Prince Andrew 'lobbied the US government to go easy on Jeffrey Epstein': Palace denies claims royal tried to use his influence to help billionaire paedophile during 2008 police probe
- Jeffrey Epstein was jailed for soliciting girls for underage prostitution
- Woman said she was 'forced' to have sex with Prince Andrew at parties
- Her lawyers claim he lobbied US government against Epstein's prosecution
- Alan Dershowitz, also named in paper, claims they are 'made-up stories'
- The royal issued a strong denial of ALL the 'categorically untrue' claims
- Alleged victim hit back by saying she would not be 'bullied into silence'
- 'She was told to give the prince whatever he demanded by Epstein'
A Buckingham Palace spokesman has denied claims Prince Andrew lobbied the US government against the prosecution of his long-term friend Jeffrey Epstein - the US billionaire paedophile.
The allegation comes as court papers emerged which also sensationally claim the royal abused an underage girl at an orgy where she was being used as a 'sex slave'.
Epstein was one of the best-connected men in America until he was jailed for 13 months in 2008 for soliciting girls for underage prostitution.
Scroll down for video
'Met three times': Prince Andrew with 17-year-old Virginia Roberts, centre, and Ghislaine Maxwell in 2001
The prince stayed friends with him despite his conviction and they were seen together in 2011 after Epstein’s release from jail.
Documents claim the prince tried to use his influence to help Epstein during the police probe and demands the American government be ordered by the court to hand over correspondence.
The women’s lawyers say it will show Prince Andrew and Harvard Law School expert Alan Dershowitz lobbied against Epstein being prosecuted.
The order they want the court to grant are ‘documents regarding Epstein’s lobbying efforts to persuade the Government to give him a more favorable plea arrangement and/or non-prosecution agreement, including efforts on his behalf by Prince Andrew and former Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz’.
Last night the prince issued a strongly-worded denial, with Buckingham Palace saying ‘any suggestion of impropriety with underage minors is categorically untrue’.
The spokesman said that the statement also applied to the allegation that Prince Andrew lobbied the US government.
But his alleged victim immediately hit back by saying she would not be ‘bullied into silence by aggressive attacks’.
While Dershowitz today said all the claims against him were part of a pattern of 'made-up stories' by the woman against prominent people.
Andrew and the under-age 'sex slave': Duke denies claim in... 
Maxwell's daughter the 'high-class madame': Court papers say... 
The Prince and the paedophile: How Andrew enjoyed sensual... 
'I will not be bullied into silence': Woman who claims... Share this article
201 shares
He said that he would not rest until he had shown that the claims regarding his conduct were false and he advised the Duke to do everything in his power to clear his name.
'My only feeling is, if she's lied about me, which I know to an absolute certainty she has, she should not be believed about anyone else,' he told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.
'We know she's lied about other public figures including a former prime minister and others who she claims to have participated in sexual activities with, so I think it must be presumed all her allegations against Prince Andrew were false as well.
'You cannot allow these allegations to hang above you. The first question you have to ask yourself when you are charged with a crime like this is "Is there any conceivable possibility you did it?" and if the answer to that is "no", you have to fight back with every resource and ounce of energy available to you.
The woman – named only as Jane Doe #3 but said to be 30-year-old Virginia Roberts – says in court documents she was told to ‘give the prince whatever he demanded’ by Epstein.
Part of the court document filed, pictured above, demanding the American government be ordered by the federal court to hand over correspondence which the women’s lawyers claim will show Prince Andrew and Dershowitz lobbied against Epstein being prosecuted
She claimed she and other underage girls were ‘procured for sexual activities’ by Ghislaine Maxwell, the socialite daughter of crooked tycoon Robert Maxwell.
Miss Maxwell is alleged to have facilitated the prince’s ‘abuse’ of the girl, after helping Epstein to convert her ‘into what is commonly referred to as a sex slave’.
Miss Maxwell is described as a madam and ‘a primary co-conspirator in [Epstein’s] sexual abuse and sex trafficking scheme’.
A spokesperson for Miss Maxwell has reportedly strongly denied the allegations, and she has previously made clear that Epstein's crimes were committed long before she had dealings with him.
Legal documents lodged with a court in Florida name Andrew, 54, as one of three men allegedly involved in abusing the woman 13 years ago when she was 17 – which is underage in Florida state law.
The bombshell papers state: ‘One such powerful individual Epstein forced [her] to have sexual relations with was a member of the British Royal Family, Prince Andrew, aka Duke of York.’
The claim names three locations, saying one involved an orgy with numerous underaged girls. It alleges: ‘Epstein instructed Jane Doe #3 that she was to give the prince whatever he demanded and required Jane Doe #3 to report back to him on the details of the sexual abuse.’
Last night a Buckingham Palace spokesman said: ‘This relates to long-standing and ongoing civil proceedings in the United States, to which the Duke of York is not a party. As such we would not comment on the detail.
‘However, for the avoidance of doubt, any suggestion of impropriety with underage minors is categorically untrue.’ Until now Buckingham Palace has refused to comment on stories around the case, but last night lawyers for the prince advised his private office to release a statement, given the high-profile nature of the latest legal salvo, which made headlines around the world.
His accuser countered with a statement issued through her lawyers that said: ‘I am looking forward to vindicating my rights as an innocent victim and pursuing all available recourse. It appears that I am now being unjustly victimised again.
‘These types of aggressive attacks on me are exactly the reason why sexual abuse victims typically remain silent and the reason why I did for a long time. That trend should change. I’m not going to be bullied back into silence.’
Although she was not named in court documents, she was being linked in America to Miss Roberts, who as a teenager was photographed standing next to Andrew.
Jane Doe #3 has made similar allegations against Harvard Law School expert Alan Dershowitz and a French model scout.
Professor Dershowitz, who represented Epstein in the 2008 case, said today: 'The story is totally made up. I don't know this woman, It is part of a pattern of made-up stories against prominent people and world leaders.
Prince Andrew pictured in 2011 with multi-millionaire Jeffrey Epstein, who is at the centre of the new case
'I want to see this played out not only in the court of public opinion but in the court of law. I will prove beyond any doubt not only that the story is totally false but it was knowingly false.
'I will swear under oath - and I challenge them to swear under oath - that it did not happen.
'I will not rest or stop until the world understands not only that I had nothing to do with any of this but that she deliberately made up this story wilfully and knowingly.'
He acknowledged that he had met Andrew on a number of occasions - including at a birthday party for Lord Rothschild which was also attended by Epstein - but said they had never been alone together and that he was not a witness to any impropriety.
