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In the dot-to-dot of diplomacy – drawing relationships that are worth something – the meeting between the prince and the president-elect was a moment which the British diplomats who made it happen will be thrilled with.

When Donald Trump became US president for the first time, in 2016, the British, along with many other countries, were caught short. They hadn’t expected the Trump win and hadn’t done their homework.

British diplomatic contacts with Mr Trump’s transition team back then (which was itself novice compared to this time) were poor.

This time things are different. British ambassador Karen Pierce and her team in Washington are on good terms with the Trump team and close contacts have been established over months with the president-elect’s surrogates, senior staff and cabinet picks.

Prince William meets US president-elect Donald Trump in Paris. Pic: Reuters
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Prince William meets US president-elect Donald Trump in Paris. Pic: Reuters

British embassy staff will have been in West Palm Beach, Florida, along with diplomats from many other countries, shuttling for meetings with Mr Trump’s team and reading the tea leaves on who’s in and who’s out.

The 40-minute meeting in Paris with Prince William would have been fixed through the contacts cultivated over the past few months in Florida.

The prince, who was Britain’s representative at the Notre-Dame Cathedral reopening, would have received a full brief from British diplomats before the meeting on talking points and issues of strategic importance.

More on Donald Trump

The debrief after the meeting will have been as important as the brief before.

Royal soft power can go a long way

While the Royal Family has no role in forming or moulding British foreign policy, the soft power of the royals can go a long way.

The bet by the British is that Mr Trump will have enjoyed being the guest of a prince inside what is widely thought to be Britain’s finest embassy.

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Prince William shakes hands with Trump

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We know that Mr Trump loves flattery, he loves pomp and he loves grandeur, notwithstanding the rather bizarre macho handshake – the president-elect almost pushing the prince away as he shook his hand.

British ambassador to the US Karen Pierce pictured in May. Image: AP
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British ambassador to the US, Karen Pierce, pictured in May. Image: AP

It was on brand: “I know I am the guest, and I am enjoying this, but I am in charge. Remember that,” seemed to be the vibe it reflected.

French diplomats in Washington have been working hard too.

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Notre-Dame reopening: The key moments

President Macron‘s desire to invite Mr Trump to Paris would have come first as a “would he be interested” nudge from the Elysee Palace to the French ambassador in Washington who would then have put feelers out to Mr Trump’s top team.

And why all the bending over backwards to secure meetings with Mr Trump, to invite him to things, to flatter him?

Because while he doesn’t become president until 20 January he is already the leading player on the world stage.

What he does and what he doesn’t do, what he says and doesn’t say is already carrying enormous weight such is his leadership style, his pronouncements and the state of the world right now.

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Epstein files appear to show Andrew asking Ghislaine Maxwell for ‘inappropriate friends’

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Epstein files appear to show Andrew asking Ghislaine Maxwell for 'inappropriate friends'

A trove of newly released Epstein files include emails that appear to involve Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, while another suggests Donald Trump travelled on the billionaire’s private jet “many more times than previously has been reported”.

The US Department of Justice released at least 11,000 more files on Tuesday.

It went on to claim that some of them “contain untrue and sensationalist claims” about President Trump.

Here are some of the latest news lines from this release of Epstein files. Being named in these papers does not suggest wrongdoing.

Who is ‘The Invisible Man’?

Among the documents released is an email sent to Ghislaine Maxwell that speaks about “the girls” being “completely shattered” at a Royal Family summer camp at Balmoral.

It is dated 16 August 2001 and sent by a person referred to as “The Invisible Man”, who signed off the message as “A” – and is believed to be Andrew.

Sky News has come to that conclusion from reviewing the email address used, which is assigned to the Duke of York in Epstein’s contacts book and the chain of correspondence.


Who is ‘A’? James Matthews looks at the evidence

In the correspondence, “The Invisible Man” asks Maxwell: “How’s LA? Have you found me some new inappropriate friends?”

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has previously denied any allegations against him.


Andrew pictured laying on women

The Peru trip

Another email appears to show Maxwell arranging “two-legged sight seeing” for “The Invisible Man” during a trip to Peru.

She appears to forward to “The Invisible Man” part of a conversation between herself and another person.

The email says: “I just gave Andrew your telephone no. He is interested in seeing the Nazca lines. He can ride but it is not his favorite sport ie pass on the horses.”

“Some sight seeing some 2 legged sight seeing (read intelligent pretty fun and from good families) and he will be very happy. I know I can rely on you to show him a wonderful time and will only introduce him to friends that you can trust,” Maxwell said.

The context of the email is unclear and there is no suggestion of any wrongdoing.


Epstein survivor speaks to Sky News after latest release of files

Trump on Epstein’s jet?

The latest bunch of files also includes an email from an unidentified prosecutor dated 7 January, 2020, in which President Trump is mentioned.

The email accuses him of travelling on Epstein’s private jet “many more times than previously has been reported”.

It adds that President Trump “is listed as a passenger on at least eight flights between 1993 and 1996, including at least four flights on which Maxwell was also present”.

The email’s sender and receiver have been redacted. However, at the bottom of the email it says assistant US attorney, Southern District of New York. The name has also been redacted.

President Trump has denied any wrongdoing in relation to his relationship with Epstein, and being on any of Epstein’s flights does not indicate any wrongdoing.

Read more:
Trump defends ‘big boy’ Clinton after Epstein files release
Why Andrew photo in Epstein files is awkward for Royal Family

Limousine driver report about Trump

One of the documents in the release shows a report made to the FBI that was recorded on 27 October 2020.

It includes an unverified claim by a limousine driver that he overheard the US president discussing “abusing some girl” in 1995.

