It’s long been an open secret that Prince Andrew, now stripped of his royal title, was a member of Jeffrey Epstein\u2019s inner circle.<\/p>\n
But the Epstein files reveal that another figure should be understood as the paedophile\u2019s unofficial ambassador to the British royal family.<\/p>\n
David Stern, a 48-year-old German-born investor who now lives in the United Arab Emirates, is mentioned thousands of times in the Epstein files.<\/p>\n
Epstein introduced David Stern to Andrew. Stern became a trusted friend to the royal family. So trusted that in 2016 he was made a director of the St George\u2019s House trust.<\/p>\n
Nestled in Windsor Castle, St George\u2019s House<\/a> was founded in 1966 by the late Duke of Edinburgh as a private space \u201cwhere people of influence from right across society could come together to debate and discuss issues of national and international importance\u201d.<\/p>\n This institution is part of the College of St George, alongside St George\u2019s Chapel, where 10 British monarchs are buried.<\/p>\n It is difficult to go deeper into the traditional British establishment.<\/p>\n Stern was so trusted that he was placed next to the late Queen Elizabeth at an event at St James\u2019s Palace in 2016.<\/p>\n But at the same time Stern was so close to Epstein that the convicted sex offender arranged accommodation for him in New York as late as 2018 – the year before Epstein would be found dead in a New York City prison cell.<\/p>\n Middle East Eye has unearthed extraordinary details of Stern\u2019s relationship with the notorious paedophile in files recently released by the US Department of Justice.<\/p>\n Stern sent Epstein sexually explicit messages, including a photo of a naked woman, and invited a girlfriend of the financier to a Changing of the Guard ceremony outside Buckingham Palace.<\/p>\n Stern accompanied Andrew abroad. He reported on the then-royal\u2019s doings to Epstein. He pitched business deals to the financier.<\/p>\n It was only after Epstein\u2019s suspicious death and Andrew\u2019s disastrous BBC Newsnight interview about his relationship with the paedophile in 2019 that Stern resigned<\/a> as a director of Andrew\u2019s project Pitch@Palace, a role he had been given in 2016.<\/p>\n He would remain on the board of St George\u2019s House until 2022, three years after Epstein\u2019s death.<\/p>\n As an indication of how close Stern\u2019s relationship with Epstein was, in 2014 he wished Epstein a happy birthday with the message: \u201cChampagne for you (even though you don\u2019t drink it).\u201d<\/p>\n This was accompanied by a photograph of champagne being poured over the apparently naked body of a young woman, whose face is not identified.<\/p>\n ‘I stay in the background\/ hidden, just make the arrangements’<\/p>\n – David Stern email to Epstein, 2011<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n \u201cPA [Prince Andrew] sends his birthday wishes and love,\u201d Stern added later that day.\u00a0<\/p>\n He sent lewd memes and jokes to Epstein, who had pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting prostitution sex from underage girls.<\/p>\n On 18 May 2012 Epstein asked Stern when \u201cthe lady\u201d, whose name is unknown, was set to arrive in Paris on Friday night.<\/p>\n Stern replied: \u201cLast one on Friday: leaving London 20:01 arriving Paris 23:17.\u201d<\/p>\n He sent a photo, not accessible in the released files, and asked Epstein: \u201cis assume that\u2019s her?\u201d<\/p>\n Epstein responded: \u201cI would like her to go both way with you.\u201d<\/p>\n Stern said: \u201cLet me see how it can be done. Return train on Saturday at 13:13 ok?\u201d<\/p>\n Epstein replied: \u201cthat would be helpful\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cWill see you latest 4pm on Sunday, unless you want me to come over before for any reason, orgies, etc.\u201d<\/p>\n In April 2016, Stern invited a girlfriend of Epstein, Karyna Shuliak, to the Changing of the Guard ceremony outside Buckingham Palace, which sees soldiers on duty at the royal residence hand over to a new group of soldiers.<\/p>\n After his death it emerged<\/a> that Epstein promised Belarus-raised Shuliak four of his homes and a cash bequest of $50m.<\/p>\n In an email Stern told Kuliak, then aged 26, that he would take her somewhere where they needed to bring \u201cpicture I.D\u201d. He said: \u201cThe dress code is formal so no jeans or sneakers etc (I know it’s annoying but it’s very strict).\u201d<\/p>\n Shuliak said she was \u201clooking forward\u201d to the event.\u00a0<\/p>\n Stern\u2019s relationship with Epstein continued until at least 2018, the messages suggest.<\/p>\n In July 2018 email correspondence reveals that Epstein said he would ask former Trump advisor Steve Bannon if he had time to have tea with Stern in London. And in September,\u00a0just months before his arrest, Epstein arranged an apartment for Stern to stay in on a trip to New York.<\/p>\n Stern\u2019s association with Andrew began when he was British trade envoy.<\/p>\n In February 2010 Andrew\u2019s wife Sarah Ferguson, then the Duchess of York, said in an email to an unknown recipient that Epstein had introduced her to Stern and that Stern had come to the Royal Lodge in Windsor for dinner.