'I have never been alone with Prince Andrew, I have never been at a party with any women with Prince Andrew and I am certainly not a witness or participant in any sexual activities whatsoever,' he said.
Epstein was suspected nearly a decade ago of paying for sex with dozens of underage girls. The FBI ultimately dropped its investigation and, in a ‘plea bargain’, he admitted a single offence and served 13 months of an 18-month jail sentence.
The documents, filed at West Palm Beach Federal Courthouse in Florida, are part of an ongoing civil dispute between Epstein and four of his alleged victims. The latest issue refers to his plea-bargain which two unnamed victims, Jane Doe #1 and Jane Doe #2, say prosecutors should not have agreed.
Jane Doe #3 and Jane Doe #4 have joined their legal action. Epstein’s lawyer, Jack Goldberger, said the allegations were ‘old and salacious and ‘been consistently proven to have no merit’.
While Miss Maxwell branded all claims against her as 'untrue' and 'obvious lies' after she was reportedly named in the US court papers by the woman.
She has previously denied any wrongdoing and said in 2011 she would take legal action over some of the reporting of the story.
Her spokesman said: 'The allegations made ... against Ghislaine Maxwell are untrue.
'The original allegations are not new and have been fully responded to and shown to be untrue.
'Each time the story is retold it changes, with new salacious details about public figures and world leaders.
'(The woman's) claims are obvious lies and should be treated as such and not publicised as news, as they are defamatory. Ghislaine Maxwell's original response to the lies and defamatory claims remains the same.
'Miss Maxwell strongly denies allegations of an unsavoury nature, which have appeared in the British press and elsewhere and reserves her right to seek redress at the repetition of such old defamatory claims.'
DID 'JANE DOE #3' ALSO SLEEP WITH A PRIME MINISTER?
By Christian Gysin for the Daily Mail
Epstein, pictured, had an impressive array of contacts in his 'black book' of phone numbers, including former US President Bill Clinton
As well as explosive allegations about Prince Andrew, ‘Jane Doe #3’ told the court she was ‘trafficked for sexual purposes’ to a string of other powerful men – including ‘a well-known Prime Minister’.
No clue was given to the identity, but the court documents say Epstein’s ‘lending’ of young girls to prominent international figures – foreign presidents and US politicians and businessmen among them – was to ‘ingratiate’ himself and ‘so that he could potentially blackmail them’.
From his 97-page ‘black book’ of phone numbers and email addresses, it is clear Epstein had an impressive array of contacts.
When its contents were disclosed three years ago, the book was shown to include contact details for former US President Bill Clinton, ex-secretary of state Henry Kissinger, and Barbara Walters, then one of America’s most influential broadcasters.
Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson’s details are there, along with entrepreneur Donald Trump, members of the Kennedy family and former prime minister Tony Blair. There is also an entry for Mr Blair’s former spin doctor Alastair Campbell – but with a Downing Street number, not his personal mobile phone.
Formula One’s Bernie Ecclestone, Eddie Irvine, Jacques Villeneuve and Flavio Briatore are listed – by numbers relating to their ‘boat/plane’.
It has previously been reported that at varying times President Clinton, Prince Andrew, former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak, New Mexico’s ex-governor Bill Richardson and the former US treasury secretary Larry Summers had all been passengers on Epstein’s fleet of private jets.
However, there is no suggestion from Jane Doe #3 that she was involved with any of the people named above.
In reference to the services offered by Epstein, court papers suggest, there are entries for masseuses including one for ‘Sonya (speak little English)’ and ‘Tanya (speaks NO English’).
Teenager claims she was picked to provide erotic services for Epstein and friends
By David Williams, Chief Reporter for the Daily Mail
The anonymous woman who yesterday made sensational sex claims about Prince Andrew was identified in court papers only as Jane Doe #3.
But sources in the US last night linked her allegations to an account given by blonde mother-of-three Virginia Roberts five years ago. Miss Roberts made a series of sensational claims which drew Prince Andrew into the heart of the scandal over paedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein.
Jane Doe #3 claims she ‘was forced to have sexual relations’ with the prince when she was under the age of consent.
Miss Roberts’s story – which is chronicled both in legal documents and in a detailed newspaper interview – offers a fascinating, often chilling insight into Epstein’s debauchery. She claimed the shamed American tycoon introduced her to the jetset world of the powerful, the fabulously rich and the famous – from the Duke of York to former US President Bill Clinton, former Vice-President Al Gore, Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey, Donald Trump and former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak.
Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell were among guests on this pheasant shoot, attended by Andrew (right), at Sandringham, Norfolk, after the Prince and the US businessman became friends
It was also a sordid world of abuse where she is said to have been treated as a ‘sex slave’, passed around at the behest of Epstein and first abused as a minor. Epstein is also accused in the court papers of loaning out girls so he could later blackmail their abusers. A settlement was reached by Miss Roberts with Epstein five years ago, but some of the claims in the new documents lodged in the Florida courts mirror those of the earlier case.
Miss Roberts had claimed she had not only been abused by Epstein but had jetted around the world with him and was ‘sexually exploited by [his] adult male peers, including royalty, politicians, academicians, businessmen and/or professional and personal acquaintances’.
Now 30 and living in California, Miss Roberts was 15 and working as a changing room assistant at a club in Palm Beach, Florida, owned by Mr Trump, when she met Epstein.
Epstein’s close friend Ghislaine Maxwell, the glamorous and well-connected daughter of disgraced tycoon Robert Maxwell, allegedly approached the pretty, blue-eyed teenager and offered her the chance to work for a wealthy ‘gentleman’ who needed a travelling masseuse.
They visited Epstein’s mansion nearby where she was said to have been ordered to strip and straddle his naked body. ‘My face was red with embarrassment but I felt under immense pressure to please them,’ she said.
‘The whole time it was going on, they were promising me the world, that I’d travel with Jeffrey on his private jet and have a well-paid profession.’
Epstein paid her $200 for what he called the ‘erotic massage’ and told her to return the next day.
She spent the next four years with Epstein. For three of those years, she was under Florida’s age of consent – 18.
‘Basically, I was training to be a prostitute for him and his friends who shared his interest in young girls,’ she says.
That stage of his alleged abuse started after two years when he asked Miss Roberts to fly to his Caribbean island and make a friend of his ‘feel how you make me feel’.
She says she was given to men, aged from their 40s to their 60s, either on the island or on Epstein’s New Mexico ranch. In interviews with The Mail on Sunday after the settlement of the original legal action, Miss Roberts claims she met Prince Andrew three times.
She claims she accompanied Epstein on a six-week trip to Europe and North Africa in 2001, and they went to Miss Maxwell’s London house.
