Prince Andrew, since his out-of-court settlement over the infamous sex scandal with late Virginia Giuffre, has consistently denied wrongdoing in the case.
King Charles’s shamed brother was stripped off of his royal titles and patronages in 2019 by his late mother, Queen Elizabeth. Moreover, Andrew’s close friendship with financier Jeffery Epstein did not help his case in the court of public opinion.
Ghislaine Maxwell, a longtime partner and accomplice of the Epstein, broke her silence for the first time on the claims that became the reason behind Andrew’s fall from grace.
Andrew was accused of having inappropriate relations with the then-17-year-old Virginia, who was introduced to the royal, who was in his early 40s, by Ghislaine.
Her comments to US Justice Department officials during a two-day interview last month were released in the form of audio files and transcripts.
Regarding the Duke, she denied introducing Andrew or Sarah Ferguson to Epstein. “That is a flat untruth. I’ll start with that,” she told the Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.
While the name had been redacted, it is circumstantially highly likely to be about Virginia given the context of their conversation.
It also refers to the discussion of an infamous photograph which she claimed was “fake”.
In his car crash Newsnight interview, Andrew has suggested the same.
Meanwhile, about his inappropriate relations with Virginia, which allegedly took place in 2001 at her London home, Ghislaine promptly refuted it.
“What's an even bigger word than bulls**t?” she snubbed, noting that it could not have “logistically and physically” happened.
“The issue is, could Andrew have come to the house to see me or see Epstein, and say 'hi' and she had been there? Yes,” she explained. “I can’t say that that didn’t happen. But what I can absolutely, categorically say is that I never, at any time, set Andrew up to have relations with her or any other human being ever.”
She continued, “And I can categorically state that her characterisation of whatever may or may not have happened, could -- physically would just no.”
Virginia Giuffre, née Virginia Roberts became a prominent accuser of Jeffrey Epstein and the Duke of York. However, she took her own life earlier this year at age of 41. Her family has condemned the DoJ for interviewing Maxwell and said she is a “monster” whose testimony cannot be trusted.
