On the evening of June 12 last year, the thermometer in Washington still showed 31 degrees Celsius. Despite the summer heat, there was a cheerful atmosphere in the large garden of the British Embassy – the king's birthday was celebrated. Several thousand guests in ceremonial costumes, including many women in hats, strolled through the residence's halls and lawns, sipping chilled champagne and admiring the display of cars, from Aston Martin to Range Rover, that Queen Elizabeth II once drove.
However, the guests also came to meet their new hosts: the new British ambassador to the US, Peter Mandelson, and his husband, Reinaldo Avila da Silva. There was even a new FBI director, Kash Patel. — We have a new head of our events, he is a leading figure on the scene in Washington, said Avila da Silva. In times of Donald Trump's punitive tariffs and unpredictable foreign policy Premium networking is gold in the US capital.
That's why Prime Minister Keir Starmer chose Mandelson, a veteran of Tony Blair's government. He was a clever negotiator and manipulator who received the nickname from the British press in the 1990s “Prince of Darkness”. Recent reports show just how dark these networks have become. In September 2009, Mandelson wrote an email to Jeffrey Epstein.
Could an American financier lend his then partner Reinaldo money for osteopathic training? “$10,000 (at the current exchange rate: PLN 35,000) is on its way,” Epstein replied.
Just six weeks earlier, Epstein had been released from prison after 18 months. He stayed convicted of persuading a minor into prostitution. This fact did not seem to bother Mandelson. In emails that were made public last fall, he assured his American friend of moral support before his sentencing.
Short memory
Moreover, Mandelson was the Minister of Economy in the British cabinet at that time. During the financial crisis, he shared with Epstein secret government plans and promised him that he would lobby other members to reduce the tax on bonuses for bank managers.
Peter Mandelson is one of the most famous examples of the fact that not only Epstein, but also his circle of friends considered themselves untouchable. They had no empathy for the victims. Moreover, they may have known about the crimes and taken no action to prevent or explain them. The strong belief that they would never be held accountable also led to astonishing arrogance, as the Mandelson case illustrates.
Even though during the election campaign, Trump promised his supporters from the Make America Great Again movement [Uczyńmy Amerykę znów wielką] Following the disclosure of Epstein's files, Mandelson accepted the prestigious position of ambassador.
— It's a great honor to serve the country in this way, the 72-year-old said just before Christmas 2024. On Tuesday, Mandelson resigned from the British House of Lords, and thus from the title of lord. He had resigned from the Labor Party shortly before.
Jeffrey Epstein in 2004Rick Friedman/Getty Images
In the weeks after his forced return to London and before the final release of the files by the United States Department of Justice, Mandelson continued to give interviews in which he claimed that he does not remember the alleged monetary payments from Epstein.
“Deal of a Lifetime”
Only last week, just before the new files were released, Mandelson told Britain's Times that Epstein “is like dog poop on a shoe, you can't get it off.” “The smell will never go away,” he added.
In addition to Mandelson, the media and public opinion also accuse the former Prince Andrew, the brother of King Charles III, of losing his sense of reality. The latest dossier includes photos of the prince showing him crawling on the floor over a young woman. Sarah Ferguson, Andrzej's ex-wife, accepted money from Epstein. “You are the brother I always dreamed of,” she wrote to a convicted sex offender. On Tuesday, her foundation announced it was closing until further notice.
Norwegian Princess Mette-Marit also remained in very personal contact with Epstein after his conviction. In 2012 emails, a New York banker told her he was in Paris “looking for a wife.” The princess replied that the French capital was “a good place for adultery”, but Scandinavian women were “better wife material”.
The answers to the question of why celebrities such as Mandelson and Mette-Marit maintained contact with Jeffrey Epstein even after his conviction are multi-layered. According to lawyers, this could also be due to the fact that in 2008 in the state of Florida he avoided a harsh penalty, receiving only 18 months in prison, which he could spend in his office during the day. Epstein then made “the deal of a lifetime,” writes law professor Blanche Bong Cook.
The only person convicted so far is British woman Ghislaine Maxwellwho was Epstein's mistress for over two decades and provided him with girls for sex crimes. Maxwell comes from the British elite and introduced Epstein to royalty and politicians. In 2021, she was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
The files made available at the end of last week constitute less than half of the materials available to the US Ministry of Justice. In light of recent revelations in Washington, public pressure to release all files is expected to only increase.
