The British politician is thought to have shared confidential information with the late billionaire and convicted sex offender
Sky News/YouTube
NEED TO KNOW
- Peter Mandelson, the United Kingdom’s former ambassador to the United States, has been arrested on allegations that he shared secret government and market information with Jeffrey Epstein
- The arrest came just days after former Prince Andrew was taken into custody in England on similar charges
- Mandelson held numerous high-profile government titles before his brief tenure as an ambassador in 2025, including as the U.K.’s senior-most secretary of state and the European Union’s trade chief
Following the arrest of the former Prince Andrew, another major public figure in the United Kingdom has been taken into custody in connection with the Epstein files.
Lord Peter Mandelson, a former Labour Party politician, was photographed by Sky News being escorted from his London home by plainclothes police officers on Monday, Feb. 23.
A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police told the outlet, "Officers have arrested a 72-year-old man on suspicion of misconduct in public office. He was arrested at an address in Camden on Monday, 23 February and has been taken to a London police station for interview. This follows search warrants at two addresses in the Wiltshire and Camden areas."
The Telegraph reported that, similar to the charges against the former Duke of York, Scotland Yard is investigating Mandelson for allegedly sharing sensitive government and market information with Jeffrey Epstein when he was business secretary.
Mandelson, a longtime Labour Party MP, served as a secretary of state under former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair. After several financial scandals, he left Parliament in 2004 but returned in 2008 to serve as the business secretary under then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown. During the gap in his U.K. government service, Mandelson served as the trade commissioner for the European Union.
The U.K.'s embattled current prime minister, Keir Starmer, faced criticism after appointing Mandelson as the British ambassador to the United States last year. However, following the release of new evidence regarding Jeffrey Epstein by the U.S. Department of Justice, he was dismissed from the post in September 2025.
Earlier this month, Mandelson stepped down from the House of Lords over his Epstein ties.
One particularly disturbing bit of correspondence between Epstein and Mandelson, an out gay man, came in 2009 when Epstein suggested Mandelson should marry Princess Beatrice, noting, "the queen would have a queen as a grandson."
"Remember, I am already her Lord President.." Mandelson replied.
"Does that make it incest," Epstein responded. "How exciting."
Mandelson's detainment followed the Feb. 19 arrest of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, who was stripped of his royal titles last fall due to his connection with Epstein.
Andrew was released from the Aylsham Police Station in Norfolk after about 11 hours in custody. The Thames Valley Police issued an updated statement confirming a "man in his sixties from Norfolk," had "been released under investigation." He was photographed in a car, being taken back to Wood Farm, located in King Charles’ Sandringham estate, where he recently moved after being forced to surrender the lease on his longtime Windsor home, Royal Lodge.
JOHN THYS/AFP via Getty
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While Andrew was previously accused of sexual assault by Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre, his arrest, like Mandelson's, was linked to allegations that he shared confidential information in correspondence with Epstein.
In one email from the trove of Epstein evidence, a sender named as "The Duke" — thought to be Andrew, per the BBC — forwarded Epstein an email including reports from his trips to Singapore, Vietnam, Hong Kong and China in his role as a trade envoy for the British government.
In another message dated Dec. 24, 2010, Andrew appears to be presenting Epstein with what he says is a "confidential brief" on investment opportunities in the Helmand Province of Afghanistan. That region was heavily affected by the U.S. war in Afghanistan, in which Great Britain was a military ally. At the time, reconstruction in the area would have still been under government control.
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