29th Jan 2023

Prince Andrew and Jeffrey Epstein: what you need to know

TheGuardian: Prince Andrew said in his interview with BBC Newsnight that he met Epstein in 1999, through Epstein’s former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell.

Maxwell, the socialite daughter of the disgraced press baron Robert Maxwell, has been accused by a number of women of being complicit with Epstein in sex trafficking and abuse and, in some cases, partaking in it. She has denied all allegations against her.

While it is not disputed that Prince Andrew met Epstein through Maxwell, some have suggested they met earlier than 1999. A 2011 letter to the Times of London from the prince’s then private secretary, Alastair Watson, suggests the pair knew each other from the early 1990s.

Prince Andrew says he and Epstein were “not that close”.

However, the pair attended several private dinners, parties and fundraisers together, including a birthday party the prince threw for Maxwell at Sandringham House, the private residence of the Queen, in 2000. The same year, Epstein and the prince partied with Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago, his residence in Palm Beach, Florida.

Former President Donald Trump claimed that he didn’t know Prince Andrew, Duke of York, even though photos show they’ve known each other since at least 2000.

The following year, Andrew and Epstein went on holiday together and were pictured on a yacht in Phuket, Thailand, surrounded by topless young women. The Times of London reported that the prince’s holiday was paid for by Epstein.

A Channel 4 Dispatches programme discovered that over 12 years, from 1999, Epstein and Andrew met on at least 10 occasions, the prince staying for several days at a time at Epstein’s residences in New York, Palm Beach and the Virgin Islands.

Epstein even attended an 18th birthday party for Andrew’s daughter, Princess Beatrice, at Windsor Castle in 2006, two months after he had been issued an arrest warrant for sexual assault of a minor. The prince said he was unaware of the warrant and that Epstein attended as Maxwell’s guest.

Harvey Weinstein was in a tuxedo, Maxwell in a plumed mask, and Epstein in a formal white U.S. Navy SEAL uniform, with service ribbons and medals.

The prince told the BBC he did not regret his friendship with Epstein, because “the people that I met and the opportunities that I was given to learn either by him or because of him were actually very useful”.

Prince Andrew is alleged to have had sex with Virginia Roberts Giuffre for the first time at Maxwell’s London home.

The prince and Maxwell are known to have been together at least a dozen times between 1999 and 2001. For instance, they were pictured at Heidi Klum’s “hookers and pimps” fancy dress party in October 2000, a month after being pictured at the wedding of a mutual friend. There was speculation the pair were dating.

Maxwell is reported to have introduced the prince to at least one person he dated.

An email exchange between Andrew and Maxwell, days after the prince was named in US court documents submitted by Roberts Giuffre, suggests he was asking for help in responding to the allegations.

In the 2015 emails, unearthed in a BBC Panorama investigation, the prince writes: “Let me know when we can talk. Got some specific questions to ask you about Virginia Roberts.”

Maxwell replies: “Have some info. Call me when you have a moment.”

Is it possible Andrew did not meet accuser Virginia Roberts Giuffre, as he claims?

Andrew claims to have “no recollection” of meeting Roberts Giuffre, despite being pictured with his arm around her in a now notorious photograph said to have been taken by Epstein.

Two men who say they saw the original picture say it is genuine, but friends of Andrew told the London Evening Standard they thought it was fake, claiming Andrew’s fingers are “much chubbier” in real life.

In an interview with BBC Panorama, Roberts Giuffre insisted the photo was real, saying she gave the original to the FBI in 2001 and adding: “There’s a date on the back of it from when it was printed.”

Roberts Giuffre claims she was first trafficked by Epstein to have sex with the prince in Maxwell’s London home after dancing with him at Tramp nightclub.

Prince Andrew told BBC Newsnight he was not at Tramp but at a children’s birthday party at a Pizza Express restaurant. He “categorically” denies ever having sex with Roberts Giuffre.

