Katherine Keating's Epstein connection - a lucky escape or just one of the gang?

| Katherine Keating & Epstein | Epstein & the Dalai Lama |

Prince Andrew waves goodbye to Katherine Keating, New York, 10 December 2010.

Content

1. Unsavory connections
2. Chronology
3. Media revelations
4. Lucky escape?
5. References

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Abstract: During 2010-2011 Katherine Keating, the 30 year old daughter of former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating, spent time in New York attempting to develop a career in media and event management. This briefly brought her into contact with noted pedophiles and abusers of women Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell, and Prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. For a short period Epstein made use of Keating and may have groomed this attractive young Australian with important contacts on the international stage, including United Nations connections. However, by the end of 2013 she had cut ties with both men, citing unspecific "persistence bordering on harassment" especially from Epstein's staff. She remained friendly with Ghislaine Maxwell through to 2014 when she interviewed her for The Huffington Post on an environmental initiative. Despite the release of the Epstein Files during 2025-2026, containing some 1,269 emails mentioning Katherine Keating, the precise facts of the association remain unclear. In light of this, it is more likely than not that, when her usefulness to the manipulator faded, Keating had a lucky escape from the Epstein dark circle of abusers, including Prince Andrew. The following article brings together known elements of the Keating : Epstein connection in order to provide an overview of the allegations made against her. In summary, in the present writer's opinion and misquoting investigator extraordinaire Frank Drebin, "There is nothing [much] to see here!"

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1. Unsavory connections

Prince Andrew, Katherine Keating and Jeffrey Epstein.

Geoffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell and Prince Andrew - three names attached to an infamous pedophile ring based in the United States but operating internationally, which sexually abused young women, and blackmailed international political and business related individuals. Into this web of iniquity was drawn the beautiful Katherine Keating, daughter of former Prime Minister Paul Keating. Also exposed, though to a lesser extent, was her young sister Anastasia.

The actions of Keating in regards to Epstein's circle between 2010-2014 became public following his death in August 2019. Since that period, and especially as a result of the release of the Epstein Files since October 2019, that exposure has increased. Keating has largely remained silent on what took place, and denied any involvement in the darker aspects of Epstein's activities. However, there is no doubt that her links to the man, and to Prince Andrew, were, for a period, close and perhaps even intimate. As such, the truth in regards to what she did and what she knew may never be revealed beyond what has been made public via second-hand accounts. 

In many ways the present writer, following a review of that public data, views Keating as both player and innocent victim. Player in the fact that she attempted to court and engage with a circle of individuals who were very much narcissistic and - whether she knew it or not - also abusive of vulnerable young people. As a 30 year old she was on the edge of that demographic and this may have been the reason why she perhaps escaped largely unscathed. Unfortunately many others did not. Read on, and develop your own conclusions....

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2. Chronology

To understand the circumstances surrounding the unlikely association between Katherine Keating and Jeffrey Epstein's circle, the following chronology is presented, outlining aspects of what has publically been revealed. It contains brief summaries and links to more fulsome media reports - some of which are reproduced below - and copies of emails from the Epstein Files. See also the References section herein.

1981

* September 1981 - Katherine Keating (KK) is born, daughter of Paul Keating and Anita van Iersal (b.1948). They were a couple from 1975 through to 1998. Their children are: Katherine, Patrick, Alexandra and Antonia. Paul Keating, a member of the Australian Labor Party, later becomes Prime Minister

2003

* Katherine Keating joins the staff of New South Wales Labor Premier Bob Carr whilst studying at the University of New South Wales. She eventually spends 3 1/2 years working for the Australian Labor Party.

2004

* Katherine Keating gives evidence at a New South Wales parliamentary inquiry.

2006+

* Katherine Keating sits on numerous humanitarian, community and business-related boards of management. Some of these are paying positions, however they cannot necessarily sustain a career, though they can be influential.

2010

* Katherine Keating moves to the United States to pursue a career in media and film. She pursues the development of influential contacts from her base in New York. This eventually brings her into contact with the circle of Jeffrey Epstein.

* Photograph: Alexandra Keating, Andre Balazs and Katherine Keating, New York, 2010. Photographer: Patrick McMullan.

* 6 December 2010 - Video of Katherine Keating leaving Jeffrey Epstein's New York apartment, with Prince Andrew seen behind the door as she leaves, saying goodbye. The footage was released by the English Mail on Sunday in 2019. It implies some sort of connection with the Prince, and this is reinforced by the content of numerous emails released during 2025-2026 at part of the Epstein Files.

Katherine Keating and Prince Andrew, Epstein's apartment, New York, 6  December 2010.

2011

* February 2011 - Katherine Keating and Andre Balazcs coordinate a dinner party at the Epstein apartment in New York, attended by, among others, Woody Allen and Bill Gates, Charlie Rose and Barbara Walters.

* 13 June 2011, Monday - Email from Lesley Groff, Epstein's schedule manager, to JE meant for KK, being a schedule of events on Wednesday 15th and Thursday 16th June 2011.

* 12.30pm 13 June 2011 - Email from KK to JE,in response to an earlier email seeking a meeting. Hi Jeffrey. I can Wed morning. I'm meeting with Sheike Fahad, the Crown Prince of Kuwait and then again at 6, for a reception at the UN. Are you around for lunch? Otherwise how are you placed on Thursday? Look forward to it. KK

* 12.36 am 28 October 2011, Friday - KK email to a group including Jeffrey Epstein (JE) re an article in an interview with Paul Keating.

