GRIF MAG

Mountbatten-Windsor, 66, as he's known since he wasstripped of his titlesand most of his royal duties last fall, has faced intense scrutiny over his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, the convictedsex offenderwho died awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. He has denied any wrongdoing and said he regrets the friendship.

The more than 3 million pages of documents released by the Justice Department, in the wake of a nearly unanimous transparency mandate by Congress, show the former prince maintained regular contact with the wealth manager for more than two years after Epstein pleaded guilty in Florida to sex crimes. The DOJ has acknowledged that it has another 3 million pages of documents that it does not intend to make public.

Disgraced former royal Andrew, the former Duke of York, has became a source of embarrassment for his brother King Charles III following a 2019 TV interview in which Andrew defended his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. He was stripped of his military titles in 2022 and senior royal status, shuffled off into retirement after being sued by Virginia Giuffre, an American woman who accused him of sexually assaulting her when she was 17. Andrew renounced his royal titles and honors amid continued scrutiny over his Epstein connections, despite denying all allegations against him. British police arrested Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor on suspicion of misconduct in public life, according to multiple news outlets in the United Kingdom on Feb. 19, 2026.

Look back at his life in the royal family, including here as Andrew arrives for the Requiem Mass service for Katharine, Duchess of Kent, at Westminster Cathedral on Sept. 16, 2025, in London.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Queen Elizabeth II and her family traveling to Sandringham in the back of their car, with Prince Andrew on her lap, the Duke of Edinburgh to her left with Princess Anne on his lap, and Prince Charles waving, arriving at Liverpool Street Station in London on Jan. 27, 1966.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Queen Elizabeth II stands next to her son Prince Andrew as they listen to speeches during a visit to Imperial College in London on June 24, 2004. They officiated at the opening of the new Tanaka Business School.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Prince Andrew attends a luncheon in Hong Kong in March 2006. As United Kingdom's representative for International Trade and Investment, Prince Andrew visited China for four days to promote trade and investment links.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Prince Andrew laughs during a reception with business leaders on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos on Jan. 22, 2015. Prince Andrew spoke at the Davos annual meeting to "reaffirm" official denials of claims he had sex with an underaged girl employed by American billionaire and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Prince Andrew speaks with military personnel during a reception at the Honourable Artillery Company following the Afghanistan service of commemoration at St. Paul's Cathedral on March 13, 2015, in London.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Prince Andrew attends the London Global African Investment Summit at St James' Palace on Dec. 1, 2015, in London.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Prince Andrew reacts as he greets members of the public gathered outside of Balmoral Castle on Sept. 10, 2022, two days after his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, died at the age of 96.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Prince William, Prince Andrew and Princess Kate leave following a funeral service for the Duchess of Kent.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Prince Andrew and King Charles III leave following a funeral service for Katharine, Duchess of Kent.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> A photo of Prince Andrew hangs on the wall where British Prime Minister Keir Starmer meets U.S. President Donald Trump at Trump Turnberry golf club on July 28, 2025, in Turnberry, Scotland.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Copies of the biography "Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York" by Andrew Lownie about Prince Andrew are displayed on the day of its release at Waterstones' flagship store in London on Aug. 14, 2025.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Sarah, Duchess of York, and ex-husband Prince Andrew arrive for the Requiem Mass service for Katharine, Duchess of Kent, at Westminster Cathedral on Sept. 16, 2025, in London.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />

See disgraced royal Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's life of affluence

Disgraced former royal Andrew, the former Duke of York, has became a source of embarrassment for his brother King Charles III following a 2019 TV interview in which Andrew defended his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. He was stripped of his military titles in 2022 and senior royal status, shuffled off into retirement after being sued by Virginia Giuffre, an American woman who accused him of sexually assaulting her when she was 17. Andrew renounced his royal titles and honors amid continued scrutiny over his Epstein connections, despite denying all allegations against him. British police arrestedAndrew Mountbatten-Windsoron suspicion of misconduct in public life, according to multiple news outlets in the United Kingdom on Feb. 19, 2026.Look back at his life in the royal family, including here as Andrew arrives for the Requiem Mass service for Katharine, Duchess of Kent, at Westminster Cathedral on Sept. 16, 2025, in London.

British police arrested the former princeon Feb. 19 on suspicion of misconduct in public life, according to multiple news outlets in the United Kingdom. British police said earlier this month that officers were considering allegations that the king's brother passed confidential government documents to Epstein.

What images of former Prince Andrew appear in the Epstein files?

