Ghislaine Maxwell, the British socialite accused of trafficking minors for paedophile American financier Jeffrey Epstein, is battling to prevent the release of hundreds of “extremely” personal documents that could involve her friend Prince Andrew, the Duke of York. The Sunday Times newspaper reported that lawyers defending Maxwell said the evidence was said to include the names of “hundreds of people” with alleged links to Epstein and could be used to “promote public scandal”. Maxwell, 58, was due to appear by video link in a Manhattan court on Tuesday, her first appearance since she was arrested earlier this month. It comes almost a year after Epstein was found dead in his prison cell. She faces charges of grooming and trafficking minors, one as young as 14, between 1994 and 1997 and two accounts of perjury. Maxwell has denied the charges. She was also expected to request US$5 million bail, with her lawyers arguing that the Covid-19 crisis would put Maxwell’s health at “serious risk” if she continued to be held in jail. Ghislaine Maxwell held in ‘troubled’ New York jail, plagued by virus concerns Prosecutors say she is “extreme” flight risk, but Maxwell’s lawyers have insisted she would stay in America to fight the charges and would surrender her passports. The proceedings will likely be closely watched by the legal team of Prince Andrew, 60, who lives in the countryside Windsor Castle where Queen Elizabeth is also taking refuge amid the UK’s coronavirus outbreak. The British royal, whose party lifestyle and penchant for young women gained him the press moniker “Randy Andy”, has admitted visiting Epstein around three times a year, even after the disgraced financier had been convicted of sexually abusing underage girls. One of Epstein’s victims, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, claimed Epstein forced her to have sex with the prince three times, including one time in Maxwell’s London town house when she was just 17. Prince Andrew said he had no recollection of even meeting Giuffre and previously suggested that a photograph of the two showing him with his arm around Giuffre’s bare midriff, might have been doctored. According to The Sunday Times , the evidence Maxwell wants to suppress relates to a civil defamation action brought against her by Giuffre, after she accused her of lying. The case was settled in 2017 before it came to trial, but the report said there were still 900 files under seal, that included the names of high-profile Epstein associates. The files include flight logs of Epstein’s private jet that Prince Andrew has admitted having travelled on. He also stayed on Epstein’s private Caribbean island and at his homes in New York and Florida. ‘Lolita Express’ and the famous friends of Jeffrey Epstein The trio were photographed several times together in 2000, including at the Royal Ascot horse races and also with US President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida. Prince Andrew has admitted hosting Epstein and Maxwell at the royal palace at Sandringham for a “shooting weekend” and also Windsor Castle. The US Federal Bureau of Investigation has said it wanted to interview Prince Andrew. During a press conference following Maxwell’s arrest, Audrey Strauss, the acting US attorney for the Southern District of New York, said she would “welcome Prince Andrew coming to talk to us”. It is unlikely however he would be asked for a court testimony, more just an on-the-record interview. Robert Currie, a Canadian law professor and specialist in transnational criminal law told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation he believed Prince Andrew’s legal team have offered a written statement. Andrew stepped down from royal duties last year following his disastrous interview with the BBC in which he had hoped to clear his name. However, he failed to convince the public and instead was widely mocked. Prince Andrew ‘bewildered’ by US claims he is resisting probe into Epstein If the scandal intensifies because of Maxwell’s court appearance, it will be a major blow to the royal family, coming as the 94-year-old monarch is forced to withdraw from public duties because of Covid-19 risks in the UK. She may be forced to strip her second son of his royal title to soften the blow for her successor, Prince Andrew’s older brother Charles. The queen also may not be amused by the emergence last week of a photograph of Maxwell and the US actor Kevin Spacey sitting on her coronation throne during a private tour of Buckingham Palace arranged by Prince Andrew. Ghislaine Maxwell and Kevin Spacey sitting on the Royal thrones. Where’s the Queen? pic.twitter.com/tH0mx8xVpf — J (@ItsAboutTime45) July 5, 2020 It was unlikely much would be revealed on Tuesday in court, where the charges against Maxwell will be read. On Sunday, the American lawyer representing Giuffre said it was likely there was video of Prince Andrew inside one of Epstein’s properties, although he did not know if investigators had seized internal CCTV footage when they raided Epstein’s homes after his arrest last year. “There is no doubt Prince Andrew would have been captured on footage filmed in rooms and private areas of Epstein’s property,” David Boies, who is representing several of Epstein’s victims told The Mail on Sunday . “We know there were cameras throughout the New York mansion and in Epstein’s other properties. We know there were a multitude of cameras and very large quantities of tapes.” From ‘Megxit’ to Prince Andrew’s sex scandal: a list of royal crises of the last century During the BBC interview last year, Prince Andrew denied seeing anything untoward while visiting Epstein. He said that because he was a patron of a National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children “he knew what to look for but I never saw them”. He said “going to Jeffrey’s was not about partying” but enabled him to meet with “US eminence” and prepare him for a later role as a trade envoy. Boies said: “We know there were cameras throughout the New York mansion and in Epstein’s other properties. We know there were a multitude of cameras and very large quantities of tapes. “Prince Andrew would have been included. He would certainly have been included among the people who would have been captured on the tapes.”