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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. Get all the latest news happening around the world as it happens — download the news.com.au app direct to your phone. 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 NY 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. There is no suggestion Ms Keating was aware of or participated in Epstein’s criminal activities or knew of his associates. Ms Keating was an adviser in Bob Carr’s NSW Labor government and ran an international consulting business before moving to New York with her sister Alexandra. She reportedly began dating millionaire US 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 oceans”. “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.
