LONDON — A rare royal apology, resignations and allegations of leaked government intel: The new release of Epstein documents has provoked outrage and a demand for answers in Europe over ties between prominent figures and the late sex offender.
Norway’s royal family has found itself at the center of a storm over the more than 3 million documents the Justice Department released Friday. And in Britain, the former Prince Andrew and his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, have faced renewed pressure.
This time, however, the focus in the United Kingdom is not on the palace but on the country’s “Prince of Darkness.”
Peter Mandelson, a longtime political grandee who earned that nickname with a reputation as a ruthless political fixer and schemer, stepped down as a member of the House of Lords on Tuesday. He faces an intensifying scandal over emails that appear to show him leaking sensitive political and market information to Epstein.
London’s Metropolitan Police, which earlier said it was reviewing reports of “alleged misconduct in public office” to determine whether it met the threshold for criminal investigation, announced late Tuesday that it had “launched an investigation into a 72-year-old man, a former Government Minister, for misconduct in public office offences.” As is customary, it did not identify by name who was being investigated.
Mandelson had already resigned as the U.K.’s ambassador to the United States in September after revelations about his friendship with Epstein emerged. On Sunday, he also stepped down from the governing Labour Party, after the latest release of files suggested he lobbied his own government on behalf of Epstein while alerting him about coming key decisions.
“Trying hard to amend,” Mandelson wrote to Epstein about a planned tax on bankers’ bonuses in December 2009, according to the released documents. “Treasury digging in but I am on [the] case.”
Mandelson also appears to have leaked an internal economics briefing about assets the government believed it could sell. Mandelson forwarded it to Epstein with the added line: “Interesting note that’s gone to the PM.”
In 2010, while Mandelson was business secretary, he notified Epstein in advance that Prime Minister Gordon Brown was going to resign following his loss of the general election, writing “finally got him to go today…” according to an email exchange between the two.
Epstein served jail time, having been convicted in 2008 of soliciting a minor for prostitution, although the true scale of his crimes did not start to emerge until 2015.
Mandelson said that he was resigning to avoid “further embarrassment to the Labour Party” and that he wanted to “repeat my apology to the women and girls whose voices should have been heard long before now.”
In an interview the British newspaper The Times published Monday, he spoke about a “handful of misguided historical emails, which I deeply regret sending,” and likened Epstein to “muck that you can’t get off your shoe.”
Prime Minister Keir Starmer, his former boss, said Tuesday that “he was appalled by the information that had emerged over the weekend in the Epstein files,” his spokesman told reporters.
He said the “alleged passing on of emails of highly sensitive government business was disgraceful, adding that he was not reassured that the totality of the information had yet emerged,” the spokesman said.
Meanwhile, in Norway, the future queen, Crown Princess Mette-Marit, apologized after emails suggested that she — like Mandelson — was a far closer personal friend of Epstein’s than she had previously acknowledged.
Like Britain’s royal family, the Norwegian monarchs have been thrown into turmoil after the emergence of emails sent from 2011 to 2013 of Epstein corresponding with an address listed as “H.K.H. Kronprinsessen” — which means “Her Royal Highness the Crown Princess.”
H.K.H. Kronprinsessen’s email in November 2012 calls Epstein a “sweetheart.” Another the following January reads: “Anyway are you coming over to see me soon??? I miss my crazy friend.”
The crown princess, who is married to Crown Prince Haakon, next in line to the throne, said in a statement that she took “responsibility for not having investigated Epstein’s background more thoroughly, and for not realizing sooner what kind of person he was.” She said she “deeply” regretted her “poor judgement” and called it “simply embarrassing.”
She also said she had “deep sympathy and solidarity with the victims of the abuse committed by Jeffrey Epstein.”
The Royal House of Norway did not respond to requests for additional comment.
The media glare was only deepened Tuesday with the start of a sex assault trial for Marius Borg Høiby, 29, the crown princess’ son, who pleaded not guilty to 38 charges — including four of rape.
The revelations prompted a rare public rebuke of the popular royals from the country’s political leader. Mette-Marit “showed bad judgment,” Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said Monday.
Even for Mandelson, dubbed “silver tongue” by then-President George W. Bush, the most recent disclosures were startling.
“Mandelson was at the heart of government,” said Dan Neidle, a prominent tax lawyer who founded Tax Policy Associates, a U.K. nonprofit organization aiming to improve the public’s understanding of policy.
He “was leaking information on the British and U.S. governments’ responses to the financial crisis to Epstein,” Neidle told NBC News, referring to the latest tranche of documents released by the Justice Department, which he has analyzed in detail. “That’s incredibly serious.”
Mandelson rose to prominence in the 1990s as a key force behind the “New Labour” movement of then-Prime Minister Tony Blair.
His most recent comeback was as Starmer’s ambassador to Washington — but he lasted only months in that role after an earlier salvo of Epstein files showed the two enjoyed a much closer relationship than was previously admitted. Mandelson called Epstein “my best pal” in a 2003 birthday book for Epstein.
The most recently released files also appear to show that Epstein gave $75,000 in three payments to accounts linked to Mandelson or his partner in 2003 and 2004.
The London Speaker Bureau, a keynote speaker organization that lists Mandelson as a speaker, did not immediately respond to requests for additional comment and information.
A spokesperson released this statement to The Independent online newspaper: “Allegations, which I believe to be false, that he made financial payments to me 20 years ago, and of which I have no record or recollection, need investigating by me.”
