Disgraced former socialite Ghislaine Maxwell has claimed in a jailhouse interview with a UK broadcaster {that a} decades-old {photograph} of Prince Andrew along with his sexual abuse accuser Virginia Giuffre is “fake”.
Maxwell, a buddy to British royalty, is imprisoned in a Florida penitentiary after her conviction and 20-year sentence for serving to late financier Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse women.
Giuffre has claimed she was trafficked by the pair to, amongst others, Andrew, King Charles III’s youthful brother.
The 39-year-old sued the discredited royal in a United States court docket, claiming that they had intercourse in London when she was 17 and a minor below US legislation.
He settled the sexual assault lawsuit at appreciable price final yr, sparing him the general public humiliation of a trial.
The prince, 62, has not been criminally charged and has continued to disclaim the accusations.
But he stepped again from royal duties and was stripped of his army titles following a public outcry over the reported £12 million (then-$16.3 million) settlement.
{A photograph} of Andrew along with his arm round Giuffre’s waist and Maxwell standing subsequent to them — mentioned to have been taken in London in 2001 — is seen as essential to the declare towards the prince.
But in her US federal jail interview with TalkTV, set to air within the UK on Monday night, Maxwell, who has identified him for many years, is adamant the picture shouldn’t be real.
– Doctored? –
“It’s a fake. I don’t believe it’s real for a second, in fact I’m sure it’s not,” she states.
“There’s never been an original and further there is no photograph. I’ve only ever seen a photocopy of it.”
The late Queen Elizabeth II’s youngest son has insisted he by no means met Giuffre, and in a disastrous 2019 BBC interview additionally appeared to query the photograph’s authenticity.
“I don’t believe that photograph was taken in the way that has been suggested,” he advised the broadcaster on the time.
“It’s a photograph of a photograph of a photograph… Nobody can prove whether or not that photograph has been doctored.”
The feedback by Maxwell, who’s interesting her US conviction, come as British newspapers mentioned Sunday that Andrew would bid to overturn the expensive settlement he agreed with Giuffre nearly a yr in the past.
It follows her dropping a separate abuse declare towards movie star lawyer Alan Dershowitz.
The Sun reported Andrew was consulting US legal professionals Andrew Brettler and Blair Berk and hopes to pressure a retraction and even an apology, which it added might pave the way in which for a royal rehabilitation.
“I can tell you with confidence that the Prince Andrew team is now considering legal options”, a “well-placed source” advised the tabloid.
A consultant for Andrew couldn’t instantly be reached for remark.
Under a reported gagging clause within the settlement, Giuffre has been unable to speak publicly concerning the declare, however that’s mentioned to be as a result of finish subsequent month.
A spokesperson for US attorneys David Boies and Sigrid McCawley, who characterize Giuffre, indicated that neither Virginia or her attorneys had been commenting right now.
