Central Park, a moment that effectively ended his public career. Now, known simply as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor following the removal of his royal title in October 2025, he faces a humiliated future in possible exile.

PM Calls on Andrew Windsor to Testify as Scandal Deepens

Adding to the mounting scandal, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has called on Andrew to testify before the US Congress following the release of the Department of Justice's cache of more than three million Epstein-related documents. Speaking in Japan during the final leg of his East Asia tour, Sir Keir said Epstein's victims must be 'the first priority' and urged the former prince to cooperate fully with investigators.

The prime minister added: 'Firstly, I always approach this question with the victims of Epstein in mind. Epstein's victims have to be the first priority. Whether there should be an apology, that is a matter for Andrew. But yes, in terms of testifying, I have always said anybody with information should be prepared to share it in whatever form they are asked, because you cannot be victim-centred if you are not prepared to do that.'

The Department of Justice files also revealed that Andrew sent photographs of his daughters, Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice, to Epstein as Christmas greetings in 2011 and 2012, years after he claimed to have cut ties with the financier. Eugenie was 21 and 22 at the time, and Beatrice was 23 and 24.

The 2011 card featured the sisters in the snow, while the 2012 edition included a shot of Beatrice hiking Mont Blanc and Eugenie at a charity bike ride, images that suggest a disturbing level of familial intimacy shared with a registered sex offender. The images, showing private family moments, were part of festive emails exchanged up to two years after Epstein's conviction for procuring a child for prostitution.

Their inclusion adds to a growing portrait of private contact between the men long after Andrew said the friendship had ended. One royal expert said the scandal had plunged the princesses into 'probably the most distressing time of their lives.'

Epstein's wealth and connections masked years of sexual abuse. Born in 1953, he cultivated elite ties across politics, finance and royalty while running a private network that trafficked underage girls.

Convicted in Florida in 2008 for procuring a minor, Epstein received a controversial plea deal. Arrested again in 2019 on federal sex-trafficking charges, his death in jail intensified scrutiny of the institutions that enabled his crimes worldwide and sparked numerous conspiracy theories suggesting he was a spy running a global 'honey trap' network, capturing powerful figures in compromising situations and bribing them into pulling strings.