A former assistant to Jeffrey Epstein says she met Prince Andrew and sat on Queen Elizabeth II’s throne during a visit to Buckingham Palace, according to an entry in a 238-page “birthday book” compiled by Ghislaine Maxwell in 2003 that was made public this week after a legal summons.
The unnamed assistant’s contribution appears in the tome titled My First Fifty Years and includes a lengthy, glowing tribute to Epstein in which she describes being transformed from a 22-year-old hotel restaurant hostess into someone who was jetted to exotic locations and introduced to royalty and celebrities. She wrote that she had “seen the private quarters of Buckingham Palace” and “sat on the Queen of England’s throne,” and listed encounters with figures she named as Prince Andrew, President Clinton, the Sultan of Brunei, Donald Trump, Naomi Campbell and others.
The assistant’s section contains photographs, including bikini shots, and informal handwritten notes. One page shows a man putting his hand down the back of a woman’s trousers with the word “thank you” written beneath it, according to the documents. The entry also includes an acrostic spelled out to Epstein and other personal messages.
The compilation released to the House Oversight Committee as part of a congressional subpoena also contains birthday messages from people identified as friends of Epstein. One note attributed to Lord Peter Mandelson describes Epstein as “my best pal” and includes photographs in which the faces of two women are obscured. The dossier made public alongside the book reportedly includes Epstein’s will, a personal address book and a copy of a 2007 non-prosecution agreement.
A photograph previously obtained by The Telegraph showed Ghislaine Maxwell and actor Kevin Spacey sitting on the Coronation thrones for the Queen and Prince Philip during a private Buckingham Palace tour in 2002 that was organised by Prince Andrew. It is not known whether the assistant who wrote the entry was part of that tour.
Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, has denied any wrongdoing in relation to his connection to Epstein. He has said he stopped having contact with Epstein in December 2010, after they were photographed together walking in New York’s Central Park.
The material surfaced after legal efforts to obtain records from Epstein’s estate. The House Oversight Committee issued a summons for numerous documents, and some files from Epstein’s archive have been disclosed to investigators and the public as part of those proceedings.
Epstein, a convicted sex offender who faced federal sex‑trafficking charges, died in a Manhattan federal jail cell in August 2019 while awaiting trial. Ghislaine Maxwell was later convicted of charges related to her role in procuring and grooming underage victims for Epstein.
The publication of the book and accompanying documents prompted public comment from British political figures. Health Secretary Wes Streeting, responding to publication of Lord Mandelson’s note, said the former British ambassador to the United States had made clear he regretted being introduced to Epstein and that the scale of Epstein’s crimes makes association fraught. Streeting added that he did not believe people should be “tarred” simply by association.
The newly public materials add to a body of documents that investigators and journalists have used to trace Epstein’s social and financial networks. They also renew scrutiny of the social circles surrounding Epstein and Maxwell in the early 2000s and the appearances and messages recorded in private albums and keepsakes compiled for Epstein’s 50th birthday.
The appearance of the assistant’s entry in the book does not constitute evidence of criminal conduct by the individuals named in the pages. Prince Andrew and other figures referenced in the book have disputed allegations of wrongdoing and, where applicable, have addressed their past associations with Epstein in public statements or testimony.
Investigations and litigation related to Epstein’s estate and his associates remain active in multiple jurisdictions, and portions of his private archives continue to be examined by congressional investigators and legal teams pursuing civil claims against his estate.