Andrew, the former duke of York

Newly unsealed court documents reveal that Andrew Mountbatten Windsor — the brother of British monarch King Charles III and formerly the Duke of York — remained in contact with Jeffrey Epstein months after the convicted sex offender’s July 2009 release from prison, even expressing a wish to “catch up in person.” According to The Guardian, the messages were part of several emails exchanged between the pair in April 2010. These were made public on Friday through a 2023 legal case between the US-governed Virgin Islands and American multinational bank JPMorgan Chase.In the correspondence, Epstein suggested that Andrew meet Jes Staley, a former JPMorgan executive who was later banned from the UK banking sector for “misleading” regulators about his relationship with the late financier. Andrew replied that he would not be in the UK but planned to meet Staley “soon,” adding: “Also I have no immediate plans to drop by New York but I think I should at some stage soon. It would be good to catch up in person.”Months later, the pair were photographed together in New York’s Central Park — a meeting Andrew later described as a “wrong decision.” During his 2019 BBC Newsnight interview, he said he only visited to end their friendship, calling it “the chicken’s way” to do so by phone. However, he stayed at Epstein’s Manhattan mansion for several days. Separate court filings released earlier this year included another message believed to be from Andrew, telling Epstein: “Keep in close touch and we’ll play some more soon!!!!” The newly unsealed documents also show that JPMorgan Chase flagged over $1 billion in suspicious transactions linked to Epstein, possibly tied to human trafficking. The revelations come just days after Buckingham Palace stripped Andrew of his remaining titles and removed his name from the official roll of the peerage — a move widely seen as an attempt to stem the damage from his ongoing scandals.Also Read | ‘Continued accusations about me distract Majesty’: Prince Andrew gives up his royal titles and honoursPressure on the 65-year-old has intensified following the posthumous release of Virginia Giuffre’s memoir, which reiterated her allegations that she was trafficked by Epstein and forced into a sexual relationship with Andrew when she was 17. Giuffre, who died by suicide earlier this year, maintained those claims until her death — allegations Andrew continues to vehemently deny.Also Read | Who was Virginia Giuffre? Epstein victim who dethroned Prince Andrew and shook the royal family It has also been reported that Andrew will receive a one-off payment and an annual stipend to support his transition to life as a private citizen after leaving Royal Lodge, where he had been living rent-free.