Earlier this week, a woman came forward to claim she saw the prince and Roberts Giuffre “feet away” from each other on the dancefloor at the club.

Shukri Walker said: “I remember him dancing and chatting with the young girl.”

Shukri has no doubts it was the Prince she saw dancing with teenage sex slave Virginia Giuffre at a nightclub — because she said sorry to him after standing on his foot.

Shukri said she turned to apologise after her mishap on the dance floor at Tramp and found herself face-to-face with the Prince.

She recalled: “He was smiling. He said, ‘No problem’.”

Shukri said she decided to speak out after watching Andrew’s denial during his now infamous Newsnight interview.

She contacted US lawyer Lisa Bloom, who represents a number of Epstein’s victims.

Ms Bloom passed the information on to the FBI.

Shukri said: “When I watched the BBC interview and saw Prince Andrew deny knowing Virginia, saying he has no recollection of that night I had to come forward.

“Because I was there and I do have a recollection of it.”

Shukri recalled Virginia had an “awkward expression” on her face.

She added: “I do remember the little girl perhaps was a little bit drunk or just had a weird expression, an awkward expression.

“But she wasn’t smiling, it was the opposite of smiles.”

The prince told Newsnight “it’s very difficult to forget” having sex with someone, because it’s a “positive act for a man”.

Roberts Giuffre alleges she had sex with Andrew a second time at Epstein’s New York mansion, while she was Epstein’s “sex slave”. Andrew says this cannot be true because he was busy on official duties.

However, a former aide told the Telegraph Andrew had “gaps” in his diary and was allegedly unaccompanied for several hours in New York at a time when Roberts Giuffre was in the US and says they had sex.

She says: “I was very surprised to see him again. Epstein and Maxwell were making lewd jokes about ‘Randy Andy’ … I had sex with Andy there. I was only paid $400 from Epstein for servicing Andy that time.”

In evidence to a Florida court in 2015, Roberts Giuffre wrote: “The third time I had sex with Andy was in an orgy on Epstein’s private island in the US Virgin Islands.

“I was around 18 at the time. Epstein, Andy, approximately eight other young girls, and I had sex together. The other girls all seemed and appeared to be under the age of 18 and didn’t really speak English.”

David Boies, Virginia’s lawyer, told The Sun: “The more the evidence comes out, the more confirmation there is that the Epstein survivors are telling the truth, and that the denials and attacks of the Epstein enablers and participants are a smokescreen.”

“And Andrew’s story always seemed so shady to me.

“He has not released any documents, calendars or journals that would show where he was.”

Andrew was pictured in Tramp on March 13 — three days after it is claimed he was there with Virginia.

He was snapped chatting to Fiona Sangster, wife of racing tycoon Robert.

Roberts Giuffre’s allegations were struck from the US court record in 2015.

Prince Andrew denies all the allegations. READ MORE: Prince Andrew and Virginia Roberts Photo Analysis

Are there other allegations?

Johanna Sjoberg claims Prince Andrew fondled her breast at Epstein’s New York home on the same night as Roberts Giuffre’s second allegation, when she was 21. The prince has denied any sexual contact with Sjoberg.

In a defamation suit filed against Maxwell by Roberts Giuffre in 2015, Sjoberg says she, Roberts Giuffre and another female were invited to sit on Andrew’s lap to pose for a photo with him and his Spitting Image puppet.

She said: “Virginia … 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 put the puppet’s hand on Virginia’s breast, then Andrew put his hand on mine. It was a great joke.”

Differences between Giuffre and Sjoberg’s recollections of this night have been noted. Asked about accusations of inconsistency during her BBC Panorama interview, Roberts Giuffre said: “You are left with a foggy memory sometimes, you really are. I might be wrong on dates absolutely and I might be wrong on places even, sometimes … But one thing that I can tell you is you never forget the face of someone who has heaved over you.”

Last month, Sjoberg said she was prepared to share her claims with the FBI.

What do others say who witnessed Andrew and Epstein together?

