Epstein victim says 'one of them is lying' as Prince Andrew transcript emerges

05 January 2024 , 20:51

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Andrew, who vehemently denied he sexually abused her when she was teen, was sued by the now 40-year-old in August 2021 (Image: PA)

Ghislaine Maxwell has vehemently denied Prince Andrew’s car crash Newsnight claim she introduced him to his paedophile pal Jeffrey Epstein, new court documents have revealed.

The rebuttal, seen in newly unsealed New York legal papers, puts the jailed British socialite at direct odds with her royal friend. Today a victim of Epstein, who received compensation from the late millionaire’s compensation fund, told the Mirror: “Well, one of them is lying.

“The two of them have been like peas in a pod, backing each other every step of the way. But clear its just been a facade.” The 36-year-old mum then made a direct plea to the Duke asking him to “come clean” and speak to the FBI. Andrew was famously quizzed by BBC Newsnight in November 2019 about how he met the American sex offender.

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Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell pictured in 2005 (Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)

Interviewer Emily Maitlis asked him: “As you say, all of this goes back to your friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, how did you first become friends? How did you meet?” Andrew, 63, responded: “Well I met through his girlfriend (Maxwell) back in 1999 who…and I’d known her since she was at university in the UK and it would be, to some extent, a stretch to say that as it were we were close friends. I mean we were friends because of other people and I had a lot of opportunity to go to the United States but I didn’t have much time with him.”

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But on Friday night, damning new legal documents unsealed by a New York judge showed Maxwell, 62, emphatically deny it was her. In a videotaped deposition as part of her defamation lawsuit brought against her by Andrew’s sex abuse accuser Virginia Giuffre, she was asked about how the Duke and Epstein met.

Andrew was famously quizzed by BBC Newsnight in November 2019 about how he met the American sex offender (PA)

The transcript reads:

"Q. Do you know Prince Andrew? A . I do.
"Q. How long have you known him? A . A very long time.
"Q. Since you were a child? A . I really - it's so long, it's really a long time ago. I just don't recall.
"Q. Do you remember how you first met him? A . No, I do not.
"Q. Did you introduce him to Jeffrey? A . That would be another of Virginia's lies and the lies you perpetrate. I never introduced Prince Andrew to Jeffrey Epstein at any time ever, so just add that the (sic) to long list of lies.
"Q. Did Jeffrey know Prince Andrew? A . Clearly he knew him. I think we have that answer but how - yeah.
"Q. Do you know how Jeffery met Prince Andrew? A . I do not know (sic) Jeffrey met Prince Andrew. What I do know is that I did not introduce them. That is one of the many lies. Are we tallying all the lies?
"Q. Do you know when Jeffrey met Prince Andrew? A . I do not know when Jeffrey met Prince Andrew.”

Maxwell’s deposition was released on Friday as a third batch of document from the defamation case were released this week. New York judge Loretta Preska ordered them unsealed as part of Ms Giuffre’s previously settled 2015 civil claim against disgraced the British socialite.

The Duke of York, Virginia Giuffre, and Ghislaine Maxwell (PA)

Andrew, who vehemently denied he sexually abused her when she was teen, was sued by the now 40-year-old in August 2021 in New York in a civil case. It led to him paying Giuffre a reported £12 million in an out-of-court settlement while accepting no liability.
Maxwell has been imprisoned since July 2020, despite numerous attempts from her defence counsel to have her released on bail.

She was sentenced to 20 years in prison at the federal court in the Southern District of New York in June 2022. The socialite indicated her desire to appeal shortly after her conviction with her lawyers claiming victims had "faded, distorted and motivated memories".

Her appeal is currently scheduled to be heard in November . Epstein was found dead in his cell at a federal jail in Manhattan in August 2019 while he awaited trial on sex trafficking charges. The death was ruled a suicide.

Christopher Bucktin