Prince Andrew hosted Epstein, Maxwell and Weinstein at Royal Lodge after arrest warrant issued for Epstein Peta RasdienThe NightlyWed, 29 October 2025 12:54PMEmail Peta Rasdien
Prince Andrew hosted Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell and Harvey Weinstein at his luxury private residence, the Royal Lodge, ahead of a masked ball to celebrate daughter Beatrice’s 18th birthday, according to new claims.
Details of the notorious trio’s visit in 2006 emerged after the BBC matched the trees and a patio wall in a previously published image of them to other pictures of the Royal Lodge.
A witness also recalled seeing Weinstein and Epstein at a drinks event in the back garden of the Royal Lodge before guests headed to the main party at Windsor Castle.
It was previously known Epstein, Maxwell and Weinstein, all later convicted of being sex offenders, attended the masked ball, but not that they had been invited to the Royal Lodge beforehand.
The 30-room Georgian mansion set in 40ha of gardens in the heart of Windsor Great Park, and Prince Andrew’s ongoing tenancy there, is at the centre of a bitter battle between him and King Charles who has for years been trying to evict him.
Details of the generous lease arrangement enjoyed by the disgraced Prince, who hasn’t paid rent there for more than 20 years, emerged last week, causing fresh outrage.
It came hot on the heels of Andrew handing back his remaining royal titles, including Duke of York, due to the ongoing scandal over his ties with Epstein and following allegations he sexually abused Virginia Giuffre.
He paid millions to settle a civil sexual assault case with Giuffre, a woman he claimed never to have met, and has always strenuously proclaimed his innocence.
Prince Andrew has now reportedly agreed to leave the Royal Lodge, but only if the King agrees to give him two other royal residences in return — one for him and one for ex-wife Sarah Ferguson.
The fresh claims about Epstein and Co. visiting him at the Royal Lodge before Beatrice’s party in 2006 have added to questions about Andrew’s judgement.
The visit by the trio came two months after a warrant was issued in the US for Epstein. He was arrested in Florida eight days after the event.
Asked about Epstein’s presence at his daughter’s birthday celebration given the arrest warrant, Prince Andrew said in a 2019 Newsnight interview, “Certainly I wasn’t aware when the invitation was issued what was going on in the United States and I wasn’t aware until the media picked up on it because he never said anything about it.”
In June 2008, Epstein pleaded guilty to state charges of soliciting prostitution and soliciting prostitution from someone under 18 and sentenced to 18 months in jail.
He died by suicide in 2019 in jail while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
Epstein and Maxwell were regulars at royal residences in the 1990s and 2000s. A photo of the pair relaxing in the Queen’s log cabin at Balmoral, believed to have been taken in 2019, was shown at Maxwell’s sex trafficking trial.
Maxwell is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for recruiting and trafficking four teenage girls for sexual abuse by Epstein.
Harvey Weinstein, once one of the most powerful figures in Hollywood, was arrested in 2018 after dozens of women came forward with allegation of rape and sexual abuse.
He has been behind bars since his initial conviction in 2020, and he was also later sentenced to prison in a separate California case, which he is appealing.
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