From royals to celebs & politicians, how evil Jeffrey Epstein lured the good, bad, greedy and stupid into his global web

LIKE some sex-crazed tarantula, Jeffrey Epstein spun a global web which snared the good, the bad, the greedy and the plain stupid. 

A perverted ringmaster as charming as he was evil, he wormed his way into the international elite where a conviction for paedophilia was seemingly no barrier to entry.

The final batch of the Epstein files — data collected as evidence in the criminal cases against the late financier — were released last week and were ­supposed to rock America to its foundations. 

Yet it is Britain which has truly been left reeling after three ­million documents and photographs were released by the US Department of Justice. 

For the contents have shaken such apparent pillars of our ­society as the Prime Minister, a former Prince of the Realm and our one-time man in Washington. 

And the files have laid bare Epstein’s own twisted version of a worldwide web — which ensnared global figures including princes and politicos, tycoons and ­despots, scientists and tech bros, all falling for his simpering ­flattery.

Among them is the late Queen’s favourite son, Andrew — once a duke and Knight of the Garter — who has been stripped of his royal title and banished to a Norfolk farmhouse. 

Now plain Andrew Mountbatten- Windsor, he faces growing pressure to testify to US Congress. 

His guileless ex-wife Sarah ­Ferguson thought it appropriate — emails suggest — to take her young daughters to see the paedophile just five days after his release from prison in 2009.

At the time of the Miami lunch ­Beatrice was 20 and Eugenie 19. 

Another Epstein devotee, Peter Mandelson, became such a cherished confidant that it appears he was ready to leak market- sensitive information to the paedophile while serving as a government minister. 

Another Epstein devotee, Peter Mandelson, became such a cherished confidant that it appears he was ready to leak market- sensitive information to the paedophile while serving as a government minister

Police are now investigating. 

The files show Mandelson messaged Epstein when he was in jail after his 2008 conviction for soliciting sex with girls as young as 14. Mandelson advised him to “fight for early release” and stated: “I think the world of you.” 

And the aftershocks of the files’ release have left Sir Keir Starmer’s premiership hanging by a thread.

He appointed Mandelson as US ambassador last year, knowing full well that he had remained in contact with the paedophile after his conviction. 

Indeed, many of those in Epstein’s tangled web were happy to remain in contact with him in his prison cell.

Meanwhile, the young victims’ voices were often lost while their abuser kept his place among the global elite.  

Already rich beyond the wildest dreams of most, serial abuser Epstein lusted after sex, supreme wealth and unaccountable power. 

There is also increasing suspicion that he may have been a Russian intelligence asset. 

Here we look at some of the famous names caught up in the wake of the seedy and sickening saga — though appearing in the Epstein documents does not imply any wrongdoing. 

ROYALS 

ANDREW MOUNTBATTEN-WINDSOR, son of Queen ­Elizabeth: Paid Virginia ­Giuffre — who claimed she was brought to London aged 17 by Epstein to have sex with Andrew — a reported £12million settlement in 2022 without admitting liability. 

Now a second woman claims that she was sent by Epstein to have sex with the ­former Duke at Buckingham ­Palace. 

Andrew denies all claims of wrongdoing. 

SARAH FERGUSON, ex-wife of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor: The former Duchess of York maintained a close friendship with Epstein long after his conviction. 

In a gushing 2010 email to him she wrote: “I really don’t have the words to describe my love, gratitude for your generosity and kindness. Xx 

“I am at your service. Just marry me.” She now says she was “taken in by Epstein’s lies” at a time when she was in extreme financial distress. 

She “deeply regrets” the friendship with Epstein and claimed her “first thoughts are always with the victims”. 

CROWN PRINCESS METTE- MARIT of Norway, heir apparent to the Norwegian throne: In a 2011 email she told Epstein she had Googled him and admitted the results “didn’t look too good”, before adding a smiling emoji. 

Their friendship did, however, continue. 

She later told him: “You tickle my brain,” described him as a “sweetheart” and “very charming”, and wrote: “I miss my crazy friend”. Now she has “deep regret” and acknowledges her “poor judgment” in staying in ­contact with the paedophile. 

SPORT/WELLNESS 

CASEY WASSERMAN, head of Los Angeles 2028 Olympics organising committee: In 2003 Wasserman — who was married at the time — emailed Ghislaine Maxwell insisting: “I think of you all the time.

“So what do I have to do to see you in a tight leather ­outfit?” 

She wrote to him offering a massage that can “drive a man wild”. 

