The identities of the two women pictured with Lord Mandelson in a photograph thought to have been taken on Jeffrey Epstein’s island has been revealed by the paedophile’s former housekeeper.
Cathy Alexander, 70, who served as Epstein’s housekeeper for almost a decade, has confirmed that she is the woman in the middle of a photograph, thought to have been taken in 2002, showing the US ambassador sitting down for breakfast.
Mrs Alexander is in the middle of the photograph, next to a woman in a white vest top and a pair of bikini bottoms, carrying a mobile phone. Her face has been obscured with a scrap of paper, onto which a smiley face has been drawn.
The housekeeper has said alongside her husband – island manager Miles Alexander – that women came to give Epstein massages but that she never saw any upset or distress.
She believes the other woman in the photo is Ghislaine Maxwell, currently in prison for child sex trafficking offences.
The picture is among an eye-popping tranche of documents and photographs released by American lawmakers this week that include messages sent to Epstein to mark his 50th birthday.
In an interview published today, the former housekeeper said she recalled Mandelson, who was then a back-bench MP, suffering a migraine or ‘panic attack’ during his time on the island.
Epstein was reportedly not staying on the island at the time, beyond welcoming the Lord and his partner, Reinaldo Avila da Silva, to whom he got married two years ago.
The woman in the centre of this photograph has identified herself as Jeffrey Epstein’s former housekeeper, next to Lord Mandelson and a woman she believes is Ghislaine Maxwell
Lord Mandelson – who once infamously declared himself ‘intensely relaxed about people getting filthy rich’ – in a fluffy white dressing gown enjoying a chat with Jeffrey Epstein
Mandelson’s message in the ‘birthday book’ compiled by Ghislaine Maxwell said Epstein was ‘my best pal!’
Mrs Alexander told The Telegraph of the picture: ‘That’s me. It looks like the photo was taken at breakfast. It [the other woman] looks very much like Ghislaine Maxwell.’
She added of Lord Mandelson: ‘He stayed for nearly a week. We got very used to giving him meals. He was such a gentleman. He had a panic attack or a migraine.
‘They went parasailing and he probably didn’t drink enough water. He had too much sun and not enough water. I gave him oxygen and fluids.’
She added that he gifted her a book on Arthurian legends as a thank you at the end of his stay.
Former Labour minister turned US ambassador Lord Mandelson is facing scrutiny over his closeness to Epstein after hailing the US financier as his ‘best pal’ and sending photos of himself in a bathrobe and topless.
Grinning in a fluffy white dressing gown, Britain’s ambassador to Washington is seen relaxing with the disgraced billionaire during a Caribbean break. He wrote a fawning handwritten message saying: ‘We love you!’
On another toe-curling page, he says that no matter where Epstein is in the world, he ‘remains my best pal!’
The messages are part of an eye-popping trove of documents made public on Monday night by American lawmakers.
They appear to show gleeful holiday snaps from the ambassador’s visit to Epstein’s private island – dubbed ‘orgy island’ by one of the US paedophile’s sex slaves.
One image shows a topless Lord Mandelson – or ‘Petie’ as Epstein affectionately called him – wearing swimming shorts and gazing from a balcony window.
The photos were taken some two decades ago and there is no suggestion Lord Mandelson was aware of any of Epstein’s crimes.
He has repeatedly expressed his regret at ever having met the American businessman, who was found dead in his cell in 2019 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking children.
He sensationally told the Financial Times earlier this year: ‘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.
‘I’m not going into this. It’s an FT obsession and frankly you can all f*** off. OK?’
Lord Mandelson’s office was contacted for further comment.
Lord Mandelson gazing out of a balcony window in what appears to be Epstein’s house on his private island in the Caribbean
Lord Mandelson with Jeffrey Epstein on December 12, 2005, where he is seen trying on a belt during a visit to a boutique in the Caribbean
Mandelson and a friend enjoy a boat ride together as guests of Epstein
Lord Mandelson, who was appointed by Sir Keir Starmer as Britain’s ambassador to the US, is pictured here with Donald Trump in the Oval Office in May 2025
The photos were taken before Epstein’s conviction in 2008 for soliciting underage sex.