The following day, Andrew arrived and Miss Maxwell served tea and biscuits to the four of them.
It is alleged Miss Maxwell invited the prince to guess Virginia’s age and he correctly said ‘17’, at which Miss Maxwell joked that Jeffrey would ‘soon have to trade her in’.
After dinner and a trip to Tramp nightclub, where she danced with the prince, they returned to Miss Maxwell’s house. They all went upstairs and Virginia asked Epstein to take a picture of her with Andrew to ‘show my mom’. She adds: ‘Ghislaine and Jeffrey left us after that, and later Andrew left.’
The following morning, Miss Maxwell allegedly told her: ‘You did well. He had fun.’ At the time of that interview, there were no claims that the prince had been involved with Miss Roberts.
She says she met Andrew a second time at Easter 2001, finding him sitting in a leather armchair at Epstein’s Manhattan home.
A picture of Jeffrey Epstein's apartment in New York, where Prince Andrew is said to have stayed
Her final encounter with the prince was on Epstein’s Caribbean island, by which time she was 18.
Miss Roberts also told of meetings Mr Clinton but says she was never ‘lent out’ to him.
She said: ‘I only ever met Bill twice but Jeffrey had told me that they were good friends.
‘I asked, “How come?” and he laughed and said, “He owes me some favours.” Maybe he was just joking but it constantly surprised me that people with as much to lose as Bill and [Prince] Andrew weren’t more careful.’
On one occasion, Miss Roberts claimed, Epstein invited two young brunettes to a dinner which he gave on his Caribbean island for Mr Clinton shortly after he left office. But, as far as she knows, the ex-President did not take the bait.
Miss Roberts claims that she met the Prince at the London home of Ghislaine Maxwell, pictured
‘I’d have been about 17 at the time,’ she says. ‘I flew to the Caribbean with Jeffrey and then Ghislaine Maxwell went to pick up Bill in a huge black helicopter that Jeffrey had bought her. Bill must have known about Jeffrey’s girls. There were three desks in the living area of the villa on the island.
‘They were covered with pictures of Jeffrey shaking hands with famous people and photos of naked girls, including one of me that Jeffrey had at all his houses, lying in a hammock.
‘We all dined together that night. Jeffrey was at the head of the table. Bill was at his left. I sat across from him. Ghislaine was at Bill’s left and at the left of Ghislaine there were two olive-skinned brunettes who’d flown in with us from New York.
‘I’d never met them before. I’d say they were no older than 17, very innocent-looking.
‘They weren’t there for me. They weren’t there for Jeffrey or Ghislaine because I was there to have sex with Jeffrey on the trip. Maybe Jeffrey thought they would entertain Bill, but I saw no evidence that he was interested in them. He and Jeffrey and Ghislaine seemed to have a very good relationship. Bill was very funny.
‘After dinner I gave Jeffrey an erotic massage. I don’t remember seeing Bill again on the trip but I assume Ghislaine flew him back.’
Speaking to The Mail on Sunday, Miss Roberts also remembered meeting Naomi Campbell at a birthday party on a yacht in the South of France. ‘She is a friend of Ghislaine’s but she was a real bitch to me,’ she said.
Within a few months, she recalled, Epstein was hinting she was ‘too old’ for him although he and Miss Maxwell once disgusted her, she claimed, by suggesting she had a child by him. ‘They said I would have to sign a contract relinquishing rights to the child and consenting to Jeffrey having as many relationships as he liked,’ she says. ‘It was a smack in the face.’
For her 19th birthday, Epstein flew Miss Roberts to Thailand to take a massage course. She met an Australian martial arts expert there and married him ten days later.
She had three children and lived in Australia but last night she was said to living in her home state of California – she had run away from home as an 11 year-old.
After his arrest in 2008, Epstein was jailed for 18 months on two charges of soliciting a minor for sex. He was released after 13 months and placed on the sex offender register for life. He mostly lives at his home on the Virgin Islands.
Lawyers for the women, including Jane Doe #3, are seeking a motion to expose a secret deal Epstein struck with prosecutors to avoid a lengthy sentence and a charge of statutory rape.
Miss Maxwell could not be reached for comment last night, but lawyers acting on her behalf have previously told the Mail that Epstein’s crimes were committed long after their client ceased to have dealings with him.
ALLEGATIONS OF SEX IN LONDON, NEW YORK AND THE CARIBBEAN
The claim filed at Florida district court in West Palm Beach by the woman known as Jane Doe #3 includes allegations that:
‘Epstein sexually trafficked the then-minor Jane Doe, making her available for sex to politically-connected and financially-powerful people.
‘Epstein’s purposes ... were to ingratiate himself with them for business, personal, political and financial gain, as well as to obtain potential blackmail information.
Virgin Islands: The girl claims she was made to have sex with Prince Andrew in Epstein's villa, pictured
‘One such powerful individual Epstein forced [alleged victim] Jane Doe #3 to have sexual relations with was a member of the British royal family, Prince Andrew, aka Duke of York.
‘Jane Doe #3 was forced to have sexual relations with this prince when she was a minor in three separate geographical locations: in London (at Ghislaine Maxwell’s apartment), in New York and on Epstein’s private island in the US Virgin Islands (in an orgy with numerous underaged girls.)
‘Epstein instructed Jane Doe #3 that she was to give the prince whatever he demanded and required Jane Doe #3 to report back to him on the details of the sexual abuse.
‘Maxwell facilitated Prince Andrew’s acts of sexual abuse by acting as a ‘madame’ for Epstein, thereby assisting in internationally trafficking Jane Doe #3 (and numerous other girls) for sexual purposes.
‘Epstein also trafficked Jane Doe #3 for sexual purposes to many other powerful men, including numerous prominent American politicians, powerful business executives, foreign presidents, a well known prime minister, and other world leaders.
‘Epstein required Jane Doe #3 to describe the events that she had with these men so that he could potentially blackmail them. Maxwell was another person in Epstein’s inner circle and co-conspirator in Epstein’s sexual abuse.
‘In addition to participating in the sexual abuse of Jane Doe #3 and others, Maxwell also took numerous sexually explicit pictures of underage girls involved in sexual activities.
‘Maxwell herself regularly participated in Epstein’s sexual exploitation of minors, including Jane Doe #3.
‘Maxwell persuaded Jane Doe #3 (who was then 15 years old) to come to Epstein’s mansion in a fashion very similar to the manner in which Epstein and his other co-conspirators coerced dozens of other children.
‘Epstein kept Jane Doe #3 as his sex slave from about 1999 through 2002, when she managed to escape to a foreign country and hide out from Epstein and his co-conspirators for years.’
