The Metropolitan Police is facing a significant hurdle in its high-profile investigations into a senior Labour peer and a member of the royal family, with Britain’s most senior officer personally pressing American authorities for help. Sir Mark Rowley, the Met Commissioner, is seeking full, unredacted versions of the Jeffrey Epstein files, concerned that redactions are obscuring information vital to probes into alleged misconduct in public office.
Sir Mark raised the issue directly with the US Ambassador to the UK, Warren Stephens, last month and is expected to intensify his appeals during meetings in Washington this week. The Met has confirmed it is “actively seeking further detail” from its US law enforcement partners. If this diplomatic approach fails, the UK would be forced into a lengthier formal process known as a Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) request, which could take up to a year and offers no guarantee of success.
The Core Allegations: Sensitive Information and a Financier
At the heart of the Met’s investigation is Lord Peter Mandelson, the former Business Secretary and, until last year, the UK’s Ambassador to the United States. He was arrested on 23 February on suspicion of misconduct in public office and later bailed. The allegation, stemming from emails within the trove of documents released by the US Department of Justice (DoJ), is that he passed market-sensitive government information to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein during the fraught period following the 2008 financial crisis.
According to the files, the leaked material was substantial. In 2009, Mandelson allegedly forwarded an assessment by a senior adviser to then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown concerning potential policy measures, including an “asset sales plan.” He is also accused of discussing a tax on bankers’ bonuses, confirming an imminent EU bailout package for the euro a day before its 2010 announcement, and tipping off Epstein about multibillion-dollar measures to save the currency during the Greek debt crisis. In one instance, he reportedly sent Epstein an internal government report detailing ways the UK could raise funds post-crisis.
The former Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, has taken a direct role, writing to Sir Mark Rowley with information and condemning any such disclosures as “inexcusable and unpatriotic.” The Cabinet Office referred the matter to police after its own review of the Epstein files found documents containing “likely market sensitive information” that showed compromised official handling safeguards.
Lord Mandelson, 72, has consistently denied any wrongdoing. Through his lawyers, he has stated he has no record or recollection of payments from Epstein and attacked the Met’s justification for his arrest as “baseless.” His association with Epstein ultimately cost him his post as ambassador; he was sacked in September 2025 after it was revealed he maintained the friendship even after Epstein’s 2008 conviction for soliciting a minor. He later received a £75,000 taxpayer-funded severance payment. In February of this year, he resigned from the Labour Party and the House of Lords.
Political Fallout and a Resignation at the Top
Lord Mandelson’s appointment as ambassador has ignited a major political scandal for Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer. Documents released last week showed that Starmer was warned in December 2024 of a “general reputational risk” due to Mandelson’s ties to Epstein, which included reportedly staying at Epstein’s home in June 2009 while the financier was in jail.
The controversy forced the resignation of Sir Keir’s chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, in February. McSweeney took “full responsibility” for advising the Prime Minister to make the appointment, calling the decision “wrong” and saying it had “damaged our party, our country and trust in politics itself.” Sir Keir has since stated that had he known the full extent of the relationship, he would not have proceeded with the appointment.
A Parallel Royal Investigation
Running parallel to the Mandelson case is a separate but linked investigation being led by Thames Valley Police. It focuses on Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the former Duke of York, who was arrested on 19 February on suspicion of misconduct in public office. He was released under investigation and has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.
The allegation against him centres on reports that he sent trade reports to Jeffrey Epstein in 2010, during his time as a UK trade envoy. Buckingham Palace has stated that King Charles III believes “the law must take its course” and has pledged the family’s full cooperation. Mountbatten-Windsor, who was stripped of his royal titles and military affiliations in recent years, previously settled a civil lawsuit brought by Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre.
The Epstein files contain multiple references to him. A recently uncovered photograph, believed to have been taken in Martha’s Vineyard between 1999 and 2000, shows him wearing a bathrobe alongside Epstein and Lord Mandelson. Other images in the files reportedly show him in compromising positions with women. An email exchange from 2010, signed by “A” and “HRH The Duke of York,” also discusses meeting a “beautiful” Russian woman and extends an invitation to Epstein to visit Buckingham Palace. Notably, in 2020, US authorities sent an MLA request to the UK Home Office seeking his assistance as an alleged witness to Epstein’s offending.
The Document Mountain and the Legal Mandate
The investigations are entirely dependent on the unprecedented release of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein, mandated by the US Epstein Files Transparency Act passed in November 2025. The DoJ has released millions of pages, including a dump of three million documents in January 2026 which it said would be the final major production.
However, the DoJ redacted portions of the material to protect victims and avoid jeopardising ongoing investigations, acknowledging that errors were inevitable given the volume and speed of release. The files are known to contain explicit descriptions of harm to children, as well as what authorities term “untrue and sensationalist claims” against individuals. It is within this vast and imperfect record that British police are now searching for conclusive evidence, a task hampered without the full picture US authorities continue to hold.