They were included in a gushing greeting Mandelson penned for Epstein’s 50th birthday for a book compiled by Epstein’s ex-girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell in 2003. She is currently serving a prison sentence for helping Epstein abuse girls.
Her so-called ‘Birthday Book’ is filled with lewd pictures, with many faces blacked out, and messages both handwritten and typed from well-wishers for Epstein’s 50th including, apparently, from Bill Clinton and Donald Trump. President Trump has denied it is genuine.
But the Labour grandee’s description of Epstein as his ‘best pal’ will bring fresh scrutiny to their relationship.
In his greeting, Mandelson describes Epstein in a handwritten note as ‘mysterious’ and ‘an intelligent, sharp-witted man’ who had ‘parachuted into my life’.
He wrote: ‘You would spend many hours just waiting for him to turn up. And often, no sooner were you getting used to loving him around, you would suddenly be alone… again.’
The letter features other photos of Lord Mandelson. In one he is stood next to two females, one wearing a white vest and black underwear. Above, he writes that Epstein would leave ‘you with some “interesting” friends to entertain’.
He added: ‘But, wherever he is in the world, he remains my best pal! Happy Birthday, Jeffrey. We love you!!’
Previously a spokesman for Lord Mandelson has said he ‘very much regrets ever having been introduced to Epstein’, adding: ‘This connection has been a matter of public record for some time. He never had any kind of professional or business relationship with Epstein in any form.’
Lord Mandelson infamously once declared he was ‘intensely relaxed about people getting filthy rich as long as they pay their taxes’, when he was a Labour minister. He later distanced himself for the remark.
Another intriguing entry in Epstein’s ‘Birthday Book’ is written by one of Epstein’s bikini-clad ‘assistants’ who claims she met Prince Andrew and alleges she was taken into ‘private’ areas of Buckingham Palace and sat on the Queen’s throne.
The woman – whose identity has been blacked out by a censor – said in her glowing tribute to Epstein that he had transformed her life.
A woman listed as a former assistant of paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein wrote of meeting the Duke of York and visiting private areas of Buckingham Palace
The unidentified woman wrote that Epstein transformed her life
She wrote of how she visited Buckingham Palace and sat on the Queen’s throne
A birthday letter that US President Donald Trump allegedly wrote to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. He denies its veracity
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has described the story as ‘fake news’
According to a court document filed in 2023, Epstein and Mandelson had ‘a particularly close friendship’. Mandelson was invited to stay at the convicted paedophile financier’s Manhattan home while he was in jail, and Epstein referred to him in messages as ‘Petie’.
Both Mandelson and Prince Andrew were in Epstein’s now-notorious ‘little black book’ of contacts. Long in the possession of the FBI, it contains ten numbers for Mandelson, including ones marked ‘home’, ‘country’ and ‘Peter’s direct line’.
A photo, thought to have been taken in 2005, showed Lord Mandelson shopping with Epstein at a boutique in the US Virgin Islands. He appeared to be trying on a belt.
Ex-President Clinton has long maintained he did not know of the allegations against Epstein.
Maxwell, 63, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for recruiting young girls for Epstein to sexually abuse, compiled the 238-page birthday book love-in for the financier’s 50th.
Representatives of the late financier turned over the dossier to Congress as part of the investigation into his crimes.
The existence of the birthday book was first reported in July by The Wall Street Journal.
It has now been made public by the House Oversight Committee.
The British Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Lord Mandelson declined to comment on the existence of the letter when it was first reported in July. He has previously expressed regret about his association with the sex offender. In May, he squirmed on live TV when he was confronted about his relationship with Epstein.
He did not deny he stayed at the paedophile financier’s New York home in 2009 after Epstein was jailed for child sex offences.
‘I’m not answering any questions about him’, Lord Mandelson said, when a Sky News camera crew stopped him in the street to ask questions.
