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.
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'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...
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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.
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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.
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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:
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