Ghislaine Maxwell calls Prince Andrew her ‘dear friend’ in prison interview
- Maxwell, the socialite convicted of helping financier Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse underage girls, undermined Andrew’s claims that the pair are not close
- Speaking to the Mail on Sunday newspaper, Maxwell said Andrew is ‘paying such a price’ for his association with Epstein. ‘I feel so bad for him,’ she said
Ghislaine Maxwell, the socialite convicted of helping the financier Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse underage girls used an affectionate term to refer to Prince Andrew in a rare jailhouse interview, potentially undermining the Duke of York’s claims that the pair are not that close.
Speaking to the Mail on Sunday newspaper, Maxwell, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison for sex-trafficking girls for US financier Jeffrey Epstein, referred to Prince Andrew as her “dear friend,” reported the newspaper.
During the interview, which took place over the summer from the Metropolitan Detention Centre in Brooklyn, New York, 60-year-old Maxwell went on to say that Prince Andrew is “paying such a price” for his association with Epstein.
“I care about him, and I feel so bad for him,” she told the Mail on Sunday.
Last August, Virginia Giuffre sued Prince Andrew. She said Epstein, Maxwell, and Andrew forced her to have sex with the prince when she was 17 in Maxwell’s London home. The prince denied the allegations, later reaching an out-of-court settlement with Giuffre.
As part of her complaint, Giuffre’s lawyers described Andrew as a “close friend” of Maxwell. Andrew’s legal team denied this – a claim which many have cast doubt on.