Police Scotland Open Balmoral Investigation Into Andrew, Epstein and Maxwell 1999 Visit

Photo: AFP via Al Jazeera

Police Scotland have opened inquiries into the reported 1999 stay of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell at Balmoral Castle, the king's private estate in the Scottish Highlands, after receiving new information about the visit.

The force said on Friday that the inquiries are at a very early stage. It gave no detail about what the information was, or what offences officers may be looking into. The story was first reported by the Daily Express, which said the inquiries are linked to claims that women were trafficked to the estate. Those claims are reported claims, not findings, and police have not confirmed them.

Main News Report: Balmoral Investigation Into Andrew, Epstein and Maxwell

Police Scotland, which covers the whole of Scotland, confirmed the move in a short statement on Friday 30 October. Al Jazeera reports that the inquiries began after the force received information about the time the former Prince Andrew spent with Epstein and Maxwell at Balmoral. The force said it would not confirm details of ongoing inquiries.

"All inquiries are evidence-led, with the needs of victim survivors at the heart of those inquiries," Police Scotland said. "We would never confirm details of ongoing inquiries and it would be inappropriate to comment further."

• Police Scotland confirm "active inquiries" into the reported 1999 Balmoral visit, at a very early stage
• The visit is said to have followed an invitation from Andrew, then Prince Andrew, now known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor
• The Daily Express, which broke the story, links the inquiries to claims that women were trafficked to the estate
• Police have not said what offences are under inquiry, and have not said whether Andrew himself is a subject of it
• Buckingham Palace has declined to comment, saying it does not speak on behalf of Andrew
• Andrew, 66, has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing linked to Epstein

Images released by the United States Department of Justice appeared to show Epstein and Maxwell on a shooting trip at Balmoral in 1999. The photos were among millions of pages of documents published earlier this year as Congress probed Epstein's links to politicians, business leaders and other well known people in the US and around the world. Al Jazeera notes that the presence of anyone's name or image in the files is not proof of wrongdoing.

Background Context

Balmoral Castle sits near Ballater in Aberdeenshire, in the Scottish Highlands. It was bought by Queen Victoria in 1852 as a summer retreat, and the royal family still spends part of each August there. It is now the private estate of King Charles III. In 1999 it belonged to his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, who died at Balmoral in September 2022.

Epstein, a wealthy American financier, died in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. He had pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting a minor for prostitution. Maxwell, his longtime associate, was convicted in 2021 over sex trafficking offences and is serving a prison sentence. Andrew has acknowledged his friendship with both of them, but has denied all allegations of wrongdoing against him.

The Balmoral visit is only the latest strand of a much wider police picture. The Hindu reports that at least ten UK police forces are now probing Andrew and Epstein's links to Britain. Al Jazeera names London's Metropolitan Police, Thames Valley Police and Surrey Police among the forces investigating material released in the Epstein files. Police Scotland had already appealed for information earlier this year about reports that Epstein's private jet was used to fly women through Edinburgh Airport.

Reactions and Statements

Police Scotland's statement was deliberately short, and it refused to go further. A spokesperson told People magazine the same thing: inquiries are ongoing but at a very early stage, and it would be inappropriate to comment further. Buckingham Palace also declined to comment on an active police inquiry, repeating that it does not speak for Andrew.

Andrew's position has not changed. He has consistently denied wrongdoing in connection with Epstein, including the allegation made in 2011 by the late Virginia Giuffre that she was trafficked by Epstein and forced to have sex with Andrew when she was 17. Andrew has denied that allegation.

In February this year, Thames Valley officers arrested Andrew, on his 66th birthday, on suspicion of misconduct in public office, based on information uncovered in the Epstein files. He was held for several hours and then released on police bail pending further investigation. It was the first time in nearly four centuries that a senior British royal had been arrested. Andrew also won a legal challenge over the searches this month after police agreed the warrants they obtained were unlawful, although that investigation remains ongoing.

Why This News Matters: Epstein Balmoral Investigation and the Royal Family

This matters because it brings the Epstein files inquiry to a royal estate itself, and to a visit said to have taken place at Andrew's invitation. Until now, much of the UK police work has centred on documents, flights and money. A Balmoral inquiry puts the focus on a place, and on what happened there in 1999.

It also matters for what it does not yet say. Police have confirmed inquiries, not charges, and they have not confirmed the trafficking claims behind the Daily Express report. Readers should treat those claims as unproven until police or a court say otherwise. That distinction is the whole story at this stage: an inquiry has opened, and its scope is still unknown.

For the royal family, the timing is awkward. Late last year, King Charles stripped his younger brother of his princely title and his dukedom as more details of the Epstein friendship emerged, and ordered him to move out of Royal Lodge, his longtime home near Windsor Castle. Andrew now lives in a house at Sandringham, the king's privately owned estate in eastern England. A fresh police inquiry in Scotland keeps the story in the headlines, whatever it finds.

What happened, in short:

• 1999: Epstein and Maxwell reportedly stay at Balmoral after an invitation from Andrew
• 2008: Epstein pleads guilty to soliciting a minor for prostitution
• 2019: Epstein dies in prison while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges
• 2021: Maxwell is convicted over sex trafficking offences
• February 2026: Andrew is arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office, then released on bail
• 30 October 2026: Police Scotland confirm active inquiries into the reported Balmoral visit

Future Developments

Three things to watch next. First, whether Police Scotland say more about the scope of the inquiries, or whether they stay silent while the work goes on. Second, whether any other force links its own Epstein files work to the Balmoral strand, or whether the Scottish inquiries stay separate. Third, whether the February arrest case against Andrew moves forward, since that case and the Balmoral inquiries are separate matters and neither has led to a charge being reported so far.

For now, the confirmed facts are narrow: police in Scotland have received information, inquiries are open, and they are at a very early stage. Everything beyond that, including the trafficking claims, remains a report to be tested, not a finding.

Sources

• Al Jazeera: Police in Scotland launch Andrew and Epstein royal castle investigation
• The Hindu: Scottish police probe Andrew, Epstein stay at royal castle
• People: Police confirm active inquiries into Andrew and Epstein Balmoral visit

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