Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor became the face of a charity campaign to protect children from abuse, around the same time it is thought he began a friendship with convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
“As a father of two young children, I simply could not sit back and do nothing, he told Hello! magazine in 1999 during an interview to launch the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC)’s campaign cracking down on abuse of children.
“We have to make sure that our children don’t accept abuse… They should not have to take responsibility for their own protection,” he said, adding, “It’s the sinister stuff that goes on behind closed doors that we need to worry about.”
The i Paper has located an original copy of the magazine buried in archives stored in a warehouse near Lincolnshire.
The Royal is pictured beaming in a black suit and bowtie along Hollywood legend Nicole Kidman on the cover that hit shops on 12 October 1999, with the pair drumming up interest in the child abuse campaign.
The glamorous cover was followed inside by a nine-page glossy spread of Mountbatten-Windsor photographed in his office in Buckingham Palace. He is also pictured with his ex-wife and children, as well as celebrities, philanthropists and politicians.
One photo includes Peter Mandelson, who was also involved in the NSPCC campaign and was fired as the UK Ambassador to the US last year after concerns were raised over his own links with Epstein.
Mountbatten-Windsor told the magazine: “Eventually we will be able to identify those people who are abusing children more easily because they will be a very small minority and people will be alert and educated into recognising the signs.
“There are many cases where once the abuse has become known the neighbour or relative for example says ‘I thought there was something wrong if only I’d known what to look for’.”
Andrew described the cause in the magazine as of “immense urgency and importance and I think it is entirely right that a member of the royal family should take up this particular post.” The magazine noted there were at least 110,000 convicted child sex offenders in Britain at the time.
Mountbatten-Windsor said he only “conflict” about him taking on the role was whether “there was going to be enough time in terms of what I am doing with the Navy.”
The former royal has come under intense scrutiny over his relationship with Epstein, with photos emerging showing Mountbatten-Windsor with young women. The images came after the late Virginia Giuffre, a victim of Epstein, previously said she was forced to have sex with Andrew on three occasions, including when she was aged 17. The royal reached an undisclosed financial settlement with her in 2022 and has always denied the allegations.
Emails unearthed by this paper reveal how lawyers for Andrew frustrated US attempts to investigate Epstein for sex crimes.
Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested by Thames Valley Police earlier this year over allegations that he passed sensitive information to Epstein while serving as UK trade envoy. Mountbatten-Windsor has been released under investigation and denies any wrongdoing.
Speaking in 1999, Andrew said: “I don’t profess to know everything there is to know about child abuse… The important thing is that support has been forthcoming from every section of society from the sports world celebrities companies and unions so that together we will make child abuse the social cause of the millennium.
“Hopefully, in 20 years time everyone will be able to pat themselves on the back and say ‘we have been able to achieve something in 1999 people said was impossible’.”
The royal, who has refused to be interviewed by US investigators looking into Epstein’s crimes, also told the magazine: “Nobody should be fearful of interference if it is necessary – and it would be quite obvious if somebody were abusing a child in public.
“Most children, however, are not abused in public. It’s the sinister stuff that goes on behind closed doors that we need to worry about.”
The former prince was approached in 1998 to become the Chairman of the NSPCC’s Full Stop campaign, a role Hello! Magazine described it as “the most high-profile that the Duke has undertaken for some years.” Mandelson came on board as vice-chair in early 1999, a few months before the MP was made Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
Giles Pegram, the former director of fundraising at the NSPCC responsible for the Full Stop campaign, told The Sunday Times: “It’s horrible. Can anyone blame me for having brought Andrew and Mandelson together given the circumstances at the time?
“Do I regret it? Yes, obviously I do. If I knew then what I know now, I wouldn’t have done it. If there was a scandal that was related to children, we wouldn’t have come within a mile of it.”
Pegram told the paper he believes an informal lunch meeting with Andrew, another colleague and Mandelson at the prince’s private apartments at Buckingham Palace may have been the first meeting of the prince and Mandelson. Pegram commented: “On the basis of body language and everything they were not two people who knew each other coming together. They certainly didn’t greet each other as old friends, it was the same handshake that he gave me and my colleague.”
While not holding an official role in campaign, the Duke’s ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson appeared in some of the campaign photographs along with their then young daughters. Andrew said when he discussed taking on the role with the former Duchess before he accepted, he was “extremely supportive.”
Ferguson has also become embroiled in her own scandal after emails linking her financially to Epstein emerged. Emails also show she wrote to Epstein saying: “You are a legend. I really don’t have the words to describe, my love, gratitude for your generosity and kindness… I am at your service. Just marry me.” Another email exchange appears to show Ferguson telling Epstein she was waiting for one of her daughters “to come back from a shagging weekend!!”.
Andrew was asked how they navigated parenthood. He replied: “There are many ways of bringing up children. The Duchess and I have found a way that best suits us. It wouldn’t suit everyone and I would never presume to judge other people on choosing it to do another way.”
Mountbatten-Windsor and Ferguson were approached for comment.
When exactly did Andrew meet Epstein?
The exact circumstances of how the disgraced royal met Epstein remains clouded.
It is thought the former Duke of York met Epstein in 1999 after being introduced by the disgraced financier’s close friend Ghislane Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year sentence in US prison for child sex trafficking.
However, friends of Maxwell claim the men met at a birthday party hosted by Lady de Rothschild for her husband, Sir Evelyn, on his Martha’s Vineyard estate in August, 1999.
Photos of the prince playing golf with Sir Evelyn, as well as then-US President Bill Clinton near the estate on 27 August that year – two days before Sir Evelyn’s birthday.
It appears to correspond with images that emerged from the Epstein files which show Andrew in bathrobes with Mandelson, accompanied by a fully dressed Epstein. They are sat on the deck outside a property clad with the distinctive cedar shingles that are synonymous with homes in Martha’s Vineyard.
Provider: US House Oversight Committee
This is further disputed by a 2011 letter to The Times from Alastair Watson, Private Secretary to Andrew, suggesting the relationship began years before. Mr Watson wrote: “The Duke has known Mr Epstein since being introduced to him in the early 1990s.”