Mandelson emails show bid to get Epstein’s ‘goddaughter’ into Downing Street

A request for Downing Street access

British peer and politician Peter Mandelson tried to help Jeffrey Epstein arrange a visit for his “goddaughter” to 10 Downing Street at a time when Epstein was serving an 18-month prison sentence in Florida for procuring a minor for prostitution, according to emails released by the US Department of Justice.

Mandelson was then serving as business secretary in Gordon Brown’s government and sitting on the House of Lords frontbench. Epstein, meanwhile, was already a convicted sex offender. Not exactly the sort of guest list one expects to require careful handling, though apparently there was still room for negotiation.

In one exchange, Epstein told hedge fund manager Glenn Dubin that he would “organize a trip to Number 10, and the House of Lords with Peter Mandelson for you guys”.

On the same day, Epstein wrote directly to Mandelson saying that “the most important person to me next to you of course) is my goddaughter that will be in London on Wednesday and Thursday of next week what can we do to make it a very special trip, I would really appreciate it”.

Mandelson asked, “how old?”, and Epstein replied “15”, adding that she would be with her parents. Epstein then pushed for a short visit. “House of lords, number 10, just for ten minutes, it would mean a lot to me”, he wrote.

Mandelson responded: “Fine on all”. Epstein replied: “Great”.

Days later, Mandelson wrote that he was “trying my best to accommodate” the request and that “we are still on the case… [and] hope something will fall into place”. Epstein later forwarded that message to Dubin.

More than a one-off exchange

These messages are part of thousands in the latest batch of Epstein files that mention Mandelson, a figure who has managed to remain central to British politics for decades despite a long record of controversy.

The emails suggest Epstein used his connection to Mandelson while Mandelson held government office, and that Mandelson appeared willing to help open doors for him while he was a convicted sex offender.

Al Jazeera has contacted Downing Street for comment.

The chain of correspondence also includes a note from Dubin to Epstein saying: “Grt time in buck palace…. ….andrew was great. Thx! G”

Fifteen minutes later, Epstein wrote to convicted child trafficker and former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell: “andrew had tea with the dubin kids and glenn.”

The emails appear to refer to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the former prince and brother of King Charles. Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein’s victims, accused him of sexually assaulting her on three occasions in 2001 when she was 17, as part of Epstein’s trafficking network. Those allegations later led to a 2021 civil lawsuit for sexual assault and intentional infliction of emotional distress, which was settled out of court.

Glenn Dubin’s daughter, and Epstein’s so-called goddaughter, is Celina Dubin, the daughter of Eva Andersson-Dubin, a former girlfriend of Epstein.

The email trail suggests Epstein remained in contact with Celina Dubin after the London trip. The relationship, like so many in Epstein’s orbit, seems to have been less about affection than access, which is somehow even less reassuring.

Questions over Mandelson’s judgment

The exchange raises obvious questions about why Mandelson, who knew of Epstein’s conviction for procuring a minor for prostitution, was prepared to assist with an arrangement involving Epstein and an underage girl while serving as a UK minister.

At the time of the 2009 exchange, Mandelson had returned to government and was serving in a senior Labour role from 2008 to 2010. After leaving office, he moved into lucrative global consulting work before returning to public life again when Prime Minister Keir Starmer appointed him ambassador to the United States in 2024.

Epstein, who died in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges, has since become a political liability that refuses to stay buried for the UK government. The fallout has grown large enough to fuel calls for Starmer to resign.

The release of Epstein files by the US Department of Justice in September 2025 prompted Mandelson to step down as US ambassador. A second tranche, published on January 30, alleged that he had passed sensitive government information to Epstein on several occasions, according to the files. That led the British government to refer the matter to police for possible prosecution. Mandelson was briefly arrested in February and later released on bail, and investigations are still ongoing.

The damage did not stop there. Two senior government aides also resigned, and in an effort to contain the crisis, the prime minister said all documents relating to Mandelson’s appointment would be published. That has done what such efforts usually do: invited more scrutiny.