The driver also mentions Trump said “Jeffrey” while on the phone during a journey to Dallas Fort Worth Airport in Texas.

A significant part of the statement, along with the driver’s identity, has been redacted.

The US justice department has said that some of the documents in the latest Epstein files release “contain untrue and sensationalist claims made against President Trump that were submitted to the FBI right before the 2020 election”.

“To be clear: the claims are unfounded and false, and if they had a shred of credibility, they certainly would have been weaponized against President Trump already,” it said.

Postcard mentions ‘our president’

Also among the documents is a postcard that claims to have been sent by Jeffrey Epstein, but has been refuted by the justice department.

In it, the sender tells the recipient: “Our president also shares our love of young, nubile girls.”

It’s not clear who “our president” refers to and the context of the postcard is also unclear.

The US justice department initially said it was “looking into the validity” of the postcard but later said on X that the “FBI has confirmed” the postcard is “FAKE”.

It cited reasons including a claim that the writing does not appear to match Epstein’s and another that the letter was postmarked three days after his death.

Row over unreleased documents

It is believed that many files relating to Epstein are yet to be made public.

There has been anger at the justice department’s slow release of the files, with politicians threatening to launch legal action against Attorney General Pam Bondi.

The deadline for the release of all the documents has passed.

“The DOJ needs to quit ⁠protecting the rich, powerful, and politically connected,” Republican congressman Thomas Massie said.

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Epstein survivor speaks of moment she met Andrew on private island

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Epstein survivor speaks of moment she met Andrew on private island

A survivor of Jeffrey Epstein has spoken of the moment she met Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor on the disgraced financier’s private island.

Lisa Phillips says that revealing the true extent of Epstein’s abuses is important for the protection of future generations.

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has previously denied any allegations against him.

Speaking to US correspondent James Matthews on the day a new tranche of documents was released, she said she believes the “really important stuff” wasn’t released.


What’s in the largest batch of Epstein files?

She recalled meeting Epstein in 2000 when she was working as a fashion model.

Ms Phillips said she was working on an island near Saint Thomas in the Caribbean and went over to Epstein’s island for a day, and met Epstein himself at dinner that evening.

More on Jeffrey Epstein

“It took a few hours of him speaking to me one-on-one at the table, basically asking me a lot of questions about my life and my relationship with my family and my ambitions.”

She said Epstein was “very big” on her goals and became excited when he heard she had lived in Oxford, England, as a child.

“He asked me if I wanted to meet a prince, and I said yes.”

Epstein files latest: New batch of documents released

Ms Phillips explained that a man walked up and was introduced to her, and that he spoke to some people there and then said goodbye.

“It was very brief,” she said, adding that only years later did she realise that this was the former prince, Andrew.

She was asked about an email in the recently released files that appears to show Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor asking Ghislaine Maxwell about “inappropriate friends”.

“That is a very revealing email, isn’t it?” Ms Phillips said. “It’s very creepy, disturbing, and I mean, that’s why she’s in jail, right?”

The context of the email is unclear, and there is no suggestion of any wrongdoing.

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has previously denied any allegations against him and Sky News has contacted Andrew’s representatives for comment on the latest release.

Asked about the impact being in Epstein’s orbit has had on her life, Ms Phillips said: “It hasn’t felt good to know that so much of my past that I worked hard for was really just smoke and mirrors and part of a bigger web.”

On the delays in releasing the files, she claimed “the really important stuff wasn’t released”.

She also spoke about her and other survivors’ ongoing fight for justice.

“We’re still doing our research, and we will still be bringing whatever we find to the proper authorities. And we’re not going to give up.”

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Epstein files don’t join the dots to broader conspiracy – but his survivors could

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Epstein files don't join the dots to broader conspiracy - but his survivors could

Survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse are already looking beyond the release of the files in their pursuit of justice. It would seem sensible. 

For the second time, a tranche of images and documents was released by the US Department of Justice and, for the second time, it didn’t detail the facts and failures which allowed Epstein to thrive.

If those key elements were in there, they were redacted.

The release of the files had been anticipated as a moment to unveil the whole story, to identify its characters and their crimes.

But this is a book with pages missing and piecing together the broader network that enabled sex-trafficking on an industrial scale won’t be easy.


What we learned from latest Epstein files

It remains the fierce ambition for survivors, aware that Epstein was no one-man operation.

They know because they were there.

“I think the really important stuff wasn’t released,” Lisa Phillips told me.

Jeffrey Epstein with Ghislaine Maxwell. Pic: U.S. Department of Justice via AP
Image:
Jeffrey Epstein with Ghislaine Maxwell. Pic: U.S. Department of Justice via AP

A survivor of Epstein’s abuse, she said women who suffered at his hands had been sharing information and would have something to report in the New Year.

“We’re still fighting, we’re still doing our research and we will still bring whatever we find to the proper authorities. This is really important to us, we’re all mothers now and have kids the same age as we were, so this fight is to the heart.”

They have seen their story wrapped in politics, in all its management and manipulation.

The resistance to publish, the timing of release, the redactions – they are matters beyond their control that could scarcely matter more.

Read more:
Epstein survivor describes ‘blindness’ around financier

Trump defends ‘big boy’ Clinton after Epstein files release
Why Andrew photo in Epstein files is awkward for Royal Family

We have seen thousands of files released but they come without context or explanation.

While they each say something about Epstein, his crimes and depravity, they don’t join the dots to the broader conspiracy. No one is better placed to do that than its victims.

This news story is their story. Ultimately, it may be for them to tell because we’re hearing it from no one else.

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