Ghislaine Maxwell claims photo of Prince Andrew with his accuser is fake in prison interview: ‘I don’t think it’s real for a second’
Disgraced former socialite Ghislaine Maxwell has claimed in a prison interview with a British broadcaster that a decades-old photo of Prince Andrew with his sex abuse accuser Virginia Giuffre was “fake”.
Maxwell, a friend of the British royal family, is imprisoned in Florida after her conviction and 20 years imprisonment for helping the late financier Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse girls.
Giuffre has claimed she was abducted by the couple to, among others, Andrew, the younger brother of King Charles III.
The 39-year-old sued the discredited royal in a United States court, claiming they had sex in London when she was 17 and a minor under US law.
He has settled the sexual assault lawsuit at significant expense last year, which spared him the public humiliation of a trial.
The 62-year-old prince has not been criminally charged and continues to deny the allegations.
But he resigned from his royal duties and was stripped of his military titles amid public outcry over the reported $16.3 million settlement.
A photo of Andrew with his arm around Giuffre’s waist and Maxwell next to them – allegedly taken in London in 2001 – is believed to be crucial to the lawsuit against the prince.
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But in her interview with TalkTV, which will air Monday night in the UK, Maxwell, who has known him for decades, insists the picture is fake.
“It is a fake. I don’t believe for a second it’s real, in fact I’m pretty sure it’s not,” she says. “There was never an original, nor was there a photo. I’ve only ever seen a photocopy of it.”
The youngest son of the late Queen Elizabeth II has insisted he never met Giuffre and in a disastrous BBC interview 2019 also seemed to question the authenticity of the photo.
“I don’t think the photo was taken the way it was suggested,” he told the broadcaster at the time. “It’s a photo of a photo of a photo… No one can prove whether or not this photo has been manipulated.”
Maxwell’s comments, who are appealing her US conviction, come as British newspapers said on Sunday Andrew will seek to overturn the costly settlement he agreed with Giuffre almost a year ago.
It follows her Dropping a Separate Abuse Claim against prominent attorney Alan Dershowitz.
The Sun reported that Andrew is consulting US attorneys Andrew Brettler and Blair Berk and is hoping to force a recantation or even an apology, which could pave the way for a royal rehabilitation.
“I can tell you with confidence that Prince Andrew’s team is now considering legal options,” a “well-placed source” told the tabloid.
A representative for Andrew could not be immediately reached for comment.
Due to a reported stranglehold clause in the settlement, Giuffre has not been able to speak publicly about the allegation, but it is expected to end next month.
in one previous prison interview for a special that aired on Paramount+, Maxwell also cast doubt on the well-known photo — although Maxwell had previously stated in an email to Dershowitz that the photo was real.
In that interview, Maxwell said that “meeting Epstein was the biggest mistake of my life.”
“If I could go back today, I would avoid meeting him and I would say that would be the biggest mistake I have ever made and I would make different choices about where I would work,” Maxwell said.
When asked if she felt herself a victim of Epstein, Maxwell said, “I don’t particularly like the word victim. It should be used very sparingly because today everyone is a victim of something.”
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ghislaine-maxwell-claims-photo-prince-andrew-accuser-virginia-giuffre-fake/ Ghislaine Maxwell claims photo of Prince Andrew with his accuser is fake in prison interview: ‘I don’t think it’s real for a second’
