Last Update: January 22, 2023, 21:57 IST
Prince Andrew, Virginia Giuffre (middle), and Ghislaine Maxwell (right). (Image: Twitter)
A photo of Andrew with his arm around Giuffre’s waist and Maxwell standing next to him, said to have been taken in London in 2001, is considered crucial to the claim against the prince
Disgraced former socialite Ghislaine Maxwell has claimed in a jailhouse interview with a UK broadcaster that a decades-old photo of Prince Andrew with sexual abuse accuser Virginia Giuffre is a “fake”.
Maxwell, a friend of British royalty, has been jailed in a Florida prison following his conviction and 20 years for helping the late financier Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse girls.
Giuffre claimed she was trafficked by the pair to, among others, Andrew, the younger brother of King Charles III.
The 39-year-old sued the disgraced royal in a United States court, claiming they had sex in London when she was 17 and a minor under US law.
He settled a sexual assault lawsuit last year at great cost, leaving him with the public humiliation of a trial.
The 62-year-old prince has not been criminally charged and continues to deny the allegations.
But he stepped back from royal duties and was stripped of his military titles amid a public outcry over a reported £12 million (then $16.3 million) settlement.
A photo of Andrew with his arm around Giuffre’s waist and Maxwell standing next to him – said to have been taken in London in 2001 – is believed to be key to the claim against the prince.
But in his US federal prison interview with TalkTV, broadcast in the UK on Monday evening, Maxwell, who has known him for decades, is adamant that the image is not real.
doctorate?
“It’s a fake. I don’t believe it’s real for one second, in fact I’m sure it’s not,” she says.
“There has never been an original and there is no further photograph. I have only ever seen a photocopy of it.”
The youngest son of the late Queen Elizabeth II has insisted he never met Giuffre, and even questioned the photo’s authenticity in a devastating 2019 BBC interview.
He told the broadcaster at the time, “I do not believe the picture was taken in the way it was suggested.”
“It is a picture of a picture of a picture… no one can prove whether that picture has been doctored or not.”
The comments by Maxwell, who is appealing his US sentence, came as British newspapers said on Sunday that Andrew would be in a bid to overturn a costly settlement with Giuffre nearly a year ago.
This follows the dropping of a separate misconduct claim against celebrity attorney Alan Dershowitz.
The Sun reports that Andrew has been consulting US lawyers Andrew Breitler and Blair Burke and hopes to seek a retraction or even an apology, which could pave the way for royal rehabilitation.
“I can tell you with confidence that Prince Andrew’s team are now considering legal options,” a “well-placed source” told the tabloid.
A rep for Andrew could not immediately be reached for comment.
Under the alleged gagging clause in the settlement, Giuffre has been unable to speak publicly about the claim, but it is said to be set to expire next month.
read all breaking news Here
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)