Force confirms checks on castle visits
Police Scotland has confirmed that it is conducting active inquiries into time spent at Balmoral Castle by Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. The force characterised the work as being at a very early stage and said it would be improper to say more. Representatives of Mountbatten-Windsor were approached for a response.[S1][S2][S3][S4][S5][S6][S7][S8]
A Police Scotland spokesperson, asked about a report in the Express, stated that information had been received and that active inquiries were continuing, though only just beginning. The spokesperson added that all such work is guided by evidence and keeps the needs of victim survivors central, and that the force never confirms the details of ongoing inquiries.[S1]
Earlier appeal over Epstein's private jet
Earlier in the year, in February, Police Scotland issued an appeal for people who might know anything about Epstein's use of a private plane through Edinburgh Airport to come forward. At that time, the force stated that it had not received any reports or complaints connected to that journey.[S1]
A photograph and an email from 2001
During the sex trafficking case against Maxwell, US prosecutors made public a photograph said to depict Epstein and Maxwell, once a well-known socialite, at Balmoral. The picture is thought to have been taken in 1999, the year Mountbatten-Windsor reportedly asked the couple to stay at the castle. Both were described as regular visitors to royal homes during the late 1990s and early 2000s.[S1]
Also among the material was an email from a sender identified only as A to Maxwell, dated 16 August 2001, which placed the writer at Balmoral and requested new inappropriate friends. The message opened by describing the location as a summer camp for the Royal Family and closed with a casual sign-off.[S1]
The Royal family customarily spends the summer at Balmoral, and Queen Elizabeth II died there in 2022. Epstein, then 66, took his own life in a US prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. Maxwell, 60, received a 20-year sentence in 2022 for procuring girls for him. Mountbatten-Windsor has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing connected to his association with Epstein.[S1]
