Ex-Prince Andrew vacates Royal Lodge amid Epstein fallout

by · UPI

Feb. 4 (UPI) -- Royal family member Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor vacated his temporary home at the Royal Lodge this week after the U.S. government's latest release of Jeffrey Epstein case files cast more light on his activities.

The U.S. Justice Department's Epstein files release on Friday included many related to a former case against Mountbatten-Windsor, 65, that he settled with plaintiff Virginia Giuffre in 2022.

Giuffre, in a lawsuit, accused the then-prince of raping her when she was a teenager and in the employ of Epstein, which he has denied.

The files released Friday included photos of Mountbatten-Windsor, including one showing him leaning over the body of a woman who was lying on the ground and another of him on all fours while next to the same woman, whose face was redacted.

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That photo and others were published on the front pages of several British newspapers Sunday. One of the newly released emails indicated Epstein had arranged a meeting between the former prince and a 26-year-old Russian woman that Epstein described as being attractive and trustworthy.

Mountbatten-Windsor vacated the Royal Lodge on Monday amid the new files release, although he was scheduled to leave in early 2026.

He had rented the mansion, which is located on a 98-acre estate in west London, since 2003 and had a 75-year lease to live there.

Mountbatten-Windsor has moved into Wood Farm, which is located on Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, where he will stay while his permanent residence is being renovated.

Officials in the United States have sought his testimony regarding Epstein, but he has refused. There is no legal mechanism available to compel his testimony.

No more Epstein case files remain to be uploaded, according to the Justice Department.

Epstein was a convicted sex offender and a former financier who killed himself by hanging inside a jail cell in 2019.

Epstein was jailed and awaiting trial on federal charges accusing him of child sex trafficking and other crimes when he killed himself.

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Lisa Phillips, a survivor of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, speaks out during a rally with other survivors on Capitol Hill in Washington on September 3, 2025. Photo by Anna Rose Layden/UPI | License Photo