The Prince and the paedophile: How Andrew enjoyed sensual massages at sex offender friend's Florida mansion... and Duke invited him into the heart of the Royal Family
By Sam Greenhill for the Daily Mail
Jailed as a paedophile, Jeffrey Epstein found many of his wealthy friends quietly melted away.
But there was one long-standing associate on whose loyalty he could rely – Prince Andrew.
The pair had been chummy for years, and not even Epstein’s conviction for abusing underage girls appeared to dent their bond. Three years after Epstein’s downfall in 2008, the friends were photographed strolling together in New York’s Central Park.
It caused acute embarrassment and cost the prince his job representing Britain as a trade envoy. Even his staunchest defenders at Buckingham Palace ‘had their heads in their hands’, according to an informed source. ‘This is just indefensible. There is nothing we can do,’ one courtier said.
But Andrew has always done pretty much as he likes, especially if it involves partying with beautiful women. In this, his super-rich playboy friend was something of a kindred spirit. Neither is married – Epstein has never wed – and the two powerful men partied together all over the world.
Revellers including Epstein's personal assistant Miss Marcinkova (left) and Miss Kellen (second from right)
The Duke of York holidayed and had daily massages at the £4million Florida mansion where Epstein abused teenage girls, legal papers claimed in 2011. Andrew is said to have enjoyed regular rub-downs at the whitewashed Palm Beach residence where winged gargoyles flanked the gate and masseuses worked for £60 an hour. Photographs of naked women adorned the walls.
In return, Epstein seemed to enjoy extraordinary access to the heart of the Royal Family, courtesy of Andrew, and has been a guest of the Queen at Balmoral, Windsor Castle and Sandringham.
Sarah Ferguson was also a visitor to Epstein’s Florida mansion, and he even helped her to clear her debts. She accepted £15,000 from him in a grubby deal she later admitted was a ‘gigantic error of judgment’.Epstein and Andrew met in the 1990s, introduced by the financier’s then girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell, the glamorous daughter of disgraced tycoon Robert Maxwell.
She and Epstein became a couple shortly after the newspaper publisher’s 1991 death when Miss Maxwell moved to New York and – bankrolled by him – established herself as a leading Manhattan socialite.
She repaid the favour by putting Epstein in touch with her own well-heeled friends in Britain, including Andrew. According to friends, this first meeting probably took place during a holiday at the Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, owned by Donald Trump.
In 2000, Epstein was an honoured guest at a June engagement at Windsor Castle to celebrate the Queen’s birthday.
Six months later, he was invited to a party at Sandringham which the prince had arranged to celebrate Miss Maxwell’s 39th birthday. In between, she took Epstein to a ‘hookers and pimps’ party at a New York nightclub hosted by former lingerie model Heidi Klum in a black latex S&M outfit.
Ghislaine Maxwell (pictured with Jeffrrey Epstein) kept a laundry basket full of sex toys in a cupboard at Epstein's 'House of Sin', it was claimed
Andrew was also at a Manhattan cocktail party thrown that year by Miss Maxwell which was filled with young Russian ‘models’ – leaving some of the other guests ‘horrified’, court papers indicated.
Epstein was first arrested in 2005, after the stepmother of a 14-year-old girl told Florida police that he had paid the youngster $200 (£120) for an ‘erotic massage’.
An FBI investigation uncovered a string of vulnerable teenagers who claimed he kept them as a harem at his luxury homes.
He allegedly staged orgies on private jets and flew girls as young as 12 to ‘topless parties’ at his Florida mansion, dubbed the ‘House of Sin’. By 2008, the FBI believed it had identified 20 women who might level sexual allegations against him in court.
Epstein struck a ‘plea bargain’ with prosecutors that saw him confess to two relatively minor charges related to child prostitution with the rest of the case dropped. He received an 18-month jail sentence.
More sordid secrets of Epstein’s ‘House of Sin’ then began to emerge – including Andrew’s penchant for massages. The billionaire’s long-standing handyman and cleaner Juan Alessi said, in court papers seen by the Mail, that he set up massage tables for Andrew on a daily basis. Speaking under oath to solicitors in 2009, he said pictures of naked women were on display by the pool, while other witnesses described nude photographs of underage girls adorning a stairway.
He said Miss Maxwell kept a laundry basket full of sex toys in a cupboard at the house, alongside a shiny black costume. Mr Alessi added that the five-bedroom home ‘was run like a hotel’ with a host of celebrity guests passing through. Among them was Andrew, who stayed in the blue guest room where there was apparently soap in the shape of male and female genitalia.
Mr Alessi said: ‘I saw guests at the house that were celebrities ... It was Prince Andrew. It was Princess Sarah.’ He later clarified that he meant the Duchess of York. Asked whether the pair ever had massages, Mr Alessi said: ‘Prince Andrew did.’ At least 40 girls later came forward, some saying Epstein sexually assaulted them during massages. One sordid allegation was that for his birthday one year, he was presented with three 12-year-old girls from France for his sexual pleasure.
Epstein’s personal assistant Sarah Kellen, 35, is said to have arranged for a string of underage girls to visit his mansion and would pay them around £150 a visit. She prepared massage tables and oils that the girls were to use for their ‘work’. A former girlfriend of the billionaire financier, model Nadia Marcinkova, took part in threesomes with him, court documents said. Both women refused to comment when questioned by lawyers.
Until now, it has always been reported that there was no evidence Andrew was aware that his host was paying children for sex.
Indeed, the Daily Mail has previously stressed that none of the claims about the prince has been corroborated, and that they have yet to be tested in a court of law.But some Buckingham Palace courtiers were in despair yesterday that the Royal Family has been dragged further into the Epstein mire. American friends of Epstein have always noticed how he delights in his royal links.
There have even been unsubstantiated rumours – most probably started by the financier himself and on which Buckingham Palace has not commented – that one of secretive Epstein’s financial clients was the Queen herself. Murray Gell-Mann, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist and recipient of Epstein largesse, said he was given that impression by the financier.
It is unknown whether Epstein has actually met the Queen, but there is no disputing that he was given rare access to the royals’ inner sanctum. In July 1999, Andrew invited Miss Maxwell and Epstein, then her boyfriend, to stay at Craigowan Lodge in the grounds of Balmoral. Andrew lavished hospitality on Epstein and his girlfriend, before escorting his guests on a tour of the estate. For Epstein, the weekend had been a social triumph.