    * 4.32 pm do. - JE responds to KK email. Are you here?

    * 4.33 pm do. - KK to JE. Yes. Just back from San Fran.

* 8.21 am 31 October 2011, Monday - KK to group, regarding a new book by Paul Keating. Signed Katherine X.

    * 10.50 am do. - JE to KK. Where are you?

    * do. - KK to JE. In New York, You?

    * 3.08 pm do - JE to KK. Send me your phone number.

2013

* 25 March 2013 - Katherine Keating appointed director of Matilda Capital Ltd., New York.

2014

* 11 July 2014 - Katherine Keating resigns as director of Matilda Capital Ltd., New York.

* 20 May 2014 - Katherine Keating contributes toThe Huffington Post and interviews Ghislaine Maxwell on her TerraMar environmental initiative. The interview is subsequently removed from YouTube. She also publishes the following brief article:

Katherine Keating,  ;One on One: Ghislaine Maxwell on Protecting the Blue Heart of the Planet, The Huffington Post, 20 May 2014. Text:

Ghislaine Maxwell is a British philanthropist and the founder of the TerraMar Project, a nonprofit organization dedicated to building a global community that will advocate for the world's oceans and high seas. The TerraMar Project encourages people to sign a pledge and become what Ghislaine terms an "ocean citizen," joining the world's first ocean community dedicated to giving a voice to the least talked about and most forgotten part of our planet. A passionate deep-sea diver, Ghislaine devotes considerable energy to raising awareness and focusing attention on the issues surrounding oceans. With less than 2 percent of the world's oceans being protected, Ghislaine encourages us to pay more attention to the ocean because it feeds the world's population, provides over half our oxygen and creates the planet's weather. But the ocean also faces huge challenges like overfishing, marine debris, ocean warming, ocean acidification, pollution and unsustainable development.

"The oceans have become the world's dumping ground," says Ghislaine. Literally, the world's largest landfill happens to be floating in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, or the Western and Eastern Pacific Garbage Patches, significant amounts of the world's plastic waste have been caught in currents and transported to these gyres.

Greenpeace reports that of the 200 billion pounds of plastic the world produces on an annual basis, 10 percent of it ends up in the ocean. The Eastern Garbage Patch floats between Hawaii and California, and scientists estimate its landmass to be twice the size of Texas. The Western Garbage Patch floats between Japan and Hawaii. These garbage patches are extremely hazardous, poisoning our oceans and killing off marine life. It's evident that international attention needs to be given to this man-made disaster.

One of Ghislaine's first priorities with the TerraMar Project is helping to create an ocean-specific Sustainable Development Goal at the United Nations in 2014. Between now and September, Ghislaine is campaigning for the international community and civil society at large to partner with the United Nations to support initiatives aimed at highlighting the important role of oceans. Oceans were not a part of the UN's Millennium Development Goals, but Ghislaine is campaigning to make sure that oceans are included in the Sustainable Development Goals, a move she says would make the ocean a priority and enable the creation of new laws and governance for the sustainability of the oceans and high seas. For more information on the development of the United Nations Sustainable Development goals visit: sustainabledevelopment.un.org Ghislaine believes there is no better or more important place for these issues to come to a head than the United Nations, but what has been lacking is a big movement from the global community. Through her work with the TerraMar Project, she's hoping to make that change.

2015

* Katherine Keating is hired by Brooklyn based Vice Media as a producer on Viceland.

2018

* November - KK becomes Chief Sustainability Officer at Maverick, a Beverly Hills entertainment-management company.

2019

* 26 May - Aleksandra Nedeljkovic, Katherine Keating: Driving Advocacy and Action, Matters, New York, 26 May 2019.

* 10 August 2019 - Jeffrey Epstein dies from a supposed suicide whilst in a New York jail. Following his death, Katherine Keating is subsequently pursued by international media regarding her links with Epstein and likely escapes to Australia.

* August 2019 - Mail on Sunday, London, publishes footage of Katherine Keating leaving Jeffrey Epstein's New York apartment on 10 December 2010, with Prince Andrew saying goodbye.

* 20 August - Andrew Hornery, Is Katherine Keating the mysterious brunette in the Epstein video?, Sydney Morning Herald, 20 August 2019.

* 22 August - Aaron Patrick, Inside the high altitude world of Katherine Keating, Australian Financial Review, 22 August 2019.

* 23 August - Andrew Hornery, How Katherine Keating blasted into billionaire paedophile Epstein's orbit, Sydney Morning Herald, 23 August 2019.

* 21 September - Andrew Hornery, Why Katherine Keating was visiting Jeffrey Epstein's mansion, Sydney Morning Herald, 21 September 2019.

2025

* The release of the Epstein Files by the US Congress, beginning late in 2025 and extending on into early 2026, reveals further information on Keating's involvement with the Epstein circle.

* 21 October - Kait Justice, The Keating email they forgot to redact: What one line reveals about Epstein's global network, Downwind of Truth with Kait Justice, 21 October 2025.

* 27 October - Iqra Kahlid, Prince Andrew's wild social parties with Jeffrey Epstein brought to light by prominent politician, The International News, 27 October 2025.

* 18 November - Shane Dowling, Paul Keating named in Epstein File emails between daughter Katherine Keating and Jeffrey Epstein, Kangaroo Court of Australia, 18 November 2025, YouTube, duration: 9.34 minutes.