Prince Andrew was seen inside the New York home of Epstein getting a foot massage from a young woman, according to emails between a literary agent, John Brockman, and author Evgeny Morozov.

Brockman is reported to have said: “Last time I visited his house, I walked in to find him in a sweatsuit and a British guy in a suit with suspenders [braces], getting foot massages from two young well-dressed Russian women.”

Brockman writes that the prince complained about his public profile.

“In Monaco, Albert works 12 hours a day but at 9pm, when he goes out, he does whatever he wants, and nobody cares. But, if I do it, I’m in big trouble,” the emails describe him as saying.

At that point, Brockman writes: “I realized that the recipient of Irina’s foot massage was his Royal Highness, Prince Andrew, Duke of York.”

What can we learn from Epstein’s flight logs?

Prince Andrew flew on Epstein’s private plane at least four times, once to Edinburgh, once to the Virgin Islands and twice to Palm Beach. Six weeks after Epstein was arrested for sex offences on 1 September 2006, the prince flew from London Luton to Edinburgh on Epstein’s plane with Maxwell.

An analysis of the flight logs by Channel 4’s Dispatches found that on 16 April 1998, Epstein met “Princess Sarah Ferguson and kids” on the ground in Nassau in the Bahamas.

The flight logs also confirm that Roberts Giuffre was in London on the night of her first alleged meeting with the prince.

How does Andrew’s ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, fit into all this?

In December 2010, the Duchess of York was given £15,000 by Epstein to help pay off her debts, just 18 months after he was released from jail for soliciting prostitution from underage girls. The Duchess later claimed her judgment had been “clouded” by her desperation to get out of her £5m debt and vowed to repay the money.

She is understood to have visited Epstein’s properties several times.

The Duchess told the Evening Standard: “I personally, on behalf of myself, deeply regret that Jeffrey Epstein became involved in any way with me.”

What now for Andrew? 

The prince has stepped down from official duties.

Five Epstein accusers want him to give evidence in US courts, saying he must talk to the FBI. Their lawyer, David Boies, claims Andrew witnessed men being given massages at the financier’s homes. Pre-trial witness subpoenas have been prepared for the five cases and could be served on the prince if he sets foot in the US again.

Prince Andrew faces new storm after jail cell suicide of Jeffrey Epstein’s paedo pal Jean-Luc Brunel

By Alex Diaz, TheSun

Jean-Luc Brunel, 75 — accused by abuse victim Virginia Giuffre of supplying girls to the Duke — was found hanged in Paris.

Andrew immediately faced calls to stand by his vow to help sex-trafficking victims by talking to investigators.

The death — which mirrored Epstein’s in 2019 — came on Andrew’s 62nd birthday and days after his £12million settlement of Virginia’s sex abuse legal claim.

One Brunel victim, former model Courtney Powell Soerensen, said: “It is past time for Prince Andrew to step up and provide justice for those denied the opportunity by Brunel and Epstein’s deaths.

“If he truly means what he said in his settlement statement, he should speak openly with all authorities about what he knows.”

Part of Andrew’s statement said: “He pledges to demonstrate his regret for his association with Epstein by supporting the fight against the evils of sex-trafficking, and by supporting its victims.”

French modelling agent Brunel was found dead at 1am.

Sources said he was in a single-occupancy cell, most of which do not have CCTV for privacy reasons.

Virginia had tweeted after his arrest in December 2020: “Are you sweating yet Prince Andrew? You should be! Your buddy Jean Luc Brunel is behind bars — remember those girls he supplied to you on the island."

She was referring to billionaire Epstein’s Caribbean private resort Little St James.

French investigators wanted to quiz Andrew after Brunel — who denied wrongdoing — was charged in 2020 with rape of minors and sexual harassment by anti-paedo cops probing Epstein.

Ian Maxwell, Ghislaine's brother, told the New York Post: “Another death by hanging in a high-security prison. My reaction is one of shock and bewilderment.”

