A single black-and-white photograph has reopened one of the most uncomfortable chapters in recent royal history.
The image shows Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor stretched across the laps of five women, grinning broadly, while Ghislaine Maxwell looks on approvingly from the background.
Pulled from the newly released Epstein Files, the picture has been brushed off by one of Andrew’s friends as nothing more than “hi-jinks” at a party. Others see it very differently.
Downplaying the Scene at Sandringham
Speaking to The Telegraph, a friend of the former prince insisted there was nothing sinister about the image.
Andrew, they said, was fully clothed and simply enjoying himself.
But fresh reporting by The Mail on Sunday reveals the setting and timing make that defence far harder to swallow.
The photograph was taken during a party hosted by Andrew at Sandringham in early December 2000, celebrating Maxwell’s 39th birthday, with Jeffrey Epstein also in attendance.
Allegations of a Party Gone Wrong
While Andrew has previously painted the gathering as harmless fun, a far darker picture has now emerged.
According to a bombshell account in The Windsor Legacy by royal author Robert Jobson, palace staff were left shocked by what they found after the party.
Bathrooms, the book claims, were strewn with condoms, lubricants and so-called “poppers” — drugs often linked to sexual activity.
A palace source quoted in the book said staff were stunned that the Queen’s private Norfolk retreat had been treated with such disregard.
Inside the Heart of the Royal Home
The image itself was taken in Sandringham’s saloon, an elegant room traditionally used by the Royal Family for tea on Christmas Eve and to watch the monarch’s Christmas Day broadcast.
Royal historian Andrew Lownie said the idea of that space being used for a raucous party would appal the family.
He described it as one of their “inner sanctums” and suggested Andrew’s behaviour there would horrify his relatives.
Epstein and Maxwell’s Access to Royal Circles
The Sandringham image is just one of many photographs released in recent days that underline how deeply Epstein and Maxwell moved within elite society.
Another shows the pair sitting with Andrew in the Royal Box at Ascot on Ladies’ Day in June 2000, an event also attended by the Queen and the Queen Mother.
Andrew later described Epstein as his “plus one”, distancing the Royal Family from the invitation.
There are also images of Epstein and Maxwell shooting on moorland at Balmoral, where Andrew reportedly hosted them in 1999.
The Wider Epstein Archive
The newly unsealed cache of around 300,000 documents and images paints a grim picture.
Digital albums show Epstein posing with world leaders, royalty and celebrities.
Others contain hundreds of photographs of nude girls.
One album bears the chilling label “Clinton, Morocco King Wedding, St Tropez, Nudes”.
Images taken inside Epstein’s £60 million Manhattan mansion reveal massage rooms stocked with oils and towels, sex toys, explicit props and books such as Massage for Dummies placed next to framed photographs of Epstein with powerful friends.
Disturbing FBI Testimony
Alongside the images, fresh FBI files and Grand Jury testimony have been released.
One account details how Epstein allegedly checked victims’ ages to ensure they were under 18.
Another describes a girl raped at 14 who said the house felt like something out of Beauty and the Beast — a place both grand and terrifying.
Other photographs show naked girls on Epstein’s private Caribbean island and young schoolgirls dressed in cheerleader outfits at his birthday celebrations.
Maxwell, Celebrity and Power
Maxwell herself appears repeatedly throughout the files.
She is pictured posing provocatively in a supercar, outside Downing Street, and inside Winston Churchill’s war rooms with former US President Bill Clinton and actor Kevin Spacey.
She is currently serving a 20-year sentence for helping Epstein abuse young girls.
Andrew’s Denials and Consequences
Andrew has long denied allegations that he sexually assaulted Virginia Giuffre when she was 17 after being trafficked by Epstein.
Despite those denials, his standing has collapsed.
He has lost his royal titles and is set to leave Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park, moving instead to a more remote property on the Sandringham estate.
Questions That Refuse to Fade
For campaigners and victims’ lawyers, the sheer volume and nature of the material now in the public domain makes claims of ignorance difficult to accept.
One lawyer for an Epstein victim asked bluntly how anyone who spent time with him could plausibly say they didn’t know what was happening.
As more images and documents emerge, the photograph from Sandringham looks less like harmless mischief — and more like a symbol of a world where power, privilege and proximity allowed shocking behaviour to go unchecked for far too long.
What’s Next?
With more testimony and material still being examined, the fallout is far from over.
The renewed scrutiny is forcing uncomfortable questions back into the open — about accountability, complicity and how close some of the most powerful figures in society came to one of the darkest scandals of modern times.
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