* 12 December 2025 - KK lawyer Giles George to American journalist Kait Justice regarding her article on the Epstein connection. Refer Dowling 2026.

* Virginia Giuffre Roberts, Nobody's Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 2025.

2026

* 31 January - Michael Koziol, Keating speaks out on ‘unfortunate’ Epstein ties after emails exposed, Sydney Morning Herald, 31 January 2026.

* Jessica Gardner, Katherine Keating tapped for Andrew's image rehab, Epstein Files show, Australian Financial Review, 31 January 2026.

* 7 February - Kait Justice, Katherine Keating’s Lawyers Threatened Me With Legal Action Over My Epstein Reporting - Then I Found the Un-Redacted Email, Downwind of Truth with Kait Justice, 7 February 2026.

* 25 May - Shane Dowling, Epstein link legal threats by Katherine Keating and Kevin Rudd, Kangaroo Court of Australia, 25 May 2026, YouTube, duration: 10.14 minutes.

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3. Media revelations

A 2019 article pointed to issues which would cause Katherine Keating problems in the all too near future, and marks the commencement of media interest in her dealings with Epstein and his circle:

* Aaron Patrick, Inside the high altitude world of Katherine Keating, Australian Financial Review, 22 August 2019. Transcript:

For the daughter of the Labor Party's most prominent republican, Katherine Keating was remarkably chummy with the British royal family. In a development that has added yet another strange twist to the sordid tale of serial sexual exploiter Jeffrey Epstein, Paul Keating's eldest daughter was apparently videotaped emerging from the infamous Epstein mansion in New York with a friendly wave to Prince Andrew nine years ago. Epstein was a convicted child sex offender at the time. Ms Keating was 29. The Keatings haven't confirmed if the brunette with the beauty spot was the Sydney-raised ex-political adviser on the cusp of Manhattan celebrity society. The silence from the media-savvy family would appear to be confirmation though, corroborated by a clear Daily Mail-obtained photograph showing the ex-prime minister's daughter standing on a nearby street corner a few minutes later. The story, which was quickly followed by the New York Post, New York Daily News and British Daily Telegraph, marked a big step up in Keating's global profile, although perhaps not in the way preferred by a woman who combines an ostentatious interest in nuclear proliferation, the oceans and Nelson Mandela with fashion and connections to the people who populate People magazine. While fond of citing Gloria Steinem, (who said: "There are really not many jobs that actually require a penis or a vagina") and the World Economic Forum Gender Gap Index, Keating likes to celebrate female sexuality, including her own.

"Sometimes we need to remind ourselves that we are feminine, beautiful creatures," she posted on social media in March. "Yes, we live in a male-dominated world, but it's our strength and femininity, which distinguishes us."

An awkward connection

For a woman who wants to be seen as smart, noble and sexy, associating, however indirectly, with a man described by New York Magazine as a serial rapist and paedophile is awkward. How Keating came to be connected to what looks like the world's most famous sex ring - and Keating is entitled to the assumption that she did nothing wrong, morally or legally - might be explained by the heady and often exploitative world open to the youngish children of the rich, famous or venerated. As a confident, sassy Australian in a city that celebrates political connections, Keating charged into New York around 2010. She met Princess Eugenie (Prince Andrew's pink-faced daughter), Sting's oldest daughter, Mickey Sumner, and fashion designer Misha Nonoo (her real name and label), who is reported to have set up a blind date between Prince Harry and actress Meghan Markle.

Keating's entree into this elite world appears to have been an older boyfriend, Andre Balazs, whose ownership of Los Angeles' Chateau Marmont hotel made him a kind of landlord of celebrity debauchery. Balazs escorted the woman accused of facilitating Epstein's exploitation of girls, Ghislaine Maxwell, around New York while Epstein was residing part-time in a Florida prison for paying for sex with a minor. The cosy prosecution deal, which ignored more serious allegations, eventually cost the prosecutor his job, but only after he had risen to become Donald Trump's Secretary of Labor. Allegations against Epstein date to 2005, when a 14-year-old girl and her parents claimed the girl was molested at a mansion in Palm Beach, Florida, according to the Miami Herald. The paper identified 80 women who claim they were molested or sexually abused by the financier.

A serial rapist and paedophile

Epstein had a list of social contacts encompassing Donald Trump, Alan Dershowitz and Bill Clinton. The breadth of his circle is now known because the defunct Gawker gossip site published his contact book in 2015. Among the names of young women and powerful men listed was Balazs, Keating's boyfriend. Above all, though, Prince Andrew appeared to be Epstein and Maxwell's prized relationship. He flew on private jets with them, holidayed with them, and met the young women who populated Epstein's homes. The prince's presence in their orbit - and his relationship with Keating - is proving to be unexplained and excruciatingly uncomfortable.

American Virginia Roberts claims she had sex with the royal when she was 17. A now-famous photograph shows the prince with his arm around Roberts' slim, adolescent waist. Maxwell grins in the background. Roberts, who married an Australian and lived on the New South Wales coast for a while, declared in a legal filing that she had sex with Andrew in the New York townhouse that Keating was apparently videotaped leaving a few years later. The allegation was sealed by a court. Epstein killed himself the day after it became public on August 9. Buckingham Palace issued a flat denial: "It is emphatically denied that the Duke of York had any form of sexual contact or relationship with Virginia Roberts."

