Ghislaine Maxwell feared being questioned about Prince Andrew relationship
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Ghislaine Maxwell told her lawyers she was concerned about being questioned on her relationship with Prince Andrew, a newly released court filing reveals.
The convicted sex trafficker and daughter of the media tycoon Robert Maxwell said she was “out of her depth” as she faced lawsuits against her and warned of a “US legal nightmare” in 2015, an email shows.
In a message to her attorney and PR consultant, Maxwell said she was concerned about “more questions” over her relationship to Bill Clinton and the Duke of York.
The email came days after Virginia Giuffre, Jeffrey Epstein’s most high-profile accuser, went public with allegations that she had been sex trafficked by Maxwell to have sex with the Duke.
Ms Giuffre’s allegations prompted dozens of Epstein’s victims to come forward and partly resulted in his arrest for sex trafficking in July 2019.
Maxwell has since been jailed for 20 years in the US for conspiring with Epstein to sexually abuse minors.
In a distressed email after Ms Giuffre filed court papers in Florida accusing Maxwell of trafficking her, the British socialite wrote: “I am out of my depth to understanding [sic] defamation and other legal hazards and don’t want to end up in a lawsuit aimed at me from anyone if I can help it.
“Apparently even saying Virginia is a lier [sic] has hazard! I have never been in a suit criminal or civil and want it to stay that way.”
Maxwell added: “I am trying to stay out of litigation and not have to employ lawyers for years as I get lost in US legal nightmare.”
Her message reveals concerns about questions from the press and lawyers about her relationship with Prince Andrew, who was separately sued by Ms Giuffre and has settled for an undisclosed sum.
The prince, who lost his royal titles over his relationship with Epstein and alleged involvement in sexual abuse, denies any wrongdoing.
“I have already suffered such a terrible and painful loss over the last few days that I can’t even see what life after press he’ll [sic] even looks like - statements that don’t address all just lead to more questions,” Ms Maxwell wrote.
“What is my relationship to clinton ? Andrew on and on. Let’s rest till monday. I need head space.”
The email was revealed after Loretta Preska, a New York judge, unsealed previously confidential court filings from a defamation lawsuit filed by Ms Giuffre against Maxwell.
She said that there was no legal reason the documents should not be made public, and noted that many of the details had already emerged in the media.
The filings allege that Maxwell knew “powerful individuals with whom she could connect Epstein”, including the Duke.
The filing alleges that “Jane Doe #3”, an alias used in the court documents believed to be Ms Giuffre, was kept as a sex slave by Epstein and “forced to have sexual relations with this Prince when she was a minor in three separate geographical locations: in London (at Ghislaine Maxwell’s apartment), in New York