The financier started from humble beginnings. The son of a parks department worker, he was working as a maths teacher in Manhattan in 1976 when he was plucked from obscurity by a pupil’s father who got him a job on Wall Street. For Andrew, his growing closeness to Epstein would cause him intense embarrassment. In 2011, after the photo appeared of him with the billionaire in New York, Andrew was shamed into stepping down as Britain’s trade envoy.
On that occasion, it was the Queen who came to his rescue, in a remarkable show of maternal love. Andrew is the Queen’s favourite son, and she has been deeply upset at the opprobrium heaped on him. Only time will tell how she will react to his latest travails.
MAXWELL'S DAUGHTER THE 'HIGH-CLASS MADAME': COURT PAPERS SAY SHE 'FACILITATED PRINCE ANDREW'S ACTS OF SEXUAL ABUSE'
Socialite: Ghislaine Maxwell, daughter of British tycoon Robert, at a New York event in 2010
By Sam Marsden for the Daily Mail
Ghislaine Maxwell stands accused of procuring young girls for the sexual gratification of Jeffrey Epstein and his ‘friends’.
Court documents say she ‘facilitated Prince Andrew’s acts of sexual abuse by acting as a madame for Epstein’.
She was described in the court papers as the ‘primary co-conspirator in Epstein’s sexual abuse and sex trafficking scheme’.
The documents said: ‘Maxwell persuaded Jane Doe #3 to come to Epstein’s mansion. Epstein then became enamoured with Jane Doe #3 and with the assistance of Maxwell converted her into what is commonly referred to as a sex slave.’
Miss Maxwell, the cherished daughter of crooked tycoon Robert Maxwell, is no stranger to scandal. Her world came crashing down in 1991 when her father plunged to his death from the deck of his £15million yacht, named Lady Ghislaine in her honour.
Shortly afterwards it was revealed that the notorious newspaper tycoon had stolen £440million from the Mirror Group’s pension fund.
Miss Maxwell and her family were left in disgrace, and she fled to New York to escape the furore in Britain. It was in America that she met Epstein, becoming his girlfriend for a time and attending celebrity events with him. He provided her with a champagne lifestyle of luxurious holidays and palatial apartments that she could never have afforded on the £80,000-a-year her father left her.
In return, she used her contacts to introduce Epstein to leading lights of the world of showbusiness, politics and royalty, including Prince Andrew.
But in recent years she has also faced accusations that she procured girls for Epstein – claims she has always denied.
Miss Maxwell, now 53, was educated at Marlborough College and Oxford University.
In 2000 she and Epstein were seen on holiday with Prince Andrew at Donald Trump’s Mar a Largo Club in Palm Beach, Florida. That same year, she took the prince to a ‘hookers and pimps’ themed party in New York, which was hosted by the former lingerie model Heidi Klum.
There were once rumours that Miss Maxwell would marry Epstein, but their relationship reportedly ended because he wanted to see other women.
However, it is alleged that the services provided by Miss Maxwell to the wealthy financier extended to finding attractive girls for him and his friends.
One girl, Virginia Roberts, has claimed she was 15 when she met Miss Maxwell at a Florida spa in 1998. Miss Maxwell allegedly invited her to come to Epstein’s mansion to be a masseuse. Miss Roberts claims she was made to perform sex acts on Epstein.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2895366/Prince-Andrew-lobbied-government-easy-Jeffrey-Epstein-Palace-denies-claims-royal-tried-use-influence-help-billionaire-paedophile-2008-police-probe.html#ixzz3NmQWjQCc
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
I will not be bullied into silence': Woman who claims Prince Andrew abused her while she was billionaire's 'underage sex slave' says she is being 'unjustly victimised'
- Court motion in U.S. brought in relation to millionaire Jeffrey Epstein
- Epstein, a former friend of the Prince, was convicted of sex crime in 2008
- Court papers in motion claim woman had sex with Andrew three times
- They claim meetings took place in London, New York and US Virgin Islands
- One meeting was 'an orgy with numerous under-aged girls' it is claimed
- It is said the woman was approached by socialite Ghislaine Maxwell
- She is the daughter of the late former media mogul, Robert Maxwell
- Papers also allege the Prince lobbied US government over Epstein case
- The royal has issued a strong denial of the 'categorically untrue' claims
A woman who claims she was forced to have sex with Prince Andrew on three separate occasions - including at an orgy - has said that she will ‘not be bullied back into silence’ and ‘victimised’.
‘Jane Doe 3’ alleges that she was loaned out to Prince Andrew and other friends by Jeffrey Epstein, an American billionaire who has been convicted of soliciting underage prostitution.
She is said to have been 17 at the time of the alleged meetings, meaning she was underage according to Florida law.
In court documents she accuses Epstein, the Prince, his friend the socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, and – among others – the leading American defence lawyer Alan Dershowitz of abusing her when she was underage.
Her lawyers, who are also representing another woman, ‘Jane Doe 4’, also told an American court that Prince Andrew had lobbied the US government over Epstein’s case.
The Prince today issued a comprehensive denial of the allegations, with Buckingham Palace insisting any suggestion of underage sex on his part is ‘categorically untrue’.
Scroll down for video
Prince Andrew pictured in 2011 with multi-millionaire Jeffrey Epstein, who is at the centre of the new case
The royal and Epstein were friends and were seen together in Central Park, New York in 2011 after the financier’s conviction, which came in the wake of an FBI investigation into his associations with underage girls, especially in Florida, where he maintains a home.
‘Jane Doe 3’, who is now an adult, claims that she was groomed on behalf of Epstein by Maxwell – daughter of Robert Maxwell, the disgraced newspaper owner - when she was just 15 and forced into a world of sexual abuse.
It included being ‘forced to have sexual relations with… Prince [Andrew] when she was a minor in London at Ghislaine Maxwell’s apartment, in New York, and on Epstein’s private island in the U.S. Virgin Islands in an orgy with numerous other under-aged girls’, she claimed in documents submitted this week to federal court in Palm Beach, Florida.
It's war! George Osborne fires starting gun on election... Share this article
4k shares
Her claims were denounced yesterday as an attempt to make money by Dershowitz, who was part of O.J Simpson’s ‘dream team’ defence and is a professor of law at Harvard.
He told the Guardian, for whom he has written in the past: ‘It is a totally fabricated charge in every possible way. It just never happened.’
He added: ‘This person has made this up out of cloth, maliciously and knowingly in order to extort money from Mr Epstein.’
But Dershowitz was accused by the woman of trying to ‘silence’ her.
‘I am looking forward to vindicating my rights as an innocent victim and pursuing all available recourse,’ she said.
