A recently disclosed email has brought renewed scrutiny to the relationship between a senior British royal and the late financier Jeffrey Epstein. The message, sent in February 2011, was written just one day after a photograph of the royal with a young woman, Virginia Giuffre, was made public.
In the correspondence, the royal figure appears to offer reassurance to Epstein, who was at the time under investigation for crimes involving minors. The email reportedly stated, “It would seem we are in this together and will have to rise above it,” and concluded with, “Otherwise keep in touch.” The message was signed with the sender’s formal title and a reference to a chivalric honor.
The communication is said to have included a suggestion of future meetings, with the phrase “We’ll play some more soon,” indicating an intention to resume their association after media attention subsided. The royal also expressed concern for Epstein’s well-being amid the investigations, while downplaying his own situation.
The photograph that prompted this exchange shows the royal with his arm around a teenage Giuffre, with Epstein’s associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, also present. In a 2021 lawsuit, Giuffre alleged she was trafficked to the royal on multiple occasions when she was 17 years old. She detailed these encounters in personal diary entries, which described intimate situations initiated after an introduction by Maxwell. In these accounts, she wrote of specific compliments and actions by the royal that made her feel pressured to comply.
The royal has consistently denied all allegations of wrongdoing. The civil lawsuit was resolved through a private, out-of-court settlement in 2022, the terms of which were not disclosed. Giuffre passed away earlier this year. The emergence of this email provides further context to a relationship that has been the subject of intense legal and public examination.