Few jobs, lots of boards

Keating's connection to Prince Andrew is a mystery. In 2010 she didn't have a full-time job, according to her detailed LinkedIn profile, and reportedly had moved to New York to be with Balazs, who is about 25 years older. A figure on the Sydney social scene, she didn't have a lot of professional experience or substantial qualifications. In 2003, while she was still studying for an arts degree at the University of New South Wales (politics, of course), Premier Bob Carr agreed to put her on his personal staff. She lasted 13 months in Carr's office, and 3½ years as an adviser in the Labor government. Her professional life then became a series of charity boards where the family name added a touch of glamour: the Sydney Cancer Foundation, the SAD Kids Foundation, the Young Garvan Committee and the National Institute for Dramatic Arts. It would take a decade to start regular employment again. In 2015 she was hired as a producer on Viceland, a television channel owned by Vice Media, a hip Brooklyn start-up.

Despite her modest career achievements, Keating was an international-standard networker. During her years in New York she would rack up more board seats: the Performance Committee of the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Ambassadors' Council of the International Crisis Group (which was run by an ex-minister in her father's government, Gareth Evans), and an Advisory Committee for the Global Poverty Project, which was set up by two young Australians. She went with the group to Johannesburg to honour Nelson Mandela, and visited his house. She judged a prestigious environmental-technology prize, appeared on a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland with venture capitalist and Power Ledger promoter Bill Tai, became an assistant producer on a Churchill biopic, The Darkest Hour, went to Los Angeles for the Oscars and to Utah for the Sundance Film Festival. She mixed with global leaders at the United Nations in New York.

"Once a year I put on a suit, head uptown for UNGA [United Nations General Assembly] and pretend I still work in politics," she wrote last September [2018]. "I enjoyed spending the afternoon in the company of [French President Emmanuel] Macron and several other world leaders."

Sharing her success

Like other members of her generation, Keating unselfconsciously shares her glamorous life with the world on social media. Her Twitter feed freely name drops, from "my friend" Malcolm Turnbull to "a very special evening with the Mandela family". Others who score a mention include her father, on his birthday, actor Hugh Jackman and Paul Polman, the former chief executive of Unilever. A new portrait of Prince Charles received a "bravo". Last year, though, she seemed to tire of New York, a city that had embraced her. In November [2018] she became the "chief sustainability officer" at Maverick, a Beverly Hills entertainment-management company. Her responsibilities are unclear, although she recently thanked Hugh Jackman for promoting an upcoming Australian tour by U2, one of the firm's clients, at a live performance.

Katherine Keating, who courted publicity, has now disappeared. Her current whereabouts are unclear. She hasn't tweeted in three weeks and her Instagram account appears to have been erased. Reporters waiting outside younger sister Alex's home in Los Angeles caught her leaving with two men, a couple of suitcases and a small dog. Asked to comment on her sister's visit to Epstein's house, the Mail reported she shook her head and said: "I'm not Katherine." A call to Maverick, which also represents Paul McCartney, Madonna and Britney Spears, went through to voicemail on Wednesday. Keating didn't respond to a message sent to her LinkedIn account. With Keating now being pursued by the global media, she has a life-defining decision to make: disavow Epstein and share anything she saw; or keep quiet and wait for the maelstrom to pass. The latter approach might be known as the Lewinsky option. The former could provide the world with an insight into the intersection of power, money and sex - a story Gloria Steinem might be proud of.

It would appear, in hindsight, that Keating followed / follows the Lewinsky option and keeps here 2010-2011 activities very much private. Six years later, as the US began to release the Epstein Files, a brief summary of the unlikely association with Epstein was contained in the following article from 2025:

* David Wu, Daughter of ex PM confirms she was invited to dinner by Prince Andrew as Epstein email emerges, news.com.au, 25 October 2025.

The socialite daughter of former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating has broken her silence on her links to convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein for the first time. Katherine Keating’s name was brought up during a creepy email exchange between Epstein and disgraced royal Prince Andrew in 2011 when she was 29 years old.

“Would you ask Katherine Keating if she would like to come for dinner with Woody Allen next week in New York?” Epstein said in the email to Andrew.

“Will do,” the disgraced prince, who gave up his Duke of York title this month, replied.

Two days later, Prince Andrew said he was “on the Keating case”.

“What will you do tomorrow? Sorry I cannot be there as you get older,” Epstein wrote in an email two days later on the eve of Andrew’s 51st birthday.

The exchange emerged as part of the Epstein Files, which are currently being reviewed by the US Congress.

Ms Keating – the eldest daughter of Paul Keating, the prime minister of Australia between 1991 to 1996 – confirmed she had attended Epstein’s dinner.

“I did attend a February dinner at Andrew's invitation — a large social event,” the now 44-year-old told The Mail on Sunday.

She also said a “sizeable chunk of New York society were also there, naming American journalists and TV hosts Barbara Walters, Charlie Rose and Katie Couric.”

“At the time, I had only lived in New York about ten weeks, and was happy to accept the odd social invitation,” Ms Keating added.

Ms Keating was an adviser in Bob Carr’s New South Wales Labor government and ran an international consulting business before moving to New York with her sister Alexandra. She reportedly began dating millionaire United States hotel kingpin Andrew Balazs, who was 24 years her senior, and found herself part of Manhattan’s high society social circles. Ms Keating previously worked at youth media and broadcasting company VICE as a host and producer, and as publisher of its philanthropic and advocacy arm Vice Impact. She also hosted a YouTube interview series for The Huffington Post called One On One, which in 2014 featured Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s former girlfriend who helped him procure underage “sex slaves”. In the accompanying article written by Ms Keating for The Huffington Post website, she describes Maxwell as a “passionate deep-sea diver” who “devotes considerable energy to raising awareness and focusing attention on the issues surrounding ocean. Ghislaine Maxwell is a British philanthropist and the founder of the TerraMar Project, a non-profit organisation dedicated to building a global community that will advocate for the world’s oceans and high seas,” Ms Keating wrote. “Ghislaine believes there is no better or more important place for these issues to come to a head than the United Nations, but what has been lacking is a big movement from the global community.”