‘It appears that I am now being unjustly victimized again. These types of aggressive attacks on me are exactly the reason why sexual abuse victims typically remain silent and the reason why I did for a long time.
The court documents claim Ghislaine Maxwell (picture left and right, with Epstein), the daughter of Robert Maxwell, used her contacts to connect powerful people with Epstein and approached the woman in the case
‘That trend should change. I’m not going to be bullied back into silence.’
The allegation that Prince Andrew lobbied the US government was made in the same document.
It demands that the American government be ordered by the federal court to hand over correspondence which the women’s lawyers claim will show Prince Andrew and Dershowitz lobbied against Epstein being prosecuted.
The lawyers say the order they want the court to grant ‘documents regarding Epstein’s lobbying efforts to persuade the Government to give him a more favorable plea arrangement and/or non-prosecution agreement, including efforts on his behalf by Prince Andrew and former Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz’.
A spokesman for Prince Andrew said: ‘This relates to long-standing and ongoing civil proceedings in the United States, to which The Duke of York is not a party.
‘As such we would not comment on the detail. However, for the avoidance of doubt, any suggestion of impropriety with underage minors is categorically untrue’.
The spokesman said that this statement also applied to the allegation that Prince Andrew lobbied the US government.
As part of the latest court motion, documents have been filed in which the woman alleges she slept with Andrew at three locations; London, New York and the US Virgin Islands.
The woman involved in the case is said to have been 17 at the time of the alleged meetings, meaning she was underage according to the law in Florida.
She claims she was drawn into 'sex trafficking scheme' by Ghislaine Maxwell, the daughter of late media mogul Robert Maxwell.
The court documents say that in 1999 'Jane Doe #3 was approached by Ghislaine Maxwell, one of the main women whom Epstein used to procure under-aged girls for sexual activities and a primary co-conspirator in his sexual abuse and sex trafficking scheme'.
According to the documents filed in Florida, Maxwell had 'persuaded' the alleged victim, then 15, to visit Epstein's mansion.
The girl was asked to give Epstein a massage, which 'Epstein and Maxwell turned it into a sexual encounter, as they had done with many other victims', it is alleged.
The woman's legal team say convicted sex offender Epstein became 'enamoured' with the girl and 'with the assistance of Maxwell converted her into a sex slave'.
It is claimed Epstein abused the girl between 1999 to 2002 on his private jets, in New York, New Mexico, and on the U.S. Virgin Islands.
It is alleged that Maxwell used her connections with the rich and powerful and connected them with Epstein.
The document says: 'For instance, one such powerful individual Epstein forced Jane Doe #3 to have sexual relations with was a member of the British Royal Family, Prince Andrew.
'Jane Doe #3 was forced to have sexual relations with this Prince when she was a minor in London at Ghislaine Maxwell's apartment, in New York, and on Epstein's private island in the U.S. Virgin Islands in an orgy with numerous other under-aged girls'.
It is claimed that Epstein told the girl to 'give the Prince whatever he demanded and required' and she would 'report back to him on the details of the sexual abuse'.
The document says: 'Maxwell facilitated Prince Andrew's acts of sexual abuse by acting as a 'madame' for Epstein, thereby assisting in internationally trafficking Jane Doe #3 and numerous other young girls for sexual purposes'.
It is claimed that Epstein trafficked the girl to be abused by powerful men across the globe.
These included ‘numerous prominent American politicians, powerful business executives, foreign presidents, a well-known Prime Minister, and other world leaders’, the court papers say.
Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell were among guests on this pheasant shoot, attended by Andrew (right), at Sandringham, Norfolk, after the Prince and the US businessman became friends
The court documents refer to alleged meetings at Jeffrey Epstein's house in the U.S. Virgin Islands
It is alleged that in each case Epstein demanded she 'describe the events that she had with these men so that he could potentially blackmail them'.
'Epstein’s purposes in “lending” Jane Doe (along with other young girls) to such powerful people were to ingratiate himself with them for business, personal, political, and financial gain, as well as to obtain potential blackmail information'.
Mr Epstein's lawyer Jack Goldberger said the allegations were 'old and salacious and had 'been consistently proven to have no merit'.
He said: 'Mr Epstein is used to these spurious, untruthful allegations being made so he takes it in his stride. He knows there's no truth in them'.
Asked why Prince Andrew had been dragged into the lawsuit, Mr Goldberger said: 'I think it's just an attempt to add spice to these unproven and unprovable allegations. There just no truth to it'.
The woman has also made similar allegations against Harvard Law School professor Alan Dershowitz and French model scout Jean Luc Brunel.
Mr Brunel is accused of bringing young girls as ‘young as twelve’ to America for sexual purposes and to ‘farm them out to his friends’, including Epstein.
It is alleged that Mr Brunel, a close friend and travel companion of Epstein, would offer the girls, many said to be from poor countries and deprived backgrounds, modelling jobs.
‘He lured them in with a promise of making good money’, the documents claim.
It is alleged that Prof Dershowitz, who also represented Epstein, is said to have abused the girl on a number of occasions and was ‘an eye-witness to the sexual abuse of many other minors by Epstein and co-conspirators’.
Prof Dershowitz told the Politico website: ‘It’s totally, unequivocally and completely false’.
Epstein was suspected nearly a decade ago of paying for sex with dozens of underage girls.
The FBI ultimately dropped its investigation, and he pleaded guilty to a single offence and served more than a year in jail.
The investigation into Epstein's exploits came when a woman in Palm Beach contacted police saying that her 14-year-old daughter had been paid $300 to massage him and then have sex.
The claim prompted a nearly year-long investigation that led to the eventual charge of soliciting prostitution which came as part of a plea deal. He spent 13 months of a 18-month sentence in jail and remains a registered sex offender.
The latest legal issue refers to the terms of the deal Epstein is believed to have struck with US prosecutors.
Ghislaine Maxwell was unavailable for comment this afternoon.
She has previously made clear she was not connected to the criminal proceedings against Epstein and said that his cimes were committed long before she had dealings with him.
Prince Andrew met Epstein, who was born in working-class Brooklyn, during the royal's trips to the US.
It has previously been reported that they were introduced by Ms Maxwell over a decade ago.
The Prince is said to have enjoyed the atmosphere among America's elite and was seen in New York and Florida, both places where Epstein owns property.
Epstein was in turn invited to Britain and, along with Ms Maxwell, was pictured on a pheasant shoot on the Queen's Sandringham Estate in 2000.
A picture of Jeffrey Epstein's apartment in New York, where Prince Andrew is said to have stayed
Part of the court document filed, pictured above, demands that the American government be ordered by the federal court to hand over correspondence which the women’s lawyers claim will show Prince Andrew and Dershowitz lobbied against Epstein being prosecuted
After Epstein's conviction in 2008, the Prince remained friends with Epstein and they were seen walking together in a New York park in 2011.
