"Near the beginning of " The Way We Live Now," Anthony Trollope's searing satire of high-society London in the eighteen-seventies, Madame Melmotte, the wife of Augustus Melmotte, a crooked parvenu financier who has burst onto the British social scene, hosts a ball at the couple's mansion in Grosvenor Square, Mayfair. Despite Melmotte's checkered past, many members of the London élite accept his invitation to the party, including many aristocrats, a newspaper editor, and Prince George, a member of the British Royal Family."
"Jeffrey Epstein was another financier with a fortune of opaque origin and a grand town house, that he used to entertain well-connected guests, including, notoriously, a member of the British Royal Family, the erstwhile Prince Andrew, who has been stripped of his official title. From 2008, when Epstein pleaded guilty in Florida to soliciting a minor for prostitution, he was a registered sex offender. Yet in the ensuing years, prominent people in business, finance, politics, and academia continued to associate with him."
A rarefied social world often privileges ostentatious wealth over moral scruples. Wealthy newcomers with opaque fortunes host lavish events that attract aristocrats, media figures, and royalty despite shady backgrounds. Jeffrey Epstein accumulated a fortune of uncertain origin and entertained well-connected guests, including a British royal. After pleading guilty in 2008 to soliciting a minor for prostitution, Epstein remained a registered sex offender, yet prominent figures in business, finance, politics, and academia continued to associate with him. Released correspondence and files reveal how money and connections frequently outweighed ethical qualms, even when many associates had no evidence of criminal involvement.
Read at The New Yorker
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