Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has been seen for the first time since a photo of the shamed royal lying on five women’s laps was released in the Epstein Files.
Andrew was seen with a solemn expression on his face as he drove his Land Rover Defender out of Royal Lodge today.
It comes days after an image of the royal sprawled out across elegantly dressed women while a smiling Ghislaine Maxwell looks on was released as part of a damning trove of 300,000 documents from the so-called Epstein Files.
The black and white photo was taken at the Royal Family‘s Sandringham country retreat.
However, the image was today dismissed by a friend of the former prince as ‘hi-jinks’.
The friend told The Telegraph: ‘We don’t see what the problem is. It’s just hi-jinks at a party. He’s fully clothed.’
The date and location of the picture was not released but The Mail on Sunday revealed it captures a raucous scene from a party hosted by Andrew for paedophile Epstein and his girlfriend Maxwell at Sandringham in early December 2000, to mark Maxwell’s 39th birthday.
And in contrast to Andrew’s description of the gathering, allegations have emerged of a debauched event at Queen Elizabeth’s beloved private home in Norfolk.
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was seen with a solemn expression on his face as he drove his Land Rover defender out of Royal Lodge today
Andrew, who was stripped of his royal titles last month, is seen sprawling across the laps of five elegantly dressed women, while Ghislaine Maxwell lurks in the background
Andrew looked glum as he drove his Land Rover out of Royal Lodge earlier today
Lubricants, condoms and drugs to enhance sexual experiences were all found after the party, according to a bombshell book. Although not pictured, depraved financier Epstein, accused of abusing 1,200 women and girls, is understood to have attended the party.
The Windsor Legacy by Robert Jobson claims that bathrooms were littered with the paraphernalia, including sex drugs called poppers.
Citing a ‘palace source’, Mr Jobson writes: ‘Staff were stunned to discover the bathrooms were stocked not only with toiletries, but poppers, lube and condoms.’
The photograph shows Andrew – grinning for the camera in a bow tie and dinner jacket – with his face close to the naked legs of one of the women, all of whom have had their identities protected by US Government lawyers.
Maxwell, serving a 20-year jail term for helping Epstein abuse young girls, hovers in the background, alongside another woman whose identity is also protected.
The picture was taken in Sandringham’s opulent saloon, which is used as a sitting room when the Royal Family is in residence.
The family traditionally gathers in the room for afternoon tea on Christmas Eve and again on Christmas Day to watch the King’s Speech.
Royal author Andrew Lownie last night said the photograph of Andrew’s party in the heart of the 237-room Sandringham House would ‘horrify his family’. ‘It is one of their private inner sanctums and they will be appalled that Andrew treated it as just another place to have fun and show off to his friends.’
It marks the first appearance of the former prince since the photo was released within the files
It is just one in a series of extraordinary images exposing the access to high society the former prince granted Epstein and Maxwell.
In one photo, released on Friday by the US Department of Justice, Epstein and Maxwell are seen with Andrew in the Royal Box at Ascot. They were personal guests of Andrew on June 22, 2000, at Ladies’ Day, which Queen Elizabeth and the Queen Mother also attended. Andrew later described Epstein as his ‘plus one’ and not a guest of the Royal Family.
The released files also include a photograph of Epstein and Maxwell shooting on moorland at Balmoral. The former prince reportedly invited the couple to stay at the Scottish estate in 1999.
Andrew has been dogged by allegations that he sexually assaulted then 17-year-old Virginia Giuffre after she was trafficked by Epstein. He has repeatedly and vehemently denied all accusations.
As well as losing his titles, he will move out of Royal Lodge, a 30-room mansion in Windsor Great Park, and instead live in a property in a remote corner of the Sandringham estate early in the New Year.
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