Andrew and Jeffrey Epstein is the story that will not go away

Every time you think the Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor story is over, you encounter another development.

The latest set of documents in the Epstein files contain emails that could further damage his reputation.

Or perhaps its reputation has already hit rock bottom and this will only strengthen existing negative impressions.

Public opinion may also have been divided in response to these drip images and emails.

There may be some who are fed up with these seedy headlines and don’t want Andrew to feature any more at the Christmas dinner. They have already formed an opinion and this will only provide further validation.

Others will see these latest documents as evidence that more pressure needs to be placed on Andrew’s connections to Jeffrey Epstein and his circle. They’ll ask, “What else is there to find?”

There are still outstanding calls for Andrew to provide evidence to a US Congressional committee and the US Department of Justice. And these latest emails will only increase the questions.

“Did you find me inappropriate new friends?” At Balmoral, someone named A asks Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s friend and companion, who is currently serving a 20-year sentence in the US for sex trafficking.

Maxwell replies: “I was only able to find suitable friends. I will keep you informed of some church meetings around that time.”

He signs “with kisses” and emails appear between very close people.

The identity of A, who also goes by the name “Invisible Man”, has not yet been revealed and we are not sure if he is Andrew. And there can be sarcastic looks at some of the language in emails; for example, “Autumn” instead of “Autumn” sounds more like American English than British English.

However, there are lines in the emails that match Andrew’s biography; for example, it describes when he left the Royal Navy.

Elsewhere in the files, there also appear to be documents detailing arrangements for a trip to Peru in 2002; His calls for Maxwell to secretly meet friends while he was there, and his suggestion that Maxwell was “smart, pretty funny, and from good families.”

All of these can be read in many different ways, innocent or otherwise. And its inclusion in these files is not evidence of any guilt or misconduct.

But part of the challenge with this revealed information is placing seemingly random pieces into some kind of context.

The email sent by “A” requesting “inappropriate friends” was sent in August 2001, five months after Virginia Giuffre claimed she was forced to have sex with then-Prince Andrew at Maxwell’s home in London.

This is an allegation that Andrew has always strongly denied, and he has always denied any allegations of wrongdoing arising from his connections to Epstein.

But other documents show that the US Department of Justice sought to formally question Andrew and in April 2020 asked the UK government to assist him in presenting evidence in Epstein-related cases.

US officials asked their British counterparts to force him if he did not testify voluntarily.

There were also detailed questions from US authorities about Andrew’s relationship with Epstein, including asking for details of any financial payments between them or any women associated with Maxwell or Epstein.

There may be more questions about what happened to this request. It came when the Covid lockdown had just begun and attention was elsewhere.

There had already been some embarrassment for Andrew over a photo from the Epstein files of him lying on people’s laps in what was thought to be a Sandringham bar, with Maxwell in the background.

This is a room at Sandringham where the royal family may gather this week to watch the King’s message, and they may have to erase the other image from their thoughts.

This is more bad news for Andrew so far, but perhaps similar to the bad news that abounded before.

A year ago I was left wondering more than once “What’s next for Andrew?” Pieces in the wake of the disastrous scandal surrounding his links to the alleged Chinese spy.

And at a time when Andrew was experiencing the most public loss of status for a royal in modern history, it was unforeseeable at the time how much further decline there would be.

No one could have predicted that he would lose his titles and princely status.

Next year there will be questions from the Public Accounts Committee about its finances and the Crown Estate’s lease.

And who knows how much more might emerge from this vast cache of Epstein documents?

It’s a downward spiral, and every time you think it’s over, it just keeps going deeper.