The first release of what are now known as the “Mandelson files” showed that UK officials had warned ahead of his Washington appointment that his long relationship with Epstein posed a “reputational risk” to Britain.

Government records indicate that during the vetting process in late 2024, Mandelson repeatedly denied key parts of his relationship with Epstein, including whether he had stayed with him after his 2008 conviction. Internal correspondence, however, shows officials were aware of the relationship, discussed it during due diligence, and raised concerns with the prime minister’s chief of staff. The appointment still went ahead.

Starmer has since apologised for the decision. More WhatsApp messages are expected in the coming days, and they may well generate another round of demands for his resignation. British politics, as ever, is finding new ways to make the obvious worse.

Early contact with Maxwell

One of the earliest messages in the files shows Mandelson already in direct contact with Ghislaine Maxwell in June 2002.

“I love disgusting. That’s why I am wild and dangerous…” Mandelson wrote.

The exchange then shifted into talk of possible political and business advising in the United States, including references to contacts linked to former US Senator George Mitchell.

In the same conversation, Mandelson appears to have interrupted a lunch with Epstein, prompting Maxwell to relay a rebuke: “You spoiled Jeffrey’s lunch. Pete, I have warned you about that before. Behave or you will be punished like the bad boy you are.”

At that point, Mandelson was out of government. It was 2002, after he had resigned twice from ministerial office, first over a 373,000 pound loan from fellow minister Geoffrey Robinson used to help buy a house, and later after allegations that he had intervened in a passport application for businessman Srichand Hinduja.

That political exile appears to have been the backdrop to the connections he built with Epstein. The correspondence that followed established a pattern that would last for years: long, rambling emails that mixed politics, business, and sexual innuendo with very little sense that anyone involved was trying especially hard to stay in their lane.

By 2003, Mandelson’s messages to Epstein were included in a 50th birthday book compiled for Epstein. Several pages featured photos of the two men together, along with handwritten notes in which Mandelson described Epstein as his “best pal”. The book was given to Epstein in 2003 but stayed out of public view until it was released two decades later, in September last year.

Financial ties also emerged in the file release. Bank statements from 2003 and June 2004 appear to show Epstein making several payments of 25,000 dollars each to accounts linked to Mandelson, according to reporting by the Financial Times.

Islands, planes and other expensive habits

Other emails suggest Mandelson was drawn to the lifestyle Epstein could offer, including access to private islands, jet travel and the kind of wealth that makes normal commercial arrangements look almost quaint.

In 2005, Mandelson asked Epstein: “When are you going to the island at Xmas? I am having trouble getting air tickets to St Barts and was wondering about going via US, NY or Miami.”

Epstein replied: “I can pay for your tickets if needed.” It is not clear whether the offer was accepted.

Another message from Maxwell to Epstein read: “Asked Mandelson how he is getting to the island – he sd I hope JE is sending the chopper…so I take it you want me to give him a ride on the plane”.

The correspondence suggests Mandelson was impressed by Epstein’s Caribbean island and his New York mansion, both of which he appears to have visited repeatedly, according to the released files. Photos later published showed Mandelson in a dressing gown laughing with Epstein and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, then the Prince of Wales. Another image shows Mandelson in his underwear talking to an unidentified woman at what was reportedly Epstein’s residence.

In another 2002 email, Mandelson told Maxwell that a meeting in Paris had been cancelled and asked whether he could “stay on for a few days to have complete peace”. The reason for the request, and whether Epstein or Maxwell covered the cost, is unclear.

After the 2008 arrest

When Epstein was arrested in 2008 on suspicion of soliciting a minor for prostitution, many of his former associates claimed to distance themselves. Mandelson did not seem to get that memo.

The files suggest he continued communicating with Epstein while the financier was in prison and even took on the role of an informal adviser. “You are fighting back so you need strategy,” Mandelson wrote. He repeatedly asked for updates and “developments”, and asked whether everything was being handled.

“Hope you are strategising,” he added in another message.

After learning of the conviction, Mandelson wrote: “I think the world of you and I feel hopeless and furious about what has happened … Your friends stay with you and love you.”