Admitting he once travelled in Epstein’s private jet for a charity trip, Wasserman added that he “never had a personal or business relationship with Jeffrey Epstein”. 

DEEPAK CHOPRA, wellness guru: Met Epstein at least 12 times between 2016 and 2019 for “meditation and funding meetings”. 

In 2017, he messaged Epstein, saying: “God is a construct. Cute girls are real.” Chopra denies any wrong- doing, adding: “I am deeply saddened by the suffering of the victims.” 

STEVE TISCH, Oscar-winning Forrest Gump producer and co-owner of the New York Giants NFL team: He once asked Epstein if a woman was “pro or civilian”, to which Epstein said to call him because “I don’t like records of these conversations”. 

In May 2013, Tisch messaged Epstein: “Is my present in NYC?”, and he later followed up: “Can I get my surprise to take me to lunch tomorrow?” 

Tisch now says of Epstein: “We had a brief association where we exchanged emails about adult women, and in addition we discussed movies, philanthropy and investments. 

“I did not take him up on any of his invitations and never went to his island.” 

CELEBRITIES 

WOODY ALLEN, actor and director: Admitting he and his wife Soon Yi had been dinner guests at Epstein’s mansion “many times”, Allen jokingly compared parties there to “Dracula’s castle”. 

In a 2016 letter, he said guests were often served by “several young women” which reminded him of the film Castle Dracula “where Bela Lugosi has three young female vampires who service the place”.

In September, Allen described the paedophile as “charming and personable”, claiming Epstein told him he had been “falsely put in jail” and was “trying to make up for it now by being ­philanthropic”. 

POLITICIANS 

PETER MANDELSON, former Cabinet minister and Ambassador to US: On the day of Epstein’s release from prison in 2009, following his paedophilia conviction, Mandelson messaged him, asking: “How is freedom feeling?” Epstein replied: “She feels fresh, firm and creamy.” 

Mandelson responded to him: “Naughty boy.” 

Now police are investigating suggestions that “Petey” — as Epstein affectionately referred to him — passed market-sensitive information to the financier while serving in Gordon Brown’s government. 

Mandelson has claimed he was “manipulated” by a “charismatic criminal liar”. 

DONALD TRUMP, US President: He flew on Epstein’s private jet at least eight times between 1993 and 1996. 

They fell out in 2007 and Trump says the files “absolve” him and prove there was “nothing on him”. 

BILL CLINTON, former US President: Took at least 26 flights on Epstein’s private jet between 2002 and 2003 — which he maintains were related to work with his Clinton Foundation. 

Clinton denies all knowledge of Epstein’s crimes and says he broke off contact with him in 2005. 

EHUD BARAK, ex-Israeli Prime Minister: Epstein met Barak — also a former head of Aman, Israel’s military intelligence unit — at least 36 times between 2013 and 2017. 

Barak and his wife Nili Priel sent Epstein a 63rd birthday card in 2016 which called him a “collector of people” — and added: “There is no limit to your curiosity”. 

Barak says he never saw any wrongdoing and now “deeply regrets” any association with Epstein. 

SOCIALITES 

GHISLAINE MAXWELL, convicted sex trafficker: She became Epstein’s right-hand woman and partner in crime. Convicted in 2021 of trafficking young women for Epstein from 1994 to 2004, she is serving 20 years in a Texas jail. 

An email apparently from Maxwell to Epstein suggests the famous photo of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor with his arm around Virginia Guiffre was real. In his 2019 Newsnight interview he suggested it may be a fake. Virginia’s family said she had been “vindicated”. 

ANNABELLE NEILSON, British socialite and ex-wife of financier Baron Rothschild: Emailed the paedophile many times, calling him “babe”, “honey” and “darling”. 

In 2010, she ­messaged Epstein saying she was “putting a little group of girls together” for him and was looking for women who weren’t “past their sell-by-date”.

She died of a heart attack, age 49, in 2018. 

RUSSIANS 

SERGEI BELYAKOV, formerly Russia’s Deputy Minister of Economic Development: In 2015, Epstein wrote to Belyakov, a graduate of the Russian intelligence service FSB’s academy, asking for help after he claimed a Russian woman was attempting to blackmail some New York ­businessmen. 

He later wrote a draft email, which was apparently intended for the woman, saying: “You should also know that I felt it necessary to ­contact some friends in the FSB.” 

He suggested that his contacts considered the woman “an enemy of the people” — a threat ­previously used by Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin. 