Maxwell was convicted of helping Epstein sexually abuse teenage girls and sentenced to 20 years prison time in 2021. Epstein died on August 10, 2019, inside a New York jail from reported suicide.

A later article, drawing on material released as part of the American Epstein Files, was Michael Koziol's Keating speaks out on ‘unfortunate’ Epstein ties after emails exposed, Sydney Morning Herald, 31 January 2026. The transcript reads as follows:

Washington: Katherine Keating, daughter of former Prime Minister Paul Keating, has spoken out about her “unfortunate” friendship with Jeffrey Epstein after a long trail of emails between her and the convicted sex offender featured in the latest release of documents by the US Department of Justice. The documents show how Keating maintained a social relationship with Epstein for several years in the early 2010s, regularly arranging to visit his New York mansion and seeking his career advice as she tried to build a career in the American television industry. Keating told this masthead that she was initially interested in Epstein’s connections with prominent business figures, but that Epstein – and especially his staff – contacted her with “persistence bordering on harassment”, leading her to eventually sever contact.

“The rest of the trail of inconsequential emails from Epstein simply go to Epstein’s manic interest in following up any person whom he met or crossed paths with,” Keating said. “This is why there are so many emails in the administration’s release of them.”

Epstein was convicted of child sex offences in Florida in 2008 and was awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges when he was found dead in jail in 2019. There is no suggestion Keating was involved in, or had any knowledge of, improper activity by Epstein that later came to light.

How Epstein and Andrew drew a PM’s daughter into a swamp

Keating’s involvement with Epstein has been detailed before. Last year she acknowledged attending an event at Epstein’s mansion in February 2011 after being invited by Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, then known as Prince Andrew. She was also filmed leaving Epstein’s house in December 2010. But the new emails suggest their relationship was closer than previously known, and reveal how Epstein became a mentor to Keating, then in her late 20s. In one encounter in April 2011, Keating suggested inviting her younger sister Alexandra to a dinner Epstein was organising with film director Woody Allen, after Epstein told her that “Woody likes pretty women”.

“I could invite my sister. 25, very cool and sharp as a tack,” Keating suggested. “Great,” Epstein replied. Keating told him she was looking forward to the dinner and that Alexandra would attend. They made plans to meet on many occasions over the next two years, and Epstein invited her to events such as film premieres. Keating included Epstein on a list of “friends” she emailed about a new book, After Words – a collection of her father’s speeches – promising to send them a copy.

Epstein became a mentor to Keating. In May 2011, a few days after the pair met again at Epstein’s home, she emailed him to detail a lunch with “Charlie” at his property in upstate New York – likely to be the American journalist and broadcaster Charlie Rose. Keating and Rose met at the February 2011 dinner party with Epstein and Prince Andrew. She said “Charlie” had offered her a job as business development manager but it would be unpaid. “He concluded by saying that he wants to work with me but it was a ‘reap what you sow’ opportunity,” she said.

By November 2011, Keating was still struggling to gain work. She told Epstein she met with three TV producers, including some from The Colbert Report and The Daily Show, and had meetings scheduled with the president of Hearst, as well as Google and the Creative Artists Agency.

“Seeing Clinton for dinner on Wednesday night. YouTube Thursday,” Keating emailed. “I’m doing all I can with the resources I have at hand.”

Epstein asked if Keating had called “Soros” - likely to be billionaire investor George Soros or a member of his family - but Keating said she had been unable to obtain his number.

“I want to know what changes you have to make to get this show on the road,” Epstein wrote. “This has gone on too long. You have seen many many potential buyers of your product and no one is buying. I think the sales pitch or and the product need to be tweaked.”

The financier urged Keating to practise “active listening” and to stop taking notes in meetings. “I fear that you appear to have a lot to say and are wholly focused on saying it,” he said.

Epstein fallout

Keating’s note-taking was a serial irritant for Epstein. On another occasion he emailed financial power broker Ian Osborne: “I’m not sure why Katherine Keating was sitting taking notes when she was at my house, but you might be able to use her in Austrailia. remind me later.”

At another point, Epstein reassured Keating that it could be difficult to make it in New York. “There are so many things flying at you from all directions that it takes great discipline to focus, on one,” he wrote. “Pull the trigger, and if it doesn’t work move to the next.”

In her statement to this masthead, Keating stressed she had never visited Epstein’s private island, never been on his plane, never had an inappropriate interaction with him or his associates, never witnessed any inappropriate behaviour and had no knowledge of the criminal conduct that has come to light since their contact ended. She also said she never dealt with Epstein’s associate and former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for conspiring with him to abuse girls. “I met Maxwell several years later at a sponsored event and never discussed Epstein with her,” Keating said.

“The only unfortunate thing about my first few months in America in 2010 was that Andrew Mountbatten[-Windsor] invited me to the home of Epstein for an afternoon tea and dinner party, and two months later passed across to Epstein my contact details. Were this not to have happened I would have had no contact with Epstein whatsoever.