In photos released by the DOJ on Jan. 30, Mountbatten-Windsor isbending over and touching the waistand stomach of a fully clothed woman lying on her back on the floor. In a second photograph, he is on his hands and knees, crouching over the woman, whose face has been redacted.

More:Prince. Epstein. Arrest. How Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor fell from grace

Among a previous batch of files produced by the Justice Department on Dec. 19 is one of the former royal with Epstein's associateGhislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for sex trafficking. The image shows a suited Mountbatten-Windsor lying on his side across the laps of five women, whose faces have been obscured by DOJ staffers. Maxwell stands behind them, smiling down.

Like other items in the document release, the DOJ did not provide context for the photos, including when and where they were taken.

The 'Invisible Man' seeking 'new inappropriate friends'

Among the thousands of pages of documents released on Dec. 23, 2025, is a 2001 email exchange from a person using the alias "The Invisible Man," who signs off as "A" while writing to Epstein associate Maxwell that "I am up here atBalmoral Summer Camp for the Royal Family."

Balmoral was the beloved summer residence of Queen Elizabeth II in Scotland, and a gathering place for the royal family retreats.

"How's LA?" the email reads. "Have you found me some new inappropriate friends? Let me know when you are coming over as I am free from 25th August until 2nd Sept. and want to go somewhere hot and sunny with some fun people before having to put my nose firmly to the grindstone for the Fall. Any ideas gratefully received!"

"See ya A xxx," the email concludes. The files did not confirm whether "The Invisible Man" wasMountbatten-Windsor. Other emails forwarded to "The Invisible Man" refer to him as "Andrew."

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More:Live updates – Former Prince Andrew arrested; King Charles speaks out

Another 2002 email shows "Gx," which is how Maxwell often signed emails in the files, writing to another person that "I just gave Andrew your" phone number and asking this person to set him up on a trip to Peru. "Gx" says to expect a call from a "very English sounding gentleman" and asks the person to "show him a wonderful time" and "only introduce him to friends that you can trust and rely on to be friendly and discreet and fun." This email was forwarded by "Gx" to "The Invisible Man," who replied, "Got it I will ring him today if I can."

Law enforcement communication

A document dated April 2020 in the Dec. 23, 2025 release shows that the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York and the FBI sought to interview Mountbatten-Windsor because an ongoing Epstein investigation "revealed that Prince Andrew may have been a witness to and/or participant in certain events of relevance to the ongoing investigation."

The document notes, though, that he "is not presently a target of the investigation, and U.S. authorities have not, to date, gathered evidence that he has committed any crime under U.S. law."

Another series of emails shows U.S. diplomatic and law enforcement officials were troubled in August 2021 whenMountbatten-Windsorcontinued to refuse to cooperate with their criminal investigation of Maxwell. British authorities wanted to know if he had become a suspect as opposed to a witness.

In a series of Aug. 24, 2021 emails, also released on Jan. 30, officials in the U.S. embassy in London discussed with counterparts in Washingtonhow to respond to British government inquiries. Mountbatten-Windsor had been publicly accusedin a civil lawsuit of consorting with at least one girl who alleges shehad been trafficked by Epstein.

At the time of the 2021 embassy emails, Maxwell had been charged with sex trafficking, and Epstein accuser Virginia Roberts Giuffre had just filed a civil lawsuit againstMountbatten-Windsor. Her civil case was settled in February 2022 for an undisclosed amount, with the then-prince making a substantial donation to her charity.

More:Epstein pulled strings, paid tuition across world for kids of powerful

"We are aware that a civil case has been filed in New York concerning the Epstein investigation with the material witness as the defendant," someone from the UK government said in an inquiry to the U.S. embassy, shared by the embassy official. "Please can you let us know what impact this has on the material witness's current status, as a witness, in the criminal investigation and in relation to the MLA request."

"I think they are asking whether, in light of the recent allegations, that Andrew 'is now a suspect instead of a witness (in British parlance)'," said the unidentified U.S. embassy official, apparently the Justice Department attache in London. "I was going to respond with one word 'none' but thought I should check first. … The earlier the better because the Amb is keen to sort this out."

"The Amb" refers to the U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom at the time. An MLA is a request under the U.S.-UK Mutual Legal Assistance treaty to gather evidence, exchange information and serve documents in connection with a criminal investigation or prosecution.

