Thames Valley Police are continuing to search Royal Lodge in Berkshire this weekend as newly surfaced photographs from the Epstein Files show Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor alongside an unidentified toddler inside the private royal residence, images believed to date from 2011.
The former Duke of York was arrested on Thursday following a police raid at Sandringham. He was held on suspicion of misconduct in public office before being released on bail after approximately 11 hours in custody. Officers from Thames Valley Police have been conducting searches of Royal Lodge as part of the ongoing investigation.
The photographs, which emerged shortly after the arrest, show Andrew kneeling and interacting with a young child on a sofa inside what appears to be Royal Lodge. A second image captures the toddler holding what is described as a breast-shaped ball on the property’s parquet floor. The identity of the child has not been established. Andrew’s daughters were in their early twenties in 2011 and had no children of their own at that time.
The interior of Royal Lodge is rarely photographed given its status as a private residence. However, cornicing visible in the background of the images appears consistent with photographs taken inside the property when Princess Eugenie posed there for a magazine shoot in 2016.
The photographs are understood to form part of the wider Epstein Files, the large volume of documents released publicly containing details of the late financier’s connections and communications.
Also emerging from documents dated to the same year is an email sent by Sarah Ferguson to Jeffrey Epstein on 21 September 2011, in which the former Duchess of York appeared to congratulate him on the birth of a son. Ferguson wrote that she had heard the news from Andrew and extended her congratulations, despite noting that Epstein had not maintained contact with her. The email was signed off with her first name. Epstein had been released from jail prior to the message being sent, having served a sentence for soliciting sex from girls as young as 14.
The source article notes that no connection has been established between the toddler seen in the photographs and any child referenced in Ferguson’s email to Epstein. The two sets of material relate to the same year but remain separate threads within the broader body of released documents.
Andrew’s arrest on Thursday marked a significant development in what has become an increasingly active police investigation. Royal Lodge searches are ongoing, and no further charges or formal accusations beyond the initial arrest on suspicion of misconduct in public office have been publicly confirmed at this stage.