VLADIMIR PUTIN, Russian President: Epstein may have met ex-KGB man Putin himself. 

One email from an anonymous sender, in 2010, reads: “Spoke with Igor. He said last time you were in Palm Beach, you told him you had an appointment with Putin on Sept 16 and that he could go ahead and book his ticket to Russia to arrive a few days before you.” 

In further evidence of his links to Russia’s ­hierarchy, Epstein sent an email to an associate in 2010 offering to help them obtain a Russian visa, explaining: “I have a friend of Putin’s, should I ask him?” 

TECHBROS 

BILL GATES, Microsoft founder: A draft Epstein email accused him of contracting an STD from “Russian girls” and then asking Epstein for antibiotics that he could “surreptitiously” give to his wife.

Gates insists the email was false and was designed to extort or entrap him. 

ELON MUSK, X and Tesla boss and world’s richest man: In 2012, Musk emailed Epstein: “What day/night will be the wildest party on your island?” 

Musk now says he “declined repeated invitations” to visit Little Saint James in the US Virgin Islands and that “no one fought harder” than him for the release of the Epstein files. 

ACADEMICS 

NOAM CHOMSKY, linguist and political activist: In 2019 — months before Epstein’s final arrest — he emailed advice on how the financier should deal with negative press: “The best way to ­proceed is to ignore it. 

“That’s particularly true now with the hysteria that has developed about abuse of women, which has reached the point that even questioning a charge is a crime worse than murder.” 

Critics have called this advice “stunningly dismissive” of Epstein’s victims. 

LAWRENCE KRAUSS, ­theoretical physicist: Krauss, who retired from Arizona State University after a ­finding that he had violated the school’s sexual harassment policy, asked Epstein for PR advice. 

He later said: “As a ­scientist, I always judge things on empirical ­evidence . . . I don’t feel ­tarnished in any way by my relationship with Jeffrey; I feel raised by it.” 

LARRY SUMMERS, former US Treasury Secretary and President of Harvard University: Describing himself as Summers’ “wingman”, in 2018 Epstein offered relationship advice to the US economist after Summers messaged saying he wanted to “get horizontal” with a younger woman he was mentoring.

Summers now says: “I am deeply ashamed of my actions and recognise the pain they have caused.” 

BANKERS 

JES STALEY, ex-Barclays Bank CEO: In 2010, Epstein ­messaged a woman: “I would love to take photos of you in a Snow White costume. You can get it from the costume store.” To which she replied: “Will get it!”

Weeks later, Staley emailed him saying: “That was fun. Say hi to Snow White.” Epstein replied: “What character would you like next?” Staley wrote: “Beauty and the Beast,” to which Epstein responded: “Well, one side is ­available.”

The same day, another sender wrote: “The Snow White was f***** twice as soon as she put on the costume.”

There is no suggestion that Staley was aware of the other email exchanges, the ages of the women involved or whether the Snow White that he referred to is the same individual.

He insists that his relationship with Epstein was strictly professional and that he has no recollection of the exchange.

Last year, it emerged that Staley had sex with an Epstein staff member at a New York apartment owned by the paedophile’s brother.

KATHRYN RUEMMLER, chief legal officer of Goldman Sachs and former White House counsel to Barack Obama: Epstein gave Ruemmler lavish gifts which included a Hermes bag, Apple products, spa appointments, haircuts and plane tickets.

In a 2019 email, she wrote: “Am totally tricked out by Uncle Jeffrey today! Jeffrey boots, handbag, and watch!”

Now she says: “I was a defence attorney when I dealt with Jeffrey Epstein . . .  I did not know him as the monster he has been revealed to be.”

TYCOONS 

SIR RICHARD BRANSON, Virgin Group founder: After a 2013 meeting on Branson’s private Necker Island, he emailed Epstein: “It was really nice seeing you yesterday . . . 

“Any time you’re in the area would love to see you. As long as you bring your harem!” 

Branson says the term “harem” was one Epstein himself used to refer to the three adult women who accompanied him to the ­business meeting. 

SULTAN AHMED BIN SULAYEM, a Dubai-based ­businessman: Communicated with Epstein for years and visited his private island. 

A 2017 email exchange between Sulayem and an Epstein member of staff discussed arranging for a woman described as “the personal masseuse at the private spa of our friend ­Jeffery Epstien” (sic) to work at a hotel in Turkey. 

Epstein later ­followed up, writing: “I suggest I send my other assistant along.” 

Sulayem’s spokesman has not replied after being approached for comment.