<\/p>\n <\/a> <\/p>\n Epstein files reveal longtime relationship with UK billionaire Blavatnik<\/p>\n Read More \u00bb<\/a>\n<\/div>\n In 2002 Stern founded Asia Gateway Limited, a China-focused advisory with offices in Beijing and London. Stern would repeatedly pitch China-related deals to Epstein.\u00a0<\/p>\n On 23 March 2011 Stern emailed Epstein asking him: \u201cDo you want to send the idea (if you like it) of investing in Stansted Airport to the Chinese guy that came to see you (Beijing Capital airport)? Good way to test him. Could be an interesting deal.\u201d<\/p>\n In September that year Stern told Epstein that most meetings Andrew had planned in China and Kuala Lumpur \u201care organised by me except mayors and governors and nothing in KL\u201d.<\/p>\n He explained that \u201cI stay in the background\/hidden, just make the arrangements.\u201d<\/p>\n On 21 October 2011 ahead of a trip by Andrew to China, Stern emailed Epstein telling him that Andrew was \u201cchartering his own plane. He wants to take me with him.<\/p>\n \u201cMy name will be on the flight-records etc. I feel it is safer to fly separately.\u201d He asked whether Epstein agreed and the financier replied that it was \u201cok,, to fly with him\u201d.<\/p>\n The visit, which took place shortly after Andrew stepped down as trade envoy in July that year following scrutiny over his friendship with Epstein, was widely publicised<\/a>. Andrew attended the opening ceremony of a factory and opened a British school in Shanghai.<\/p>\n On 21 November 2011 Stern asked Epstein: \u201cFor the African investment vehicle we can be the bridge between the Chinese and African side: both get what they want with maximum protection\/distance (ie no direct Chinese involvement) through us as intermediary. It can be a deal machine once Chinese capital gets involved. It would fit in perfectly with the other plan of managing Chinese wealth.\u201d<\/p>\n In 2012 Stern even tried to help Epstein get a visa to travel to China, but the financier was denied a tourist visa – because of his criminal record, an assistant suggested in an email to Stern.<\/p>\n The business relationship between the two men was wide-ranging.<\/p>\n In 2010 Stern encouraged Epstein to buy the luxury Dukes hotel in London, a ten-minute walk from Buckingham Palace.<\/p>\n The hotel was owned by Emirati businessman Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, currently chairman and CEO of DP World, the Dubai-owned trade and logistics company which controls ports all over the world.<\/p>\n Sulayem has appeared elsewhere in the Epstein files. In one email exchange, he wrote to share his views on the Quran with Epstein before noting that he is \u201coff the sample a fresh 100% female Russian\u201d on his yacht. MEE has contacted DP World for comment.<\/p>\n Epstein asked financial advisers to value the hotel and work out the cost of refurbishing it. Stern even suggested to Epstein that he install a \u201cplayroom\u201d in the hotel. In the end no deal was made.<\/p>\n Email correspondence shows that Epstein introduced Stern to Peter Mandelson, the former Labour minister who was this week stripped of his peerage over new revelations about his close relationship with Epstein.<\/p>\n In April 2011 Epstein asked Stern to call Mandelson, who agreed to speak to him – although the reason for the call and what was said in it are unclear.<\/p>\n Stern often kept Epstein informed on goings-on in royal circles.<\/p>\n On 11 September 2009 Stern reported to Epstein that Ferguson, Andrew\u2019s ex-wife, wanted him to accompany her to meet Vladimir Zemtsov, a Russian-born billionaire \u201cwilling to evaluate\u201d paying off Ferguson\u2019s heavy debts.<\/p>\n That same year Epstein reportedly hired a private investigator to look into Ferguson\u2019s activities.<\/p>\n In September 2010 Stern told Epstein that Andrew \u201casked me to see a guy who has access to Nigeria oil and when selling it to China (or somebody else) F [Ferguson] can make around $6m.\u201d Stern added that the idea \u201cseems very fishy\u201d.<\/p>\n <\/a> <\/p>\n Jeffrey Epstein was told to keep ‘close eye’ on Saudi Arabia amid Ritz Carlton purge<\/p>\n Read More \u00bb<\/a>\n<\/div>\n In March the following year a political scandal erupted<\/a> when Ferguson admitted she had allowed Epstein to pay off \u00a315,000 of her debts.<\/p>\n \u201cI personally, on behalf of myself, deeply regret that Jeffrey Epstein became involved in any way with me,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cI abhor paedophilia and any sexual abuse of children and know that this was a gigantic error of judgment on my behalf.\u201d<\/p>\nNew MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch<\/h2>\n
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<\/span>On another occasion, on 21 May 2014, Stern emailed Epstein saying: \u201cI will arrive Saturday (31st) morning in NYC.<\/p>\n
Trips to China<\/h3>\n
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<\/p>\nSultan Ahmed bin Sulayem and the Dukes hotel<\/h3>\n
Sarah Ferguson’s financial issues<\/h3>\n
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