Andrew’s right-hand man sought to meet Kim Jong-Un for real estate talks

Luke Barr

Sat, 21 February 2026 at 7:24 pm GMT+9 4 min read

David Stern sought help from Jeffrey Epstein while working directly for Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s right-hand man asked Jeffrey Epstein to help him buy “prime real estate” in North Korea.

David Stern asked the disgraced financier for guidance on how to access the country in 2018, claiming he wanted to “see No.1” – thought to be Kim Jong-Un.

He sought help from Epstein while serving as a director on Mr Mountbatten-Windsor’s Pitch@Palace business, which was based in Buckingham Palace.

Details of Mr Stern’s attempts to strike business deals in North Korea, a totalitarian dictatorship, have emerged in emails contained in the Epstein Files.

Mr Stern wrote to Epstein in June 2018:

He then followed up with another request two days later, asking Epstein if Steve Bannon, Donald Trump’s former adviser and now a Maga podcaster, could help. Epstein and Mr Bannon were in contact at the time.

Epstein responded to Mr Stern, claiming he was “not sure about sanctions”.

It is the latest revelation regarding Mr Stern’s business dealings with Epstein, as emails released by the US department of justice (DoJ) show his role as agent for both Epstein and Mr Mountbatten-Windsor.

It is also likely to raise fresh questions over Mr Stern’s relationship to Mr Mountbatten-Windsor, who was arrested on Thursday on suspicion of misconduct in public office.

Searches are expected to continue at Royal Lodge in Windsor, where Mr Mountbatten-Windsor used to live, and he also faces being removed from the line of succession, The Telegraph understands.

Details of Mr Stern’s attempts to strike business deals in North Korea, a totalitarian dictatorship, have emerged in emails contained in the Epstein Files - KCNA/Reuters

As well as serving as a go-between for Epstein and the former Duke of York, Mr Stern also used his role to seek out global business opportunities.

However, his attempts to make money in North Korea, otherwise known as the “hermit kingdom”, were perhaps his most ambitious and controversial business dealings in Asia.

The Telegraph revealed this week that Mr Stern, a German financier who speaks fluent Mandarin, also struck a secret business pact with the Chinese state through his health technology fund in 2013.

This came after boasting of “strong access” to senior figures in Beijing.

Emails suggest that Mr Stern and Epstein also sought to use the former duke’s “aura and access” to build their network in China.

Photographs show that Mr Mountbatten-Windsor met with some of Mr Stern’s clients in both the UK and China.

Mr Stern also joined the former prince on business trips to China and south-east Asia during his time as envoy.

After resigning from Pitch@Palace in 2019, Mr Stern took up a string of other wide-ranging roles but maintained a low public profile.

As well as serving on the advisory board of Cambridge Judge Business School, he also worked for US-based Madison Square Garden (MSG) Entertainment, which runs the Sphere venues in Las Vegas and New York.

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In his role as vice-chairman at MSG, Mr Stern attempted to broker a deal in 2023 to build a Sphere venue in Seoul, South Korea. He met with local senior officials at the time, but the project never materialised.

When contacted about Mr Stern’s role at MSG, a spokesman for the company said he “was never an employee of the company and is no longer providing consulting services”.

He is now believed to be living in Abu Dhabi.

Emails suggest that David Stern wanted to use Andrew Mountbatten Windsor’s ‘aura and access’ to build relations in China

As well as building close ties to Epstein and Mr Mountbatten-Windsor between 2011 and 2019, he sat next to the late Elizabeth II at an event at St James’s Palace in 2016.

His closeness to Epstein led to Mr Stern asking the convicted sex offender to be the godfather to one of his children in 2016. Epstein refused but described Mr Stern as a “good friend”.

Their friendly conversations led to Mr Stern joking with Epstein about his travels around the world.

In one message, he told Epstein that he was “taken to a North Korean restaurant in Beijing” that allegedly served steamed dogs’ legs.

The conversations often contained lewd messages and images, including one photo that appeared to show champagne being poured over a naked woman.

Mr Stern was contacted for comment.

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