“Having just arrived in New York and being invited to a dinner party by Andrew, populated by leading media and business figures, was of course of interest to me.

“Any follow-up contact, including emails with him or his staff, was simply viewed by me as an opportunity to meet reputable and major leaders of American business, to open career opportunities of a kind I would have not otherwise have had. I had absolutely no other reason to have anything to do with Epstein.”

Another article from the same date adds additional information regarding Katherine Keating's activities in New York during 2010-2011 and her association with Prince Andrew.

Jessica Gardner, Katherine Keating tapped for Andrew's image rehab, Epstein Files show, Australian Financial Review, 31 January 2026. Transcript:

Washington: Katherine Keating, the daughter of former prime minister Paul Keating, appears to have been enlisted to paint former British royal Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor in a positive light to a journalist, according to newly released files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Hundreds of emails between Keating and Epstein, or his assistants, released on Friday (Saturday AEDT), shed new light on the pair’s friendship and suggest they socialised regularly between 2010 and 2013. In that period, the late disgraced financier had already served 13 months in prison after being convicted of child sex charges in 2008. In a March 2011 email, publicist Peggy Siegal asked Epstein for Keating’s email ahead of a meeting she would attend with the Vanity Fair writer Edward Klein, where she would say “great things about Andrew”.

“She knows him [Andrew] well and wants to make sure Ed writes positive things,” Siegal wrote. “I will let her do all the talking.”

There is no mention of Keating in the feature article The Trouble with Andrew, published in August 2011, which catalogued how the former prince’s “dissolute lifestyle, links to unsavoury foreign potentates, and friendship with the American registered sex offender Jeffrey Epstein are undercutting the Queen’s efforts to rehabilitate the monarchy”.

Still, the new emails linking Keating to the disgraced royal, and detailing the creation of plans for regular lunches, films and attendance at events with Epstein will revive scrutiny of her role in both men’s lives. Her links to both have been subject to much speculation since a video emerged in 2019 of Andrew farewelling Keating as she left a February 2011 dinner party at Epstein’s New York home. Other emails, first reported by The Australian, also reveal she offered to bring her younger sister to a lunch with Epstein and Woody Allen, after the convicted sex offender told her the film director likes pretty women. Keating has been contacted for comment.

In an emailed statement, Keating said her correspondence with Epstein and his staff reflected her interest in meeting “reputable and major leaders of American business, to open career opportunities of a kind I would have not otherwise have had. I had absolutely no other reason to have anything to do with Epstein.”

She called it “unfortunate” that she first crossed paths with Epstein in late 2010 at an afternoon tea and dinner party at his house, where she was invited by Mountbatten-Windsor, and who passed on her contact details to him two months later.

“Were this not to have happened I would have had no contact with Epstein whatsoever,” Keating said, adding “the rest of the trail of inconsequential emails from Epstein, simply go to Epstein’s manic interest in following up any person whom he met or crossed paths with. This is why there are so many emails in the administration’s release of them. What followed however was a period of what could be termed as persistence bordering on harassment. Especially by his staff. And I reached a point of severing all contact. To be unequivocal: I never visited Epstein’s island, never flew on his plane, never had any inappropriate interaction with him or anyone he introduced me to, never witnessed inappropriate behaviour, and had absolutely no knowledge of the criminal conduct that has since come to light.”

Keating did not address the meeting with Vanity Fair’s Klein.

The emails were among a cache of 3 million documents released as part of ongoing releases tied to the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which US President Donald Trump signed into law in November. Trump had labelled the push a Democratic “hoax”, but backed down amid a backlash from voters hungry for information that would expose the network of elites that orbited Epstein and his co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell. Epstein and Maxwell lured underage girls to Epstein’s private island, where they were paid to have sex and give erotic massages. Epstein died by suicide in a Manhattan jail while awaiting trial in 2019. Maxwell is in prison for her role in the sordid affair.

In an email exchange in late April 2011, Keating, then aged 29, suggested that she could bring her younger sister Alexandra to a New York dinner party with Epstein and the film director Allen.

“I could invite my sister, 25, very cool and sharp as a tack,” she wrote in response to an Epstein email noting that “woody likes pretty women”.

A later reply from Epstein suggested the pair should arrive at 7pm and the party would move to the apartment of fashion designer Vera Wang afterwards. In a May 2011 email from Epstein, in his characteristic bullet-point style that did not extend to sentences, he appeared to inquire about Australian iron ore magnate Andrew Forrest.

“andrew forrest australian iron ore,” he wrote.

Keating replied that Forrest was a friend of hers. “Spent a week in Dubai with him last year. Why do you ask?”

Epstein replied that a friend of his at the investment bank JP Morgan had reported that Forrest was “great”.

Keating then asked if Jes, likely referring to the former Barclays Bank CEO Jes Staley, got in touch with her brother Patrick, who at the time was working at investment bank UBS.

Epstein replied: “didn’t have time”

The Daily Mail in January reported that Katherine Keating forwarded her brother Patrick’s work email address to Epstein in May 2011. Epstein then told Staley: “The son of the former prime minister will take you for fun, I will send you his details.”

Patrick Keating told The Daily Mail when the email was unearthed that he had never had any dealings with Epstein or Staley.

Keating also included Epstein in a bulk email to her contacts sent in October 2011 promoting her father Paul Keating’s new book ‘After Words’. Other links between Keating and Epstein and Maxwell have been apparent for some time. Around 2010, she was said to be dating prominent hotelier Andrew Balazs, who was considered an associate of Epstein’s. In May 2014 she interviewed Maxwell about her philanthropy and environmental advocacy for online news website The Huffington Post.

Keating said in her statement that she never had dealings with Epstein or Maxwell. ”I met Maxwell several years later at a sponsored event and never discussed Epstein with her.”

In October 2025, Keating broke her silence about the video of her leaving Epstein’s house in an article in Britain’s The Mail on Sunday. She said it was a large social event and she went at the invitation of Prince Andrew, now stripped of his title over his associations with Epstein. In the video Andrew could be seen waving goodbye to Keating.

“A sizeable chunk of NY society was there, including [American TV journalists] Barbara Walters, Charlie Rose and Katie Couric,” she said.

“At the time, I had only lived in NY about 10 weeks, and was happy to accept the odd social nvitation.”

Other emails show Epstein acted as a mentor to Keating as she tried to gain work in New York in the television industry. In a November 2011 email he urged her to be “a good listener” in meetings and to stop taking notes. In her frustrated reply, she lamented the slow progress, noting she had met with three television producers that day, including for late night comedy shows The Colbert Report and the Daily Show.

“I can assure you that all I’m doing is listening. The NOTE taking is proof of that,” she wrote. “I’m doing all I can with the resources I have at hand.”

The tranche of documents released on Friday revealed that Epstein drafted notes to and about Bill Gates, the billionaire co-founder of Microsoft, suggesting that he engaged in extramarital sex. Earlier document releases highlighted Epstein’s links to powerful people, including Trump himself, former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers, former president Bill Clinton and new age guru Deepak Chopra. Although none of those people have been accused of any wrongdoing.

It would seem from these four reports that the relatively innocent young Australian worked on a number of occasions with, and perhaps for, Jeffrey Epstein, but he eventually tired of her, and she failed to secure any permanent position arising out of a friendship with him. Did he abuse her in any way? No evidence for this has come to light? Was there any intimacy between the two? Once again, there is no evidence, only conjecture. And what of Prince Andrew? Once again, no specific evidence. Arising out of the content of some of the emails that have come to light as part of the Epstein Files releases, an intimate connection with both Epstein and the Prince is possible, but in such a case it would seem that the hyper-sexual men would have simply used the young Australian to service their insatiable sexual appetites for young women, and perhaps the 30 year old Katherine Keating was just too old for their liking. The late Virginia Giuffre can attest to that, as outlined in her memoir Nobody's Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice.

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3. Lucky escape

Jeffrey Epstein has been called many things - and rightly so - but Katherine Keating's statement .... is close to the mark in revealing the psychopathic nature of his social and manipulative engagement with an wide cross-section of individuals which he and his minders saw as useful in a variety of ways. His association with security services such as Mossad and the CIA; his unlimited access to financial resources through the support the Rothschild family; and his personal narcissism combined to make him a danger to many, and a mystery to all. Katherine Keating probably considers herself lucky to have escaped from his net. In a May 2019 interview with American business journal Matters, published just prior to the Daily Mail exposure of her connection with Jeffrey Epstein three months later, Keating reveals the success she attained since 2011 (Nedeljkovic 2019):

Katherine Keating: Driving Advocacy and Action

As an Oscar-winning producer, global activist, member of the Mandela Advisory Committee and former publisher of VICE Impact, Katherine Keating is an advocacy powerhouse. Before Katherine joined Maverick Management as its Chief Sustainability and Strategy Officer in November 2018, we spoke to her about her work at VICE and the end of corporate social responsibility as we know it.

Aleksandra Nedeljkovic: For those readers who may not be aware of all your work to date, can you give us some background on your time in the advocacy space, and how you became involved with VICE?

Katherine Keating: I’ve been involved with policy and media for 15 years now. I started my career working for the New South Wales Government, and since then have sustained a career working with businesses, not-for-profits, policy think tanks and media organisations. My experience in government and the nonprofit sector has taught me that you can't steer meaningful change if there is no communication between policy-makers trying to push legislation, traditional media reporting on the issues, and foundations and grassroots organisations trying to advocate for their cause. Which is what led me to VICE. I recognised VICE as a media company that was prepared to challenge the status quo and they afforded me the opportunity to build an impact platform that could bring these worlds of influence together.

AN: You’re known for wanting to influence policy outside of the political system, and in this instance you’ve chosen publishing as your medium. What is your vision for VICE Impact?

KK: I gravitated towards VICE because of their audience base, their global reach and their extraordinary storytelling. I believe they’re a global leader in exploring and covering the most prominent social and political movements of my generation. With VICE Impact, we have built a platform grounded in VICE’s content which we have married with policy and advocacy expertise, to develop both content and campaigns that call on our audience to take action. With VICE’s global reach and influence, I believe we are uniquely positioned to become one of the leading strategic impact media platforms in the world.

AN: Content platforms play a critical role in spreading the good word, but their impact often stops at education and awareness. When VICE Impact launched, I was excited by its powerful combination of words and actions. How does the model work, and how do you measure success?

KK: It’s important to distinguish between the world of objective journalism versus subjective and opinion driven calls to action. What I think has changed in recent years is that media companies feel a responsibility to move beyond education and awareness, to democratise issues and promote actions and efforts that will drive change. And audiences are now asking how they can get involved. They don’t want to simply be moved by content they consume passively, they genuinely want to know what they can do about it. To that end, VICE Impact will spearhead and feature campaigns that give our audience the opportunity to take action on the content they read and watch on our platform. Wary of the complexity of the issues we are tackling, we are forging partnerships with respected NGOs, local organisations, foundations, activists, and companies to conceive and roll out these campaigns. Through this process, we hope to advance the role that companies and organisations should and can play in driving change via our platform. And we will quantify our success by running our efforts against measurable and transparent KPIs.

AN: What issues are most important to you personally?

KK: It may sound trite but I’m a staunch advocate for intersectionality, so I champion all development issues with the same intensity, similar to the the UN Global Goals. You can’t tackle farmer’s rights if you’re not looking at climate change. You can’t dive into income inequality without looking at women empowerment. You can’t look at global health without looking at racial discrimination. And you can’t look at poverty alleviation without examining education policy. But on a personal note, I will say that the two issues I have always thought were paramount were voter participation and climate change. As individuals we need to partake in the political process and we have to become more conscious consumers.

AN: More civic-minded, millennials have ample avenues to share their views, unite with like-minded people and push the needle on issues they care about. Your work focuses on the younger generations. How do you think they’re changing the economic and political landscape?

KK: Millennials, generally speaking, are changing the political landscape by being less affiliated with political parties and movements and more involved in grassroots activism. They are the first generation in the last decades that is fundamentally questioning our growth and consumption models, prompting politicians and policy-makers to introduce bold ideas and reforms such as universal income. They are changing the economic landscape because they don’t regard and hold for-profit companies to account in the same way as their parents did. Their parents wanted good branding for good, cool and safe products. Millennials are looking into supply chains, environmental footprint, labour rights, etc. And it’s no coincidence that major brands and corporations have adapted their sustainability commitments and practices to meet these demands. And that includes more transparency, tracking methods and so on.

AN: Traditionally, corporate social responsibility (CSR) has been used to offset a company’s negative impact. How can we get companies to build purpose into their DNA, and consider their impact from the outset? Do you think we’re seeing the death of tokenism?

KK: Linked to your previous question, an increasingly significant portion of their consumer base want, or should I say expect, to see businesses that have placed environmental and social impact at the heart of their business strategies. It’s no longer about CSR, this is CEO-led growth and brand strategy. In my opinion, the days of CSR where spend is abstracted from the consumer are over.

AN: What do you think is the single most important issue today and where do you think there is the opportunity for the greatest change?

KK: The platform’s overarching focus is climate change and global sustainability. The exhaustion of our planet's resources combined with surging wealth inequality and declining productivity inspired VICE Impact's documentary feature 'The Third Industrial Revolution', which outlines social and economic theorist Jeremy Rifkin's vision for a more sustainable economic and environmental future. We recognise that sustainable solutions can't be built without collaboration across industries, but that we all must play our part in building a more sustainable future. Companies must play their part, but consumers are key to shifting the narrative and it starts with the desire for change.

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4. References

Dowling, Shane, Paul Keating named in Epstein File emails between daughter Katherine Keating and Jeffrey Epstein, Kangaroo Court of Australia, 18 November 2025, YouTube, duration: 9.34 minutes.

-----, Epstein link legal threats by Katherine Keating and Kevin Rudd, Kangaroo Court of Australia, 25 May 2026, YouTube, duration: 10.14 minutes.

Gardner, Jessica, Katherine Keating tapped for Andrew's image rehab, Epstein Files show, Australian Financial Review, 31 January 2026.

Giuffre Roberts, Virginia, Nobody's Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 2025.

Hornery, Andrew, Is Katherine Keating the mysterious brunette in the Epstein video?, Sydney Morning Herald, 20 August 2019.

-----, How Katherine Keating blasted into billionaire paedophile Epstein's orbit, Sydney Morning Herald, 23 August 2019.

-----, Why Katherine Keating was visiting Jeffrey Epstein's mansion, Sydney Morning Herald, 21 September 2019.

Justice, Kait, The Keating email they forgot to redact: What one line reveals about Epstein's global network, Downwind of Truth with Kait Justice, 21 October 2025.

-----, Katherine Keating’s Lawyers Threatened Me With Legal Action Over My Epstein Reporting - Then I Found the Un-Redacted Email, Downwind of Truth with Kait Justice, 7 February 2026.

Kahlid, Iqra, Prince Andrew's wild social parties with Jeffrey Epstein brought to light by prominent politician, The International News, 27 October 2025.

Katherine Keating [profile], HuffPost, The Huffington Post, New York, accessed 14 July 2026.

Keating, Katherine, One on One: Ghislaine Maxwell on Protecting the Blue Heart of the Planet, The Huffington Post, 20 May 2014.

Koziol, Michael, Keating speaks out on ‘unfortunate’ Epstein ties after emails exposed, Sydney Morning Herald, 31 January 2026.

Nedeljkovic, Aleksandra, Katherine Keating: Driving Advocacy and Action, Matters, New York, 26 May 2019.

Patrick, Aaron, Inside the high altitude world of Katherine Keating, Australian Financial Review, 22 August 2019.

Wikipedia, Ghislaine Maxwell, Wikipedia, accessed 14 July 2026.

-----, Jeffrey Epstein, Wikipedia, accessed 14 July 2026.

-----, Virginia Giuffre, Wikipedia, accessed 15 July 2026.

Wu, David, Daughter of ex PM confirms she was invited to dinner by Prince Andrew as Epstein email emerges, news.com.au, 25 October 2025.

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| Katherine Keating & Epstein | Epstein & the Dalai Lama |

Last updated: 17 July 2026

Michael Organ, Australia