King Charles braved the British weather and a storm of controversy during his first public appearance since the latest release of Epstein files.<\/p>\n
Despite his umbrella and a police cordon, he couldn’t entirely avoid either one.<\/p>\n
One heckler shouted from the crowd: “Charles, Charles, have you pressurised the police to start investigating Andrew?”<\/p>\n
Police swiftly moved the man on, but royal historian and author Andrew Lownie believes the demand for answers will only grow louder.<\/p>\n
“I think the question is, what do they know? When did they know? What did they do then? And what are they going to do now?” Mr Lownie said.<\/p>\n
The link between Epstein and the King’s younger brother, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, has caused years of scandal, and now it is not just the British royals in crisis mode.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The latest release of Epstein files contained mentions of monarchies across Europe and the Middle East.<\/p>\n
“It’s a much bigger network than I think people realised, you know, with tentacles stretching across the world,” Mr Lownie said.<\/p>\n
While appearances in the files do not indicate wrongdoing, they have brought scrutiny upon the world’s wealthy and powerful.<\/p>\n Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was spotted near London after the latest Epstein files release. (Reuters: Toby Melville<\/span>)<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n In Norway, a corruption investigation is now underway into a former Prime Minister, and the nation’s future Queen has been forced into a public apology.<\/p>\n Crown Princess Mette-Marit was first linked to Epstein in 2019, but new documents seem to reveal a much closer friendship than previously reported.<\/p>\n Emails between the princess and the paedophile reveal a warm relationship between 2011 and 2014, well after his release from prison in 2009 for child sex offences.<\/p>\n In one 2012 email from H.K.H Kronprinsessen \u2014 Norwegian for H.R.H. (Her Royal Highness) Crown Princess \u2014 she called the sex offender a “sweetheart”.<\/p>\n In another, she wrote: “You always make me smile … because you tickle my brain.”<\/p>\n Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit attend the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in December. (Reuters: Leonhard Foeger<\/span>)<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n There are regular plans to meet together, and a series of emails indicate she stayed at his house in Palm Beach, Florida, in January 2013.<\/p>\n Epstein was not there during the visit, but it appears he facilitated a visit to his dentist for the future queen’s teeth bleaching.<\/p>\n “It is simply embarrassing,” the princess said in a statement issued by the royal palace.<\/p>\n “I showed poor judgement and I deeply regret having had any contact with Epstein.“<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n It is the second time she has issued a public apology over her links to Epstein.<\/p>\n In 2019, she told Norwegian newspaper Dagens N\u00e6ringsliv she “never would have associated with Mr Epstein if I had been aware of the seriousness of the crimes he committed. I should have investigated his past more thoroughly, and I am sorry that I didn’t”.<\/p>\n The latest tranche of Epstein documents were released by the US Department of Justice last week. In those, the crown princess tells Epstein in a 2011 email she had googled him, and “it didn’t look good :)”.<\/p>\n In another email from 2013 she asks Epstein: “Anyway are you coming over to see me soon??? I miss my crazy friend.”<\/p>\n Sweden’s Princess Sofia is another royal who appears in the latest tranche of files.<\/p>\n Long before she married Swedish Prince Carl Philip, the then-aspiring actress was introduced to Epstein in 2005 through her mentor, businesswoman Barbro Ehnbom.<\/p>\n The Swedish Royal Court has previously said Princess Sofia met Epstein a handful of times before his 2008 conviction, but she declined an invitation to his island and had not been in contact with him for 20 years.<\/p>\n But it appears Ms Ehnbom, who ran a networking group and scholarship for young women, continued to contact Epstein about her.<\/p>\n In February 2010, she emailed a photo of Sofia to Epstein. It was not clear if Sofia knew the photograph had been taken or sent.<\/p>\n The context of her appearance in the files have led some commentators to compare her experience with victims, rather than accomplices.<\/p>\n Princess Sofia smiles for a snap in Stockholm in 2023. (TT News Agency: Jonas Ekstromer via Reuters<\/span>)<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n The files also reveal consistent contact between Epstein and Raafat Al-Sabbagh, an adviser to Saudi Arabia’s royal court, and associate of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.<\/p>\n Most communication between the pair was sent between 2016 and 2017.<\/p>\n The texts and emails include crude exchanges, political commentary and business advice.<\/p>\n “I am sure you are opening so many legs there,” Mr Al-Sabbagh said in one message sent in 2016 to Epstein, who was at his Palm Beach home at the time.<\/p>\n Epstein reportedly displayed a photo of himself with Prince Mohammed on a sideboard in his New York residence.<\/p>\n The Saudi government’s Centre for International Communication did not respond to the ABC’s request for comment.<\/p>\n‘You always tickle my brain’<\/h2>\n
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Sweden’s royal family named in files<\/h2>\n
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Saudi royal advisor’s crude texts<\/h2>\n