The pre-Christmas trip was said to be the first time the duke had seen Epstein in four years. But they were still close friends and would speak on the phone regularly.
The scandal caused by the photograph of the pair together after Epstein's release from jail was one of the factors that led to Andrew stepping down from his role as UK trade envoy in 2011.
His position had been made worse when his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson revealed she had accepted £15,000 from Epstein to help pay off her debts.
HOW GIRL WHO SAYS SHE SAT ON PRINCE ANDREW'S KNEE AND ALLOWED HIM TO TOUCH HER BREAST REVEALED EPSTEIN'S SLEAZY WORLD
Johanna Sjoberg claims she had met the Duke of York over Easter 2001 where she sat on his lap and allowed him to touch her breast
One of Jeffrey Epstein's young personal masseuses claimed she sat on Prince Andrew's knee and allowed him to put his hand on her breast for a jokey photograph.
Johanna Sjoberg had met the Duke of York over Easter 2001 at Epstein's seven-storey townhouse in New York, where she was paid to answer the phones, serve drinks and later carry out massages.
She said: 'Prince Andrew was there. Andrew was very charming. I didn't know exactly who he was but felt that I knew him'.
She was was with another girl, Virginia Roberts, and as a gift she said that the Duke of York was given a Spitting Image puppet by Epstein, and the girls were invited to sit on Andrew's lap.
She said: 'We had a picture taken. Virginia, another girl there, sat on a chair and had the puppet on her lap. Andrew sat on another chair, I sat on his lap – and he put his hand on my breast.
'Ghislaine (Maxwell) put the puppet's hand on Virginia's breast, then Andrew put his hand on mine. It was a great joke'.
She said she witnessed Epstein ordering 'girls' to be dispatched thousands of miles to his friends, who were nearly always incredibly rich, powerful
On one occasion she recounted an incident in Palm Beach in 2004 or 2005 in which she overheard the disgraced financier instructing an assistant to sort out two girls for a friend.
Miss Sjoberg would not identify the friend but said he was someone 'very famous' in the beauty industry.
'The conversation went: 'So-and-so's in Hawaii, can we find some girls for him',' she said.
'I didn't realise Jeffrey even knew this person but the thing that shocked me most was that it seemed so normal for him to ask someone to find a couple of girls and send them over.'
Miss Sjoberg worked for Epstein for four years, often massaging him as he lay on a couch in his giant bathroom making phone calls to friends such as Bill Clinton and Cate Blanchett.
He kept a little black book, containing the numbers of all his masseuses by a phone in the bathroom, she said. She left after he started becoming 'more aggressive' in his demands that she 'do sexual things to him'.
She said she was aware that the girls recruited by Epstein and his acolytes were not paid just for massages but for 'sexual favours'.
Virginia Roberts revealed that as a 17-year-old 'erotic masseuse', she was flown by Epstein to London to meet Prince Andrew,
Miss Sjoberg said: 'I'm not surprised he was sending girls abroad. I just did not think they were so young.'
The Prince has insisted that any suggestion of wrongdoing on his part is 'categorically untrue'.
A spokesman for the royal said: 'This relates to long-standing and ongoing civil proceedings in the United States, to which The Duke of York is not a party.
'As such we would not comment on the detail. However, for the avoidance of doubt, any suggestion of impropriety with underage minors is categorically untrue'.
How one of the best-connected men in the U.S. was jailed amid shocking claims of sex abuse
By Daniel Bates in New York for MailOnline
The scandal of Jeffrey Epstein brought down one of the world’s richest and most powerful men - and damaged anyone who was close to him.
The billionaire financier spent 13 months in jail in 2008 for soliciting girls for underage prostitution but multiples lawsuits by his alleged victims say that the abuse at his Florida mansion was far more widespread and systematic.
Some 40 women came forward claiming that he or others molested them - with all the cases being settled out of court without any admission of liability.
The abuse as laid out in court documents was shocking.
Among the allegations was that for his birthday one year Epstein was presented with three 12-year-old girls from France for his sexual pleasure.
Jeffrey Epstein, pictured in New York with Woody Allen, was once one of the best-connected men in America
Alleged victims said they had to give ‘massages’ to Epstein, 61, and told how he loaned them out to wealthy friends so they could abuse them.
Prince Andrew was caught up in the scandal when he remained friends with Epstein even after he was released from jail and became a registered sex offender.
When the two men were photographed together in New York’s Central Park in 2011 Andrew was forced to step down from his role as Britain’s trade envoy because of the uproar.
The Prince was also photographed with Virginia Roberts, one of the girls Epstein is said to have used as an underage sex slave, who gave an interview in which she described her alleged ordeal.
Epstein was jailed after a legal case which rocked America and in which President Bill Clinton was named
Bill Clinton was also named dozens of times in lawsuits against Epstein and was alleged to have flown on his private jet more than 10 times.
Flight logs in lawsuits detailed that between 2002 and 2005 the former US President traveled around the world courtesy of his friend and stopped at Epstein’s Caribbean island Little St James where young girls were supposedly kept as sex slaves.
Clinton was deemed to be so close to Epstein that he was nearly deposed during the investigation into his paedophilia.
Before he was jailed Epstein’s other acquaintances are said to have been former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak; former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson; and former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers.
The latest developments are part of a case against US authorities brought by two of Epstein’s alleged victims who were 13 and 14 when they say the abuse occurred.
They claim that his original sentence was too light because his lawyers had secretly reached a non-prosecution agreement months earlier with the US Justice Department.
The women say the failure to disclose the deal violated the Crime Victims’ Rights Act of 2004 and that Epstein’s sentence should be thrown out, exposing him to a much harsher punishment.
Epstein, who has a $2 billion from hedge funds, continues to lead a luxury lifestyle and is now based in the US Virgin Islands.
GIRL WAS RECRUITED AS EPSTEIN'S MASSEUSE AT 15 AND WAS FLOWN ACROSS THE WORLD TO MEET PRINCE ANDREW
Virginia Roberts said she was recruited as Epstein's masseuse when she was just 15 and paid $200 a time for an 'erotic massage' for him and his friends. She claimed she later became the billionaire's sex slave.
Now a married mother of three living in Australia, Virginia alleged that her services were offered to a number of politicians, businessmen and international statesmen.
She also met Prince Andrew. The first time was at the London house of Ghislaine Maxwell, daughter of the disgraced former media tycoon Robert Maxwell.
