Scottish police examine Andrew and Epstein visits to Balmoral

Police Scotland is making inquiries into visits to Balmoral Castle by Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, after receiving information about their time at the royal estate. Officers say the work is at a “very early stage” and have not identified what offences, if any, they are examining.

The Daily Express first reported that the inquiries concern allegations that women were trafficked to Balmoral, the king’s private estate in the Scottish Highlands. Police Scotland has not confirmed that account or disclosed the information it received.

“We have received information and active inquiries are ongoing but these are at a very early stage,” a police spokesperson said. “All inquiries are evidence led, with the needs of victim survivors at the heart of those inquiries.” The force said it would not confirm details of ongoing inquiries.

Epstein and Maxwell are understood to have visited Balmoral with Mountbatten-Windsor, who has consistently denied wrongdoing linked to Epstein. Representatives of Mountbatten-Windsor have been contacted for comment, the BBC reported.

An image believed to show Epstein and Maxwell at Balmoral was released by U.S. prosecutors during Maxwell’s sex-trafficking trial, according to the BBC. The BBC said the image is thought to date from 1999, when Mountbatten-Windsor reportedly invited the pair to stay at the castle. Al Jazeera reported that images released by the U.S. Department of Justice appeared to show them on a shooting trip there that year. An appearance in the Epstein files is not proof of wrongdoing.

Flight logs show Mountbatten-Windsor and Maxwell travelled from Luton to Edinburgh on Epstein’s private jet with two other passengers on September 1, 2006, the BBC reported. In February, Police Scotland asked to speak to anyone with information about the jet’s use of Edinburgh Airport. Officers said at the time that they had received no reports or complaints concerning that trip.

The BBC also reported that files released by the U.S. Department of Justice included an August 2001 email from someone identified as “A” to Maxwell. The sender wrote, “I am up here at Balmoral Summer Camp for the Royal Family,” and later asked, “Have you found me some new inappropriate friends?” The sender’s identity was not established in the report.

Epstein died by suicide in a U.S. prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges. Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2022 for procuring girls for him.

Mountbatten-Windsor, the younger brother of King Charles III, was stripped of his prince title last year and told to leave Royal Lodge, his home near Windsor Castle. Thames Valley Police arrested him in February on suspicion of misconduct in public office following information that emerged from the Epstein files. He was later released. He has denied committing any crimes.

Scottish First Minister John Swinney called the new inquiries an operational matter for police. “I understand the seriousness of the points that have been made and the concern that has been expressed,” he said, adding that he was confident Police Scotland would investigate fully.