Contributing: Brendan Morrow, Josh Meyer, Taijuan Moorman and Anthony Robledo

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Former Prince Andrew appears in photos, emails in Epstein files

Inaugural meeting of the Board of Peace, in Washington

UNITED STATES: pledges to make a contribution ‌of $10 billion to the border peace, said President Donald Trump

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: pledges $1.2 billion to the Board ​of Peace, said Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan

QATAR: pledges $1 billion to the Board of Peace, said Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani

SAUDI ARABIA: pledges $1 billion to the Board of Peace over the next few years, said minister of state ‌for foreign affairs Adel Al-Jubeir

INDONESIA: ⁠is ready to contribute 8,000 or more troops to an international security force for Gaza, said President Prabowo Subianto

KAZAKHSTAN: is ready ⁠to contribute a significant amount of cash directly to the Board of Peace without delay, and is also prepared to supply wheat as part of a food assistance ​package, ​said President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

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BAHRAIN: is ready to ​provide the necessary infrastructure and skills ‌to establish an effective government digital services platform for Gaza, said King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa

UZBEKISTAN: is ready to help rebuild schools, childcare facilities and hospitals in Gaza, said President Shavkat Mirziyoyev

EGYPT: will continue its effort to train Palestinian police personnel to maintain security within the strip, said Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly

ROMANIA: ‌can help rebuild emergency services, schools and institutions ​like the police and justice system, said ​President Nicusor Dan

TURKEY: can contribute meaningfully ​to the rehabilitation of the health and education sectors, as ‌well as the training of police, and ​is prepared to provide ​troops to the International Stabilization Force, said Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan

MOROCCO: is ready to deploy police officers and train police officers from Gaza and ​will deploy a military field ‌hospital, said Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita

In addition, KUWAIT said in a ​statement that it would give $1 billion to the Board of Peace

(Reporting ​by David Ljunggren; editing by Barbara Lewis)

The report was presented to parliament on Wednesday by parliamentary leader Kimani Ichung'wah, who accused Russian embassy officials of colluding with work recruitment agencies to dupe Kenyans into believing they would be given skilled jobs in Russia. He said the Russian embassy officials issued them tourist visas.

The Russian Embassy in Kenya's capital, Nairobi, denied the allegations, saying in a statement Thursday that it never issued visas to anyone intending to travel to Russia to fight in Ukraine. It added: "the Russian Federation does not preclude citizens of foreign countries from voluntarily enlisting in the armed forces."

Ichung'wah told parliament that said the National Intelligence Service report shows that 89 Kenyans were on the front line, 39 were hospitalized, 28 were missing in action, others had returned home, and at least one was confirmed dead. The report also provides details about the recruitment agencies that allegedly took Kenyans to Russia.

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He warned that any Kenyan officials working in the country's embassy in Moscow would be held responsible if they are found to have colluded in the scheme.

Dozens of Kenyan families have in recent weeks urged the government to bring back loved ones stranded in Russia, with some allegedly forced to fight on the front lines and others held as prisoners of war in Ukraine.

Kenyan recruits who have returned to the country have given accounts of being promised skilled jobs such as electricians and plumbers. They say they signed contracts written in Russian and were sent to battle with little or no military training.

Kenya's foreign ministry had previously acknowledged the problem, and urged citizens to be careful.

Two recruiters were arrested last year and released on bail as they await trial.

The 84-year-old mother of "TODAY" co-host Savannah Guthrie was reported missing around noon on Feb. 1 after she did not show up to a friend's house to watch virtual church services. Guthrie was last seen the previous night around 9:45, after dinner at her daughter, Annie's, house.

Authorities believe that Guthrie was possibly taken from her home. They have not publicly identified a suspect or person of interest. All members of the Guthrie family have been cleared as potential suspects in the case that involves local, state and federal law enforcement agencies.

In an update this week, authorities said DNA recovered from a glove found about 2 miles from Guthrie's home did not match any samples in the FBI's DNA database, called CODIS, nor did it match DNA found at Guthrie's property, authorities said on Tuesday. The Combined DNA Index System has 19 million offender DNA profiles and more than 1 million forensic profiles,according to the FBI. But a match would not necessarily break the case.

The glove appeared to match the gloves worn by a person seen in security video from outside Guthrie's home, authorities have said.

Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos on Tuesday told NBC News that investigators are analyzing some partial DNA that was found at Guthrie's home. Investigators are also exploring "investigative genetic genealogy options" to identify possible DNA matches, the department said.

"We believe that we may have some DNA there that may be our suspect, but we won't know that until that DNA is separated, sorted out, maybe admitted to CODIS, maybe through genetic genealogy," Nanos said.