Peter’s photo casebook – Lord Mandelson’s ten-page birthday greeting to Epstein:
The first page of Lord Mandelson’s ten-page birthday greeting to Jeffrey Epstein hails him as ‘mysterious’
On the second page, a topless Lord Mandelson wearing swimming shorts gazes out of a balcony, with the caption: ‘…waiting for him to turn up’
The story continues on page three of the letter
Page four: In one photo Mandelson is stood next to two females, one wearing a white vest and black underwear. Above, he writes that Epstein would leave ‘you with some “interesting” friends to entertain’
Page five of the letter: reminiscing about dogs on the island
Page six: how Epstein would ‘parachute back in’ to your life
Page seven: surprise whiskey reference
Page eight: apparently a holiday snap taken by Mandelson of Epstein’s Caribbean island
Page nine: Mandelson captioned this grinning photo of himself with Epstein and said he was ‘my best pal!’
Page ten: the final page of the letter, a happy snap of Mandelson with a friend, believed to be his long-term partner (and now husband) Reinaldo Avila da Silva
The birthday message from Lord Mandelson runs over ten pages and contains passages of light-hearted writing interspersed with photos.
It states: ‘Once upon a time, an intelligent, sharp-witted man they call “mysterious” parachuted into my life…
‘I would spend many hours just waiting for him to turn up.
‘And often, no sooner were you getting used to having him around, you would suddenly be alone…again.
‘Leaving you with some “interesting” friends to entertain instead…
‘Or just some dogs to keep you company (he wasn’t always so keen on them).
‘But then he would parachute back in…
‘Very occasionally, taking you by surprise in some far off places.
‘Or in one of his glorious homes he likes to share with his friends (yum yum).
‘But, wherever he is in the world, he remains my best pal!’
The last page of the letter said: ‘Happy Birthday, Jeffrey. We love you!!’
Bill Clinton’s 50th birthday letter to Jeffrey Epstein praising his ‘childlike curiosity’ is seen for the first time
The handwritten message on the Bill Clinton greeting in Epstein’s birthday book
Jeffery Epstein’s estate on Little St James Island in the US Virgin Islands. The disgraced financier also owned nearby Great St James island
An aerial view of Epstein’s 74-acre Little St James Island in the US Virgin Islands
Prince Andrew during his infamous BBC Newsnight interview with Emily Maitlis
An undated photo issued by the US Department of Justice of British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell with American financier Jeffrey Epstein
In response to Lord Mandelson’s letter being published, Health Secretary Wes Streeting told LBC: ‘I think the ambassador has been clear that he regrets ever having been introduced to Epstein.
‘And who can blame him? Who would want to be associated with Epstein given what we know now about the horrific crimes that he perpetrated?’
He added: ‘I’m sure he will have more to say.
‘But I don’t think we should tar everyone as, kind of, guilty by association.’
Lord Mandelson previously said he regrets ever meeting Epstein, adding: ‘I regret even more the hurt he caused to many young women.’
Downing Street backed Lord Mandelson, praising his work building relations with the Trump administration.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: ‘This Government is focused on building a relationship with the United States. The ambassador is playing a key role in that, securing jobs and growth here in the UK, he’s playing a key part in the work ahead of the state visit next week, the unprecedented state visit next week that will continue to build the relationship between our countries to deliver for working people here in the UK.’
Mandelson’s photo of an island appears to be of Little St James. It served as Epstein’s lair and was allegedly the ‘perfect hideaway and haven for trafficking young women and underage girls for sexual servitude, child abuse and sexual assault’, according to a lawsuit brought by the Virgin Islands against Epstein’s estate in 2020.
Among those who were allegedly trafficked to the location was 17-year-old Virginia Roberts, who labelled it ‘orgy island’ and said she was sexually assaulted there by the Duke of York, a former associate of Epstein’s – a claim which the Duke vehemently denied.
The photos released by the Americans are just the latest to show beaming people apparently snapped on Epstein’s private island. Fringed by coral reefs and azure waters, the paradise isle’s secrets have long been the subject of intense interest.
This island drew guests from the highest ranks of society. The roster was truly A-list, with Prince Andrew, Naomi Campbell, Kevin Spacey, Peter Mandelson and, of all people, the late Professor Stephen Hawking coming to the island, while former US President Bill Clinton denies claims he was a visitor. All deny any wrongdoing.
But it was when Epstein brought young girls to Little St James that it garnered its more grotesque nickname of ‘paedo island’.
