Prince Andrew and Jeffrey Epstein met via girlfriend - relationship timeline

20 July 2023 , 20:04
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Prince Andrew denies any wrongdoing (Image: PA)
Prince Andrew denies any wrongdoing (Image: PA)

The relationship between Prince Andrew and convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein has been fraught with controversy.

This timeline reveals what is known about how they met - and their friendship grew - and continues to have repercussions years after the billionaire was found dead:


Mid 1990s:The Duke of York is introduced to Epstein through his friendship with Ghislaine Maxwell.

1999: Andrew hosts Epstein and his entourage at Balmoral. One of the young women on the trip said the prince personally welcomed the party to the castle.

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April 2000: Maxwell was spotted holding hands with the Duke during an intimate lunch at Nello restaurant in Madison Avenue, New York. Ghislaine and Andrew were not lovers. Andrew and Maxwell are later seen on holiday with Epstein at Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida.

June 2000: Epstein and Maxwell attend party at Windsor Castle hosted by the Queen to mark Andrew’s 40th.

December 2000: Andrew throws a birthday party for Maxwell at Sandringham. Epstein is present.

Christmas 2000: Andrew leaves the Royal Family’s annual gathering at Sandringham to join Maxwell and Epstein in Phuket, Thailand, for New Year. The Duke was photographed sunbathing on a yacht with topless young women.

Prince Andrew and Jeffrey Epstein met via girlfriend - relationship timelineAndrew's accuser Virginia Giuffre (PA)

March 2001: Epstein’s “sex slave” Virginia Giuffre is flown to London to meet Andrew and he is pictured with his arm around her waist. Giuffre claims they had sex which Andrew vehemently denies.

2005: Parents of a 14-year-old girl told police in Florida that Epstein had molested their daughter at his Palm Beach home. A police search of the property found photos of girls throughout the house.

2006: Epstein is charged with multiple counts of unlawful sexual acts with a minor.

2007: Epstein’s lawyers put together a plea deal for Epstein, who was then 54. He agreed to plead guilty to two felony prostitution charges in state court, In exchange, he and his accomplices received immunity from federal sex-trafficking charges that could have sent him to prison for life.

2008: Epstein is sentenced to 18 months in jail, serves 13 and is released into house arrest.

July 21, 2009: Epstein released from prison and immediately into house arrest for 12 months.

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June 2010: A 2023 civil case presents evidence Andrew dined with Epstein. Emails also show the pair were in contact.

December 2010: Prince Andrew parties with the paedophile at the billionaire’s New York mansion just months after the shamed businessman was released from jail The financier threw an "intimate dinner" party with the Duke and Woody Allen at his Manhattan townhouse, where the royal was allegedly treated like a "guest of honour”. Prince Andrew pictured with Epstein walking in Central ark in New York. The Duke quits his role as UK trade envoy as a result.

January 2011: Palace said this year is when the Duke of York last saw Epstein.

January 2015: Andrew is named in US court documents related to Epstein. Palace denies impropriety. Lawyers for Ms Giuffre formally request that he respond to her allegations under oath. The Duke publicly denies allegations he had sex with the then teenager in an address to guests at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

July 2019: Epstein arrested on charges of child sex trafficking and conspiracy to commit sex trafficking. Prosecutors accused him in a grand jury indictment of paying dozens of girls as young as 14 to engage in sex acts with him at his New York and Florida properties from 2002 to 2005. Pleaded not guilty and could face up to 45 years in prison if convicted. More than a dozen women have now come forward with more sex abuse allegations.

Prince Andrew and Jeffrey Epstein met via girlfriend - relationship timelineGhislaine Maxwell speaking from prison (PA)

August 9 2019: A US judge unseals legal documents which reveal Prince Andrew was accused of touching the breast of 'young college student' Johanna Sjoberg at Epstein's home in 2001. The files relate to the defamation case that Virginia Roberts - now known as Virginia Giuffre - brought against Ms Maxwell in 2015. Buckingham Palace says the allegations are 'categorically untrue'.

August 10 2019: Epstein commits suicide at the Manhattan Correctional Center in New York. He was awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

August 24 2019: After two weeks of pressure and accusations, Buckingham Palace release statement distancing Andrew from Epstein. "I deplore the exploitation of any human being and would not condone, participate in, or encourage any such behaviour,” the Duke said. He reiterated, "it was a mistake and an error to see him after his release in 2010.” Of his death, he said: "His suicide has left many unanswered questions and I acknowledge and sympathise with everyone who has been affected and wants some form of closure." Andrew later stripped of titles and patronages.

September 20 2019: Buckingham Palace repeats its previous statement over the allegations against the Prince. A spokesperson told the Mirror/Express/Star: “It is emphatically denied that The Duke of York had any form of sexual contact or relationship with Virginia Roberts. Any claim to the contrary is false and without foundation.”

November 2019: Andrew appears on BBC Newsnight, delivering a car crash interview over his friendship with Epstein. During the interview, heprovides of a timeline of his decision to end his relationship with Epstein. States the only time he saw and spoke to him was in December 2010. Denies any other contact after he learnt in 2006 Epstein was under investigation. When asked if there was any other contact other than their meeting in December 2010, Andrew replies "No. No. No."

August 9, 2021: Prince Andrew sued in New York by Jeffrey Epstein’s former teenage sex slave accusing the royal of abusing her at the paedophile’s mansion. Virginia Giuffre has issued legal proceedings against the Duke of Yorover allegations he abused her at the late Wall Streets financiers Manhattan US home and in London while she was under 18. Days later Andrew vehemently denies her allegations.

December 30, 2021: Ghislaine Maxwell found guilty of sex trafficking, procuring and grooming minors for Epstein.

March 2022: Prince Andrew agrees to a multi-million-pound settlement to sexual abuse accuser Virginia Giuffre to dismiss her lawsuit against him.

Mirror.co.uk

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