Investigators are now turning to genetic genealogy, which has previously successfully identified other high-profile criminals like the Golden State Killer and University of Idaho murderer Brian Kohberger.

"If I was the kidnapper, I would be extremely concerned right now, because using investigative genetic genealogy, he will be identified," DNA expert CeCe Moore told "TODAY" Thursday.

Authorities, however, are not allowed to use well-known genealogy sites such as Ancestry.com or 23andMe, and will have to rely on publicly available DNA databases to test the DNA. Moore noted that the process may take a while.

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"If they have deep roots in the United States, it could be minutes, it could be a few hours," Moore said. "But if it's somebody who doesn't have connections to the U.S. in their tree in more recent generations, then it could take much longer."

Last week, the FBI released security camera images and videos of an armed and masked man outside Guthrie's home on the morning of her disappearance. The FBI has since described that suspect as a 5'9" to 5'10" tall male carrying a unique gun holster and an Ozark Trail backpack from Walmart. He also may have been wearing a ring.

Nanos noted that identifying the suspect's backpack could be a critical clue in the investigation.

"We're working with our Walmart managers all across the state to try to find out how many sales there were of that backpack in the last 20, 30 days, the last 60 days," Nanos said. "And can we do something with that? Can we break it — maybe we'll find a credit card or a bank card? Maybe we'll find a video of the guy walking in"

The FBI currently has a $100,000 reward for information leading to the location of Guthrie or an arrest for anyone involved in her disappearance. An additional $102,500 reward is being offered through Tucson Crime Stoppers, known locally as 88-CRIME.

There's no evidence that Guthrie was taken over the U.S.-Mexico border, two officials briefed on the case said.

The Pima County Sheriff's Department and, later, the FBI have been in touch with officials on both sides of the border to share information in the case, officials said, noting that such outreach is standard in missing-person cases like this one.

A Tucson attorneyconfirmed to NBC affiliate News12that his client, 37-year-old Luke Daley, was briefly detained on Friday night during a search of his home but was not arrested. "Both Mr. Daley and his mother are hopeful that Nancy will be returned to her family unharmed," attorney Chris Scileppi said.

Scileppi did not immediately respond to NBC News' request for comment.

As authorities continue to comb through thousands of tips and leads, Nanos stressed that the case is far from cold.

"As long as we have the ability to chase a lead, it's not cold," Nanos said. "We're not going to give up. We're going to find Nancy, and we're going to find out who did this."

NEED TO KNOW

• The Blind Side star Quinton Aaron is now awake following his recent spinal stroke

• The actor exclusively tells PEOPLE that he's now "focusing" on his recovery

• He's been able to speak and text with his relatives and close friends, his family tells PEOPLE
  

The Blind SidestarQuinton Aaronremains hospitalized, but is now awake.

In January, the 41-year-old actor suffered aspinal stroke. In the weeks following, he remained in the hospital "in very serious condition," a source close to the Aaron family exclusively told PEOPLE.

Quinton issued an exclusive statement to PEOPLE, saying, "I went through a lot, but I'm focusing on God, my recovery, my family and close friends as well as my career."

His family tells PEOPLE that he's currently "feeling strong and empowered."

The actor is able to speak with his relatives and FaceTime and text regularly now with his closest inner circle of friends. "He's excited about the future opportunities life will present to him," the family says.

His family also shared a photo of him and his brother, Jarred. The family says the two brothers have grown even closer following Quinton's stroke.

The Aaron family also said in a statement that Quinton is "awake, fully alert, interacting with his family and approved visitors."

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The actor has "feeling in his legs," his family adds. With his recovery underway, he is "focused on his recovery and successfully doing things like practicing writing, doing puzzles."

Rob Latour/Shutterstock

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The recent updates come after a source told PEOPLE that doctors were "conducting tests to keep him stable."

Spinal strokes occur when something, such as blood clots or hemorrhages, stops blood flow in a person's spinal cord, according to theCleveland Clinic. The condition is very rare, comprising less than 1% of all strokes, and "can still be fatal or cause permanent disabilities."

The recent hospitalization comes nearly a year after he was hospitalized for coughing up blood and coming down with a fever in February 2025,TMZpreviously reported.

Aaron said at the time that medics believed he was dealing with Type A flu, as well as pneumonia. He also suffered a severe upper respiratory infection back in 2019, according to the outlet.

Read the original article onPeople