Imran Mulla and Peter Oborne write:
David Stern sits directly to the left of Queen Elizabeth at an event at St James's Palace in 2016. Two places to the right of the queen is the financier Sir Evelyn de Rothschild (Screengrab/ X)
It’s long been an open secret that Prince Andrew, now stripped of his royal title, was a member of Jeffrey Epstein’s inner circle.
But the Epstein files reveal that another figure should be understood as the paedophile’s unofficial ambassador to the British royal family.
David Stern, a 48-year-old German-born investor who now lives in the United Arab Emirates, is mentioned thousands of times in the Epstein files.
Epstein introduced David Stern to Andrew. Stern became a trusted friend to the royal family. So trusted that in 2016 he was made a director of the St George’s House trust.
Nestled in Windsor Castle, St George’s House was founded in 1966 by the late Duke of Edinburgh as a private space “where people of influence from right across society could come together to debate and discuss issues of national and international importance”.
This institution is part of the College of St George, alongside St George’s Chapel, where 10 British monarchs are buried.
It is difficult to go deeper into the traditional British establishment.
Stern was so trusted that he was placed next to the late Queen Elizabeth at an event at St James’s Palace in 2016.
But at the same time Stern was so close to Epstein that the convicted sex offender arranged accommodation for him in New York as late as 2018 - the year before Epstein would be found dead in a New York City prison cell.
Middle East Eye has unearthed extraordinary details of Stern’s relationship with the notorious paedophile in files recently released by the US Department of Justice.
Stern sent Epstein sexually explicit messages, including a photo of a naked woman, and invited a girlfriend of the financier to a Changing of the Guard ceremony outside Buckingham Palace.
Stern accompanied Andrew abroad. He reported on the then-royal’s doings to Epstein. He pitched business deals to the financier.
It was only after Epstein’s suspicious death and Andrew’s disastrous BBC Newsnight interview about his relationship with the paedophile in 2019 that Stern resigned as a director of Andrew’s project Pitch@Palace, a role he had been given in 2016.
He would remain on the board of St George’s House until 2022, three years after Epstein’s death.
Sexually explicit messages
As an indication of how close Stern’s relationship with Epstein was, in 2014 he wished Epstein a happy birthday with the message: “Champagne for you (even though you don’t drink it).”
This was accompanied by a photograph of champagne being poured over the apparently naked body of a young woman, whose face is not identified.
“PA [Prince Andrew] sends his birthday wishes and love,” Stern added later that day.
He sent lewd memes and jokes to Epstein, who had pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting prostitution sex from underage girls.
On 18 May 2012 Epstein asked Stern when “the lady”, whose name is unknown, was set to arrive in Paris on Friday night.
Stern replied: “Last one on Friday: leaving London 20:01 arriving Paris 23:17.”
He sent a photo, not accessible in the released files, and asked Epstein: “is assume that’s her?”
Epstein responded: “I would like her to go both way with you.”
Stern said: “Let me see how it can be done. Return train on Saturday at 13:13 ok?”
Epstein replied: “that would be helpful”.
David Stern poses for a photograph with then-Prince Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson which was sent to Jeffrey Epstein in 2014 (Epstein files)
On another occasion, on 21 May 2014, Stern emailed Epstein saying: “I will arrive Saturday (31st) morning in NYC.
“Will see you latest 4pm on Sunday, unless you want me to come over before for any reason, orgies, etc.”
In April 2016, Stern invited a girlfriend of Epstein, Karyna Shuliak, to the Changing of the Guard ceremony outside Buckingham Palace, which sees soldiers on duty at the royal residence hand over to a new group of soldiers.
After his death it emerged that Epstein promised Belarus-raised Shuliak four of his homes and a cash bequest of $50m.
In an email Stern told Kuliak, then aged 26, that he would take her somewhere where they needed to bring “picture I.D”. He said: “The dress code is formal so no jeans or sneakers etc (I know it's annoying but it's very strict).”
Shuliak said she was “looking forward” to the event.
Trips to China
Stern’s relationship with Epstein continued until at least 2018, the messages suggest.
In July 2018 email correspondence reveals that Epstein said he would ask former Trump advisor Steve Bannon if he had time to have tea with Stern in London. And in September, just months before his arrest, Epstein arranged an apartment for Stern to stay in on a trip to New York.
Stern’s association with Andrew began when he was British trade envoy.
In February 2010 Andrew’s wife Sarah Ferguson, then the Duchess of York, said in an email to an unknown recipient that Epstein had introduced her to Stern and that Stern had come to the Royal Lodge in Windsor for dinner.
In 2002 Stern founded Asia Gateway Limited, a China-focused advisory with offices in Beijing and London. Stern would repeatedly pitch China-related deals to Epstein.
On 23 March 2011 Stern emailed Epstein asking him: “Do you want to send the idea (if you like it) of investing in Stansted Airport to the Chinese guy that came to see you (Beijing Capital airport)? Good way to test him. Could be an interesting deal.”
In September that year Stern told Epstein that most meetings Andrew had planned in China and Kuala Lumpur “are organised by me except mayors and governors and nothing in KL”.
He explained that “I stay in the background/hidden, just make the arrangements.”
On 21 October 2011 ahead of a trip by Andrew to China, Stern emailed Epstein telling him that Andrew was “chartering his own plane. He wants to take me with him.
“My name will be on the flight-records etc. I feel it is safer to fly separately.” He asked whether Epstein agreed and the financier replied that it was “ok,, to fly with him”.
The visit, which took place shortly after Andrew stepped down as trade envoy in July that year following scrutiny over his friendship with Epstein, was widely publicised. Andrew attended the opening ceremony of a factory and opened a British school in Shanghai.
On 21 November 2011 Stern asked Epstein: “For the African investment vehicle we can be the bridge between the Chinese and African side: both get what they want with maximum protection/distance (ie no direct Chinese involvement) through us as intermediary. It can be a deal machine once Chinese capital gets involved. It would fit in perfectly with the other plan of managing Chinese wealth.”
In 2012 Stern even tried to help Epstein get a visa to travel to China, but the financier was denied a tourist visa - because of his criminal record, an assistant suggested in an email to Stern.
Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem and the Dukes hotel
The business relationship between the two men was wide-ranging.
In 2010 Stern encouraged Epstein to buy the luxury Dukes hotel in London, a ten-minute walk from Buckingham Palace.
The hotel was owned by Emirati businessman Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, currently chairman and CEO of DP World, the Dubai-owned trade and logistics company which controls ports all over the world.
Sulayem has appeared elsewhere in the Epstein files. In one email exchange, he wrote to share his views on the Quran with Epstein before noting that he is “off the sample a fresh 100% female Russian” on his yacht. MEE has contacted DP World for comment.
Epstein asked financial advisers to value the hotel and work out the cost of refurbishing it. Stern even suggested to Epstein that he install a “playroom” in the hotel. In the end no deal was made.
Email correspondence shows that Epstein introduced Stern to Peter Mandelson, the former Labour minister who was this week stripped of his peerage over new revelations about his close relationship with Epstein.
In April 2011 Epstein asked Stern to call Mandelson, who agreed to speak to him - although the reason for the call and what was said in it are unclear.
Sarah Ferguson’s financial issues
Stern often kept Epstein informed on goings-on in royal circles.
On 11 September 2009 Stern reported to Epstein that Ferguson, Andrew’s ex-wife, wanted him to accompany her to meet Vladimir Zemtsov, a Russian-born billionaire “willing to evaluate” paying off Ferguson’s heavy debts.
That same year Epstein reportedly hired a private investigator to look into Ferguson’s activities.
In September 2010 Stern told Epstein that Andrew “asked me to see a guy who has access to Nigeria oil and when selling it to China (or somebody else) F [Ferguson] can make around $6m.” Stern added that the idea “seems very fishy”.
In March the following year a political scandal erupted when Ferguson admitted she had allowed Epstein to pay off £15,000 of her debts.
“I personally, on behalf of myself, deeply regret that Jeffrey Epstein became involved in any way with me,” she said.
“I abhor paedophilia and any sexual abuse of children and know that this was a gigantic error of judgment on my behalf.”
Stern sent Epstein a Telegraph article reporting on Ferguson’s admission and said: “Is she going crazy ??? When can I call you ?”
Later that day he emailed Epstein again asking: “Any actions I should take ? How should we proceed ?”
But two days later, on 9 March, Stern reported to Epstein: “Rest of the day has become more quiet and restrained. Theme seems to be now: PA [Andrew] under scrutiny for dealing with Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan (but government approved!), he has full support of his Mum [Queen Elizabeth], only dealing with you [Epstein] was “unwise”.”
Stern added: “The dealings to you are now predominately related to F. [Ferguson] and her financial trouble, always quoting her interview and her “lack of judgment” and she will never deal with you again etc.”
Fresh crisis for the royal family
Andrew has long insisted he had cut ties with Epstein after his imprisonment. But that claim was exploded this week. At times Stern acted as an intermediary between the paedophile and the then-prince, such as when he conveyed Andrew’s birthday wishes to Epstein in 2014.
During these years Stern was becoming increasingly embedded in royal circles. This was how he ended up sitting directly to the left of the late Queen Elizabeth in 2016 at St James’s Palace, as a director of Andrew’s Pitch@the Palace project.
Two places to the right of the queen is the late financier Sir Evelyn de Rothschild. In 2015 Stern had asked Epstein if Rothschild wanted to sponsor Pitch@Palace. “It’s quite cool and draws a good crowd,” he said.
This latest tranche of released Epstein files has already triggered a fresh crisis for the royal family this week.
Andrew, who was stripped of his royal title by his brother King Charles last year and is now known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, has been forced to move out of his home in the Royal Lodge early.
He is reportedly struggling to find staff willing to serve him in his new home.
These new revelations suggest that the notorious financier’s entanglements within the British establishment may have been deeper and more complex than previously assumed.
MEE has contacted Stern for comment.
More photographs of Queen Elizabeth with Stern are still on the King’s own website, here.
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