The “special unpaid adviser”

The emails became more frequent again in June 2009, when Mandelson was appointed first secretary of state, effectively the second most powerful figure in Gordon Brown’s government.

Epstein clearly enjoyed the promotion. He circulated a Guardian article about Mandelson’s new role to Maxwell and to alleged sex trafficker and model scout Jean-Luc Brunel. In another message, he congratulated Mandelson on his comeback and said the appointment made him proud. He also told his wider network, including senior JPMorgan figures such as Jes Staley, that “for all intents and purposes Peter Mandelson is now deputy prime minister”.

Epstein also appears to have acted as a go-between for Mandelson and Staley. The files suggest he passed messages between them and helped arrange meetings on several occasions, including in December 2009, February 2010, and on a call in March 2010. Another call was set up in January 2010 with either Mandelson or then-Chancellor Alistair Darling.

The tone of the messages swung between flattery and calculation. At one point Epstein called Mandelson “devious” after he lobbied a bank to underwrite a mining project backed by their mutual associate Nat Rothschild.

Epstein also offered policy advice. He suggested Mandelson could use his authority over universities to create a prize in “cyberwar artificial general intelligence”, an area that also intersected with Epstein’s own business interests.

Mandelson’s answer was blunt, if not exactly reassuring. “You can become my special unpaid adviser,” he wrote.

The files also suggest Epstein may have been told about sensitive political developments, including Brown’s impending resignation in 2010 and a 500-billion-euro European Union bailout aimed at stabilising the Greek debt crisis.

In one exchange shortly after Mandelson became first secretary of state, he forwarded Epstein a private email sent to Brown that contained market-sensitive information, including possible government asset sales, tax policy, and expectations that the Conservatives would win the next election.

The forwarded note, described as “interesting”, came from Nick Butler, a special adviser, and set out “business issues” for the prime minister. Epstein, still in prison at the time, replied with his own economic view: the government should think not only about physical assets but also “INTELLECTUAL assets, that are not being exploited”. Cabinet-level policy advice from a jailed financier, because apparently that was part of the service.

“You are the only person that knows everything about me”

The weekend after that exchange, Mandelson appears to have stayed at Epstein’s residence. Their personal relationship remained close.

In one message, Mandelson told Epstein: “Had a long dream about you last night.”

The two also discussed a woman named Simone. “I am worried about Simone who is totally despairing,” Mandelson wrote. “I am not sure what else to do. Any ideas?”

Epstein replied that Mandelson should go to New York for the weekend and said he should not miss the chance to meet people he liked.

“You are the only person who knows everything about me,” Mandelson later told him.

Weeks later, Epstein appeared to change his view. “I’m rethinking the Simone issue with your new profile. I’m afraid it’s asking for serious trouble. It won’t be kept quiet. Rinalado will go ballistic. Fraught with danger,” he wrote, referring to Mandelson’s husband, Reinaldo Avila da Silva.

Financial help also surfaced again. It is widely reported that in September 2009, da Silva emailed Epstein asking for help covering the costs of an osteopathy course, including fees, equipment and a laptop. Epstein agreed, saying: “I will wire your loan amount immediately.”

A payment of 10,000 pounds followed. When da Silva asked whether the amount covered his school fees, Epstein confirmed that it did. Mandelson then emailed Epstein to warn: “Remind him that to avoid a gift-tax filing, it must be a loan.”

Da Silva later replied: “Thank you for the money which arrived in my account this morning.”

The relationship lingered

The contact between Mandelson and Epstein did not stop there. According to the files, they remained in touch until 2016, while the UK government’s own due diligence report says the relationship continued until 2019.

In one of their final exchanges, Mandelson still seemed impressed by the kind of hard-nosed politics that never entirely leaves the room. “By the way, as political practitioner, Donald is phenomenal,” he wrote, referring to US President Donald Trump. “The craft and tenacity are amazing.”

And after all of this, that may be the most British part of the story: everyone involved appears to have kept going far longer than the situation merited.