Scottish police are in the “very early stage” of probing the late U.S. sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s reported stay at the royal Balmoral estate at the invitation of ex-prince Andrew, U.K. media reported on Friday (October 30, 2026).
AFP has contacted Police Scotland for comment. At least ten U.K. police forces are probing Andrew and Epstein’s links to Britain. The former prince was briefly arrested in February on suspicion of misconduct in public office related to Epstein, as police searched his properties.
Epstein, who died in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking, is believed to have visited the British monarch’s estate in northeast Scotland in 1999 along with his jailed ex-girlfriend and accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell.
“We have received information and active inquiries are ongoing but these are at a very early stage,” Police Scotland said in a brief statement to some U.K. media, without elaborating on the probe. He has denied wrongdoing, and won a legal challenge over the searches this month after police agreed the warrants they obtained were “unlawful” — although the investigation remains ongoing.
Police Scotland had previously appealed for information about Epstein’s alleged chartering of private jets to transport women through Edinburgh Airport.
