Peter Mandelson had more than one leak to worry about after another tranche of his friendly emails to Jeffrey Epstein was made public.
The disgraced former US Ambassador could be seen relieving himself against a garden wall after a late-night visit to George Osborne‘s Notting Hill home.
Lord Mandelson, 72, was caught short just before 11pm while waiting for an Uber.
He’d arrived at the former Tory chancellor’s £10million townhouse three hours earlier, carrying an upmarket bottle of Chilean wine.
Their meeting on Wednesday night coincided with the publication of 20,000 documents from Epstein’s estate, including emails revealing that he’d remained friends with the Labour peer until late 2016, eight years after pleading guilty to child sex offences.
One message, dated that November, saw the billionaire congratulate Lord Mandelson on his birthday, saying: ’63 years old. You made it.’
Mandelson replied: ‘Just. I have decided to extend my life by spending more of it in the US.’
The conversation then turned to the former Prince Andrew, and Lord Mandelson’s spouse Reinaldo Da Silva. ‘You were right about staying away from Andrew,’ wrote Epstein. ‘I was right in your staying with Rinaldo [sic].’
Peter Mandelson was caught relieving himself against a garden wall after a late-night visit to George Osborne’s Notting Hill home on Wednesday
Mandelson had arrived at the former Tory chancellor’s £10million townhouse three hours earlier, carrying an upmarket bottle of Chilean wine
As the documents were being published, Lord Mandelson was having a drink with a companion at the Kensington Roof Gardens, a private members’ club in west London.
He then arrived at Osborne’s Notting Hill home at around 8pm clutching a gift bag from Casa Donoso, a Chilean vineyard whose signature Clos Centenaire retails for £34.95 a bottle.
The Tory grandee, who lives in the five-bedroom home with second wife Thea, greeted him at the door.
Three hours later, Mandelson left clutching his phone. He then walked a short distance to the street corner before furtively undoing his zip and urinating against a brick wall. An onlooker reported he looked ‘worse for wear’ and managed to splash his upmarket trainers.
Awkwardly, the wall belongs to Osborne’s neighbour James Reed, the tycoon behind Reed Recruitment who has been critical of Labour’s economic policies. ‘I’m surprised that whichever of my neighbours he happened to be visiting didn’t offer him a toilet. It doesn’t seem very diplomatic,’ Mr Reed told the Daily Mail.
The tenant of a nearby flat added: ‘We have to put up with this sort of revolting behaviour during the Notting Hill Carnival. It’s a shame to see that people still feel entitled to urinate in the street here three months later, and quite outrageous that the person responsible should be a peer of the realm.’
Fortunately for Mandelson his latest indiscretion is unlikely to incur any criminal charges.
‘Technically, it’s against the law under a public order act of 1986, but it’s very unlikely that someone who gets caught short would end up being prosecuted,’ said Julian Lee, a criminal defence expert at Reed’s Solicitors. ‘The only exception would be if they had caused alarm or distress to another person, or caused criminal damage, or were also doing something of a sexual nature. I very much doubt those factors apply in this case.’
Mandelson’s visit to Osbourne ‘s home coincided with the publication of 20,000 documents from Epstein’s estate, including emails revealing that he’d remained friends with the Labour peer until late 2016, eight years after pleading guilty to child sex offences
Pictured: Mandelson and Osborne in 2010
Since losing his job in Washington in September – the third time he’s been sacked in his political career – Lord Mandelson has divided his time between a Wiltshire cottage and a mansion in Regent’s Park which he bought for £8million in 2012.
His relationship with Mr Osborne goes back decades, at times causing PR difficulties for both men. In 2008, they were photographed on oligarch Oleg Deripaska’s yacht off the coast of Corfu.
Mandelson was later accused of giving the Russian favourable treatment on aluminium tariffs when he was EU trade commissioner.
Last night Lord Mandelson said: ‘I can only offer my profuse apologies. I was stood up by two Uber drivers and kept waiting in the street for half an hour and was bursting. There is no disguising my embarrassment.’