This picture, said to have been taken by Epstein during Andrew's first encounter with Virginia Roberts in March 2001, shows the Prince with his arm around her waist
The second time was at Epstein's grand New York townhouse and the third on Epstein's private Caribbean island.
It was reported that she was flown across the world to be introduced to the Prince. On one of those occasions Virginia Roberts was subsequently paid $15,000 (£9,400).
One picture, said to have been taken by Epstein during Andrew's first encounter with the girl in March 2001, shows the Prince with his arm around her waist.
Describing what happened she said Epstein invited her to accompany him on a six-week trip.
'He said we'd be going to Europe and North Africa to meet architects and interior decorators because he wanted to redo his New Mexico house. I threw my arms around him and gave him a peck on the cheek.'
They flew to Paris, then Spain, then Tangier and finally, they went to London.
'After we landed, we drove straight to Ghislaine's Maxwell's house' and 'was given a small upstairs bedroom,' Virginia said.
She said: 'The following morning, Ghislaine came in. She was chirpy and jumped on the bed saying, 'Get up, sleepyhead. You've got a big day. We've got to go shopping. You need a dress as you're going to dance with a Prince tonight.'
'She said I needed to be 'smiley' and bubbly because he was the Queen's son.
'Ghislaine and I went to Burberry, where she bought me a £5,000 bag, and to a few other designer stores where we bought a couple of dresses, a pair of embroidered jeans and a pink singlet, perfume and make-up,' she said.
'We got back to Ghislaine's house at around 4pm and I ran straight upstairs to shower and dress.
'When I went downstairs, Ghislaine and Jeffrey were in the lounge. There was a knock at the door. Ghislaine led Andrew in and we kissed each other on the cheek.
'Ghislaine served tea from a porcelain pot and biscuits. She knew Sarah Ferguson and they talked fondly about Andrew's daughters.
'Then Ghislaine asked Andrew how old he thought I was and he guessed 17'.
Holiday: Ms Roberts says she met Prince Andrew on three occasions, including on Jeffrey Epstein's private Caribbean Island
The four of them went out to dinner and on to Tramp nightclub where, she says, Andrew danced with her.
'After about an hour-and-a-half, we drove back to Ghislaine's. All of us went upstairs and I asked Jeffrey to snap a picture of me with the Prince. I wanted something to show my Mom. Ghislaine and Jeffrey left us after that, and later Andrew left'.
Her shocking account of her four years as Epstein's personal masseuse is supported by court documents, an eyewitness, photographs and flight details of Epstein's private jets.
Virginia, who has undergone counselling to try to come to terms with her past, is honest about her initiation into Epstein's depraved world.
After she said she was groomed she claims he guaranteed her a minimum of $200 each time she gave him what he called an 'erotic massage.'
Virginia said: 'I would always receive the money immediately. He would give me the cash from a wad he carried in a black duffel bag or an assistant paid me'.
And, because of the way Epstein had warped her sensibilities, every time she took the cash, Virginia said she felt even more indebted to him. Secretly, he was also preparing her for an even more disturbing role.
She said: 'Epstein had trained me to do whatever men wanted. I told myself I was special
'Basically, I was training to be a prostitute for him and his friends who shared his interest in young girls,' she says: 'After about two years, he started to ask me to 'entertain' his friends.'
It started when Epstein called Virginia at the Palm Beach apartment he had rented for her.
She recalls: 'He said, 'I've got a good friend and I need you to fly to the island to entertain him, massage him and make him feel how you make me feel.'
He didn't spell out what I had to do. He didn't have to. 'He'd trained me to do whatever a man wanted. I was shocked but I told myself he was sharing me around because he trusted me and I was special.
'I was worried, but I would do anything to keep Jeffrey happy and to keep my place as his number one girl'.
The Oxford-educated daughter of disgraced British tycoon who 'introduced Epstein to Prince Andrew'
Educated at Marlborough School and Balliol College, Oxford, Ms Maxwell was taken under Epstein’s wing in New York after her father Robert’s death in 1991.
His body was found floating in the sea after he fell from the luxury yacht named after his daughter, the Lady Ghislaine.
His death revealed a vast financial black hole at the heart of his Mirror Group, including the employees’ pension scheme.
Ghislaine Maxwell, left, with her parents, Robert and Elizabeth, in 1987 - four years before Robert's death
As police untangled the complicated web of alleged fraud in his companies and a series of criminal trials was launched to try to track down missing money, there remained persistent rumours that his family had salted away large sums to fund lives of continuing luxury.
The Maxwell name became tainted at home in Britain as fraud trials, bankruptcy and disgrace swirled around the family.
But in Manhattan, Ghislaine set up home ‘in a one-bedroom apartment. She was young, good-looking and charming — the quintessential New York girl about town’.
Well-connected and charismatic, Ms Maxwell (pictured last year), established herself as a leading New York socialite after moving to Manhattan
There, she met Epstein and was photographed as his ‘celebrity guest’ at social functions. The pair would soon become inseparable.
Ghislaine, who turned 30 around the time they met, became Epstein’s girlfriend and then his Girl Friday. Their early romance petered out because he wanted to see other women.
Bankrolled by the billionaire, she established herself as a leading New York socialite and repaid the favour by putting Epstein in touch with her own well-heeled friends in Britain.
She was also allegedly involved in the recruiting of young women who worked as masseuses for Epstein.
In 1998, Ms Maxwell allegedly recruited 15-year-old Virginia Roberts.
Miss Roberts has said she spent the next four years supplying Epstein with sexual favours, and was flown to various locations to service different men, including one head of state.
But she also provided him with an entry into British society – including the friendship with Prince Andrew. She is understood to have introduced the pair in 2000.
Between 2000 and 2001, Andrew and Ghislaine were together on no fewer than eight occasions.
Epstein was present at four of the meetings – at the Mar-a-Lago club in Florida (from where Virginia was recruited), in Phuket, and two occasions in Britain.
The first was a June engagement at Windsor Castle to celebrate the Queen’s birthday, the second a weekend house party at Sandringham six months later which the prince arranged to celebrate Miss Maxwell’s 39th birthday.
In addition, Andrew has often been seen at Epstein’s grand New York townhouse.
In between, Ms Maxwell took the royal to an infamous ‘hookers and pimps’ party at a New York nightclub hosted by the former lingerie model Heidi Klum in a black latex S&M outfit.
A spokesman for Ghislaine Maxwell has previously said that she has never been contacted by any police force or other law enforcement agency in connection with any allegations made against Jeffery Epstein.
Here are the full court papers filed in the Southern District Court of Florida:
