JEFFREY Epstein’s so-called “birthday book” has finally been released – and the contents are as twisted as the late paedo financier’s life.
The 238-page scrapbook, handed to Epstein in 2003 for his 50th, has been published by a US congressional panel alongside his will and infamous address book.
It is a grotesque mash-up of alleged tributes, bizarre notes and deeply creepy photos – with topless Ghislaine Maxwell, weird animal pornography and gushing messages from world figures all stuffed between the pages.
One of the biggest bombshells appears on page 108 – a photo of Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s long-time companion and co-conspirator, topless in a swimming pool.
In the snap, she is seen clinging onto Epstein and smiling, the pair looking carefree in the water.
The image has been described as chilling in hindsight, given Maxwell’s later conviction for grooming underage girls for Epstein.
What may have looked like a playful birthday keepsake now carries a far darker weight.
Things get even darker on page 115, where Epstein is shown allegedly acting out a murder plot.
Wearing tights pulled over his head like a makeshift mask, he strikes a pose alongside another man.
The bizarre photo has been interpreted as Epstein’s attempt at black humour – a macabre “joke” among his inner circle.
By page 128, the tone turns surreal.
Scribbled across the page is the line: “Was Jack the Ripper Jeffrey Epstein?”
The bizarre question is paired with references to author Patricia Cornwell’s decades-long work on unmasking the Victorian killer.
It’s unclear who wrote the line or whether it was meant as a joke, but the suggestion – however far-fetched – only deepens the eerie mythology that surrounded Epstein even before his death.
Britain’s Lord Peter Mandelson appears repeatedly throughout the book – with entries on pages 139, 144 and 145.
In one tribute, Mandelson calls Epstein “my best pal” and describes meeting his “interesting” friends.
Photographs alongside the messages show the Labour peer pictured with women whose faces are obscured, believed to be guests at Epstein’s parties.
Mandelson’s spokesperson has stressed he “very much regrets ever having been introduced” to Epstein and that this connection has long been a matter of public record.
Still, the warm words in the birthday book sit uneasily with his later attempts to distance himself.
Lord Peter Mandelson crops up in the book, appearing in photos with unnamed women[/caption]
Mandelson, wrapped in a robe, seen laughing with Epstein[/caption]
Mandelson and a pal grinning on a speedboat[/caption]
Perhaps the most unsettling section comes on page 155, where Epstein’s friends contributed cartoonish sketches.
One drawing shows him in 1983, handing balloons to a group of children.
On the facing side, Epstein is depicted in 2003, sprawled on a sunbed with bikini-clad women massaging his feet and shoulders.
The caption underneath reads: “What a great country!” – a message that now feels more grotesque than celebratory.
A page 207 message reads: ‘Can’t get a second of privacy with you and a camera around. Ha!’ — hinting at Epstein’s obsession with recording everything[/caption]
A surreal entry on page 128 asks: ‘Was Jack the Ripper Jeffrey Epstein?’ alongside a Vanity ‘Unfair’ cover mock-up[/caption]
Other drawings in the book reportedly include safari scenes of lions and zebras in sexual poses – bizarre and crude attempts at humour that seem deeply inappropriate for any kind of birthday album.
On page 207, a handwritten message by an unknown woman makes a subtle reference about the ever-present cameras in Epstein’s life.
“Visiting you down in Palm Beach… can’t get a second of privacy with you and a camera around. Ha!” the note reads.
The breezy tone suggests the writer was a friend poking fun at Epstein’s obsession with recording everything – a habit which later fuelled theories about him compiling blackmail material.
Among the strangest pages are a set of wildlife shots.
A lion looms over a lioness whose face is frozen in what looks like an oddly ecstatic moment, while a baboon is pictured on a branch with its mouth wide open, caught in a pose that seems uncomfortably suggestive
Towards the end of the book, pages 216 and 217 display sprawling photo collages – dozens of snaps showing Epstein on beaches, on boats, and with various women.
But most of the images have been heavily blacked out, leaving only fragments visible.
The release of the “birthday book” comes after the House Oversight Committee demanded documents from Epstein’s estate, including the scrapbook.
Chairman James Comer blasted Democrats for “cherry-picking” pages and politicising the material.
While the committee has stressed that those featured in the book are not accused of wrongdoing, the bizarre contents offer a disturbing window into Epstein’s world – part shrine, part blackmail archive, part schoolboy sick joke.
Two decades after his 50th birthday, the so-called “birthday book” still manages to shock.