Maxwell's family released a bizarre staged photo in an apparent attempt to discredit accusations of sexual abuse against Prince Andrew 

By Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert, BusinessInsider

In an apparent attempt to discredit Virginia Giuffre's allegations of sexual abuse against Prince Andrew, Ghislaine Maxwell's family has released a staged photo of two people in the sex trafficking socialite's former London home.

The Telegraph, a conservative British broadsheet, published the bizarre image on Friday, with a headline that it "clears Prince Andrew" of the accusations. The image features two unknown associates of Maxwell's in her bathtub, wearing paper masks of Andrew and Giuffre's faces, according to The Telegraph.

Ian Maxwell, Ghislaine's brother, told The Telegraph that the staged photo, which was created as a part of Ghislaine's sex trafficking trial defense, proves Giuffre's claims are false because it shows "that the bath is too small for any sort of sex frolicking" with two people in the tub at once.

Maxwell’s brother, Ian Maxwell, said: “If anything Andrew is a bit bigger, a bit broader than the man in the bath in the photo. You can see how small the bathroom is and how small the bath is. The idea that two people can get in there and she bats her eyes and takes her clothes off and has sex in the bath is impossible.

“The only way you can start to change public perception around that is to provide incontrovertible visual evidence. People can now look at this photo in the bath and judge for themselves. I am putting it out, and if that helps Prince Andrew then so be it. If Prince Andrew wants to use it, we will make it available to him.”

The photo's release comes as Prince Andrew attempts to overturn the $16 million settlement he agreed to late last year in order to avoid going to court over Giuffre's allegations. Giuffre alleged that, after she was trafficked by Epstein, the Duke of York was one of the people who abused her in 2001, when she was 17 years old.

In her account of the abuse, Giuffre says the royal began touching her in the bathtub of Maxwell's former home, licking her feet and playing with her toes, before directing her to have sex with him.

"There was a bath and it started there and then led into the bedroom," Giuffre told BBC Panorama in 2019. "It didn't last very long, the whole entire procedure. It was disgusting. He wasn't mean or anything but he got up and he said 'Thanks' and walked out."

Maxwell was convicted of sex trafficking in June and sentenced to 20 years in prison for preying upon teen girls and allowing them to be abused by prolific sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his associates. Prince Andrew, who maintained a 20-year public friendship with Epstein, was listed under 12 different phone numbers in the sex offender's notorious black book, which listed more than 1,500 of his political and celebrity contacts.

The Telegraph reported Prince Andrew is in talks with lawyers to attempt to overturn the settlement after Giuffre dropped her lawsuit against Alan Dershowitz late last year, saying she "may have made a mistake" when she identified him as one of the people she was trafficked to.

Despite Giuffre's statements about Dershowitz, legal experts told Insider that Prince Andrew's attempts to overturn the settlement are a "foolhardy effort."

NOTE: This is a totally free article, no subscriptions or pay walls, no ads or pop ups, no donation buttons or anything to join or buy. No spam! I do not profit from any of this. I am not running for any political office, nor do I endorse any candidates or political parties.

Do yourself a favor. Think for yourself. Be your own person. Question everything. Stand for principle. Champion individual liberty and self-ownership where you can. Develop a strong moral code. Be kind to others. Do no harm, unless that harm is warranted. Pretty obvious stuff...but people who hold to these things in their hearts seem to be disappearing from the earth at an accelerated rate. Stay safe, my friends. Thanks for being here.

Sources:

Epstein's Little Black Book

FBI Files Jeffrey Epstein

Epstein's Private Jet's Flight Manifests

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The nonprofit organization End Violence Against Women International began the national Start By Believing Campaign in 2011, to promote positive responses to sexual assault survivors who disclose. As the campaign’s name suggests, a statement of belief can have a huge impact on sexual assault survivors, and can influence their decision whether or not to disclose their sexual assault again. Start By Believing also provides more tips on what to say and what not to say when someone confides in you they’ve been sexually assaulted.

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