The UK’s ambassador to Washington, Peter Mandelson, reportedly called Jeffrey Epstein “my best pal” in a book of messages collated for the notorious paedophile’s birthday.
The Labour party grandee was reportedly included in a section titled “friends”, alongside current US President Donald Trump and former president Bill Clinton.
A letter from Lord Mandelson included photographs of whisky and a tropical island, and called Epstein “my best pal”, according to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ).
The leather-bound album was put together in 2003, before Epstein was first arrested in 2006.
A spokesman for Mandelson declined to comment to the paper. Two years ago, Lord Mandelson said he “very much regrets ever having been introduced to Epstein”.
Earlier this year, he reacted with a foul-mouthed rant when pressed about his friendship with the disgraced financier.
He also accused others of having an “obsession” with his relationship with the convicted sex trafficker who died six years ago.
He said: “I regret ever meeting him or being introduced to him by his partner, Ghislaine Maxwell. I regret even more the hurt he caused to many young women.”
He went on to add: “I’m not going to go into this. It’s an… obsession and frankly you can all f*** off. OK?”
Maxwell is serving a 20-year jail sentence for recruiting and trafficking underage girls for Epstein.
Mr Epstein was found dead in his prison cell in 2019, but the circumstances surrounding his death and his activities continue to make headlines.
President Trump has faced anger from some of his Make America Great Again (MAGA) supporters over his campaign promise to release the FBI files on the Epstein case.
Conspiracy theorists have long demanded the release of a so-called “client list” of celebrities, politicians, and other prominent associates, that some claim Epstein blackmailed over their alleged involvement in his trafficking ring.
Earlier this week, the WSJ reported that Trump had sent a 50th birthday greeting in 2003, which was described as including a sexually suggestive drawing and a reference to “secrets” both men shared.
Trump has denied penning the letter or drawing and has never been accused of wrongdoing in connection with the Epstein case. He is suing the WSJ, its parent company and owner Rupert Murdoch for $10 billion.
The messages were put together into a professionally bound birthday book.
According to the WSJ, Clinton handwrote a single paragraph in the album, which read: “It’s reassuring isn’t it, to have lasted as long, across all the years of learning and knowing, adventures and [illegible word], and also to have your childlike curiosity, the drive to make a difference and the solace of friends.”
