In mid-January, we learned that Prince William had hired a crisis manager, the improbably-named Liza Ravenscroft, to work in Kensington Palace’s communications office. The whole thing was curious – while there is an abundance of crisis in and around William, sources made it sound like King Charles was the one to order William to hire a crisis manager, and that Buckingham Palace was tired of KP’s childish and clownish antics. Many asked “why now?” and “which crisis is being dealt with at the moment?” Sources insisted Ravenscroft was there to deal with A) the Princess of Wales’s f–kups (up to and including sending out a manipulated photo which ended up getting a global kill order from the press), B) William’s screeching hatred of his brother Prince Harry and C) the ongoing debacle that is the Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor situation. Well, weeks after Ravenscroft’s hire, we seem to be getting a better idea of what William and Charles were preparing for. They knew that even more Jeffrey Epstein revelations were coming out, and that their names would be mentioned.
Jeffrey Epstein donated tens of thousands of pounds to a wildlife charity linked to Prince William, several years after the disgraced financier was convicted of sex offences. Documents released by the US Department of Justice show that Epstein donated $50,000 to WildAid in November 2013, the same year that William was named as an ambassador for the charity. Newly released emails show the organisation – which is also supported by King Charles – then courted the sex offender to meet its senior executives the following year.
There is no suggestion that the King and the Prince of Wales would have been aware of Epstein’s donation at the time. However, the files give an insight into how Epstein seemingly tried to use philanthropy to resurrect his reputation. The specific emails, sent in 2014, also raise questions about whether Kensington Palace and WildAid should have done more due diligence to ensure that the then-Duke of Cambridge and his father were not at risk of being embarrassed by Epstein’s donations.
Epstein’s donation and the charity’s subsequent engagement with him took place five years after his conviction in Florida for soliciting sex from a minor, and after extensive media coverage of his friendship with Prince Andrew. Epstein was released from prison on 22 July 2009 after serving 13 months of an 18-month sentence.
In January 2014, John Baker, WildAid’s managing director, wrote to Epstein’s office in an attempt to arrange a meeting in New York between Epstein and the charity’s co-founder and executive director, Peter Knights. “Thanks again for the generous donation from Jeffrey Epstein in 2013,” the email began.
A month later, in February 2014, following the launch of new public awareness campaigns in London aimed at ending the illegal trade in wildlife products such as rhino horn and ivory, Baker emailed again. “With thanks for the generous support from Jeffrey Epstein and Enhanced Education, we launched our two newest rhino horn PSAs [public service announcements] in London yesterday,” he wrote.
The correspondence shows that after Epstein’s donation had been received, WildAid officials credited his support in connection with campaign activity and publicity involving senior royals and other high-profile figures. It referred to media coverage of campaign events attended by William and other WildAid ambassadors, including film star Jackie Chan. Epstein and his team were encouraged to share the coverage, which also included an extract from a speech by Charles, then Prince of Wales, praising the charity’s work.
Prince William, now 43, worked with WildAid on efforts to combat the illegal wildlife trade during this period. He appeared in filmed public service announcements alongside David Beckham and the Chinese basketball star Yao Ming in 2013, and carried out related engagements in 2014 and 2015.
WildAid said the donation from Epstein was unsolicited and publicly disclosed in its annual accounts. “No member of WildAid’s staff or leadership ever met with Enhanced Education, Mr Epstein or any of Mr Epstein’s representatives,” a spokesperson said.
Kensington Palace said the correspondence was “a matter for WildAid and isn’t something we’d comment on”. The palace declined to comment on whether any checks were carried out on WildAid’s donors or financial background.
Joe Little, managing editor of Majesty magazine, said he would have expected rigorous checks to have been carried out before William became an ambassador, but expressed surprise that the charity accepted Epstein’s donation and then sought to engage him further. “That’s where the failure in due diligence has occurred, I’d have thought,” he said. “Lessons should definitely be learned from all of this.”
I started out thinking “well, so Epstein donated, maybe they had no idea.” But then I got to the “Thanks again for the generous donation from Jeffrey Epstein in 2013” email!!! This was all happening in 2013-2015, and no one at WildAid said “hey, wait, this donor’s name sounds familiar, let me double-check something?” Keep in mind, by 2014, even Norway’s Crown Princess Mette-Marit had apparently stopped sending friendly emails to Epstein because by then, EVERYONE KNEW WHO HE WAS. Now, is this William’s fault? Eh. Yes, he was the patron. But his laziness is his excuse – why would he look into a patronage’s donor list? Although one could argue that this is bad staff work from William’s team. Still, this looks much worse for WildAid and their team, although it would certainly be interesting to see who knew what and when across the board.
Also: William hasn’t been seen all week. He either took the week off in preparation for his big-boy trip to Saudi Arabia next week, or he’s undercover because of all of the Epstein stuff.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
