The emails include a January 2010 exchange between Epstein and Boris Nikolic, then 38, a former adviser to Bill Gates, during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where Andrew was officially promoting British trade interests.
In one message, Epstein asks whether Nikolic has had “any fun” in Davos.
Nikolic replies: “Different kind of fun… met your friend Bill Clinton yesterday, followed up with (Nicholas) Sarkozy. Later in the day meeting your other friend Prince Andrew as he has some questions re Microsoft.”
Epstein responded: “You can tell Andrew we are friends,” before insisting, “He is good at that… he’s great fun,” according to the documents.
A source familiar with the emails said: “Epstein was clearly pushing the meeting because he believed Andrew could offer connections and entertainment. It reads like an attempt to pull Andrew further into his orbit.”
Another source added: “The tone is unmistakable. Epstein wanted Andrew seen as an ally and the mention he is ‘fun’ is bringing yet more shame and embarrassment to Andrew’s door.”
Nikolic responds in the chain he had heard Andrew “is not that fun, but I trust your judgement,” before regaling Epstein with a crude anecdote about a “22 years old hot blonde, blue eyes, Mexican chick,” – adding: “Anything good is rented.”
After meeting Andrew, he tells Epstein: “He is great… I think I would trade Davos for a good fashion week. Much more fun.”
Nikolic, later named a back-up executor of Epstein’s will, has previously said he was “shocked” by the designation and would not carry out the role if required.
Other documents show Epstein’s involvement in networking at Davos that same year, including arranging a meeting between former Barclays executive Jes Staley, Lord Peter Mandelson and the then-British Chancellor Alistair Darling.
In one email, Epstein writes: “I’ve set up you and Peter to meet in Davos with Darling.”
Lord Mandelson resigned as U.K. ambassador to Washington earlier this year after admitting he once referred to Epstein as his “best pal,” saying he felt “utterly awful about my association with Epstein 20 years ago.”
Yet the released correspondence shows he remained in contact with Epstein as late as November 2016.
In one exchange, Epstein tells him: “You were right about staying away from Andrew.”
The newly-released emails have revive scrutiny of Andrew’s connection to Epstein amid revelations the financier acknowledged the authenticity of the now-infamous photograph of Andrew with his sex trafficking victim Virginia Giuffre, who took her life in April aged 41.
Epstein told a journalist in 2011: “Yes she was on my plane, and yes she had her picture taken with Andrew, as many of my employees have.”
Andrew has long denied Giuffre’s claims he bedded her when she was aged 17, though he settled a civil case with her in 2022 for a reported $15 million, with no admission of liability.
The scandal has also spilled over to 65-year-old Andrew’s ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, 66, whose forthcoming children’s book was abruptly withdrawn from sale and pulped over her links to Epstein.
Meanwhile Democrats and Republicans have clashed over the political implications of the document dump, with some messages referencing Donald Trump, 79.
Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform the disclosures were an attempt to “deflect” from the federal funding standoff, adding: “There should be no deflections to Epstein or anything else.”
