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Peter Mandelson only managed to stay in his role of US ambassador for seven months before he was sunk by his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.
Yesterday, it seemed he might just be able to weather the storm as Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said he still backed the Labour peer at the Commons despatch box.
But Mandelson himself had said that morning that more was still likely to emerge – and surely enough, the Sun and Bloomberg released a new tranche of emails that evening.
According to a No 10 spokesperson, it was these messages that changed the PM’s mind and led him to sack him from the cushy diplomatic post.
The conversation exposed by the emails laid bare how close Mandelson was with Epstein – to the extent that he urged his friend to ‘fight for early release’ after he was charged with soliciting sex with a minor in 2008.
Here is a timeline with all the key dates in their friendship.
2002
One of the earliest examples of Mandelson’s closeness with Epstein comes in the form of a memo he wrote to Tony Blair in 2002, according to a report in the Times.
The newspaper said the note, in which Mandelson is said to have tried to arrange a meeting between his friend and the then-PM, was due to be released by the National Archives but it was blocked.
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2003
This was the year when the notorious book was compiled for Epstein’s 50th birthday.
Among the alleged contributors were US Presidents Donald Trump and Bill Clinton. Mandelson appears to have provided no fewer than 10 pages.
In his entry, he described the New York financier as his ‘best pal’ and signed off by saying: ‘We love you!’
2006
Mandelson’s response to the news that Florida police are suggesting Epstein should be charged with four counts of unlawful sexual activity with a minor is to say he is ‘following you closely and here whenever you need’.
According to documents published by Bloomberg, he also says he is ‘attempting to set up another prosecutor meeting’.
The news site reported Mandelson – who was serving as the EU Trade Commissioner at this point – asked Epstein to ‘keep me posted’ after his arrest.
2007
A plea deal was arranged between Epstein’s lawyers and Miami attorney Alexander Acosta to help him avoid prosecution.
In January, Mandelson and Epstein are pictured together celebrating a birthday at Epstein’s apartment in Paris.
2008
Epstein was sentenced to 18 months in prison after admitting to solicitating prostitution and soliciting a minor – but his relationship with Mandelson did not end there.
When the paedophile was facing charges for soliciting a minor, Mandelson continued to send him emails, including one that said: ‘Your friends stay with you and love you.’
In October, he was made a Life Peer in the House of Lords.
2009
An internal report by the bank JP Morgan from 2019 suggests Mandelson stayed at Epstein’s Manhattan apartment in June 2009 while its owner was in prison.
2010
Following his release, Epstein secures a deal with the peer – then serving as Gordon Brown’s Business Secretary – for the sale of a banking business owned by British taxpayers.
2019
Epstein faces a far more extensive prison sentence after being arrested on sex trafficking charges in New York.
However, a month later he is found dead in his prison cell.
2024
Court documents are unsealed which include pictures of Mandelson with Epstein on the paedophile’s notorious private island Little St James.
The release throws the pair’s friendship back into the spotlight.
2025
In February, Mandelson is personally selected by Sir Keir Starmer to become the UK’s ambassador to the United States.
The same month, he tells a journalist from the Financial Times to ‘f*** off’ when he asks about Jeffrey Epstein.
But after seven months, the relationship blasted back into the headlines with the release of the birthday book from 22 years before.
The PM initially offers his backing, but when further emails emerge which show Lord Mandelson’s continued close friendship with Epstein after his 2008 conviction, the peer is dropped as ambassador with immediate effect.
Mandelson has said he regrets remaining friends with the paedophile ‘for far longer than I should have done’, and that he was taken in by a ‘charismatic criminal liar’.
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