Media reports indicate the inquiries focus on allegations that women were trafficked to the monarch’s Balmoral estate.
Published On 30 Oct 2026
Scottish law enforcement has initiated an investigation into former Prince Andrew’s past associations and time spent at King Charles III’s Balmoral estate alongside the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his associate, Ghislaine Maxwell.
Police Scotland confirmed on Friday that the inquiry was in its “very early stages” following the receipt of specific “information” regarding the matter.
The police force declined to elaborate on the nature of the information received or the specific offenses under investigation.
The probe was initially reported by The Daily Express, which noted that the inquiries stem from allegations of women being trafficked to the royal family’s private Scottish Highlands estate.
In an official statement, Police Scotland emphasized that all inquiries are evidence-led, prioritizing the needs of victim survivors. “We would never confirm details of ongoing inquiries, and it would be inappropriate to comment further,” the statement read.
The Balmoral Shooting Trip and Document Release
Among the millions of pages of documents released by the United States Department of Justice earlier this year during a congressional probe into Epstein’s wide-ranging network were images appearing to show Epstein and Maxwell on a shooting trip at Balmoral in 1999. It is important to note that the mere presence of any individual’s name or image in these files does not constitute proof of wrongdoing.
Parallel investigations have been launched across other UK jurisdictions, including London’s Metropolitan Police Service, Thames Valley Police, and Surrey Police, all examining information stemming from the released Epstein files. In February, Thames Valley Police took the unprecedented step of arresting the former prince, now Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, on suspicion of misconduct in public office. The 66-year-old, the younger brother of King Charles III, was held for several hours before being released on police bail pending further inquiries. This marked the first arrest of a senior British royal in nearly four centuries, a historic event in the monarchy’s modern history.
The former prince has consistently and repeatedly denied any criminal wrongdoing.
The Royal Family and the Epstein Scandal
The association between Mountbatten-Windsor and Epstein has cast a long shadow over the British royal family for nearly two decades, presenting a persistent public relations and legal challenge.
As US authorities prepared to release further documents from their long-running Epstein investigation, King Charles III took decisive action late last year to distance the crown from the scandal. He stripped his brother of his royal titles and ordered him to vacate the Royal Lodge, his longtime residence situated in the parkland near Windsor Castle. Mountbatten-Windsor subsequently relocated to a property on the Sandringham estate, the king’s privately owned property in eastern England.
The former prince’s reputation has been deeply tarnished since 2008, when Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting a minor for prostitution. The situation worsened in 2011 when the late Virginia Giuffre publicly alleged that she had been trafficked by Epstein and forced into sexual contact with Mountbatten-Windsor at the age of 17.
In 2019, Mountbatten-Windsor attempted to mitigate the damage through a highly publicized BBC interview. However, the effort backfired dramatically, drawing widespread criticism for his perceived lack of empathy for Epstein’s victims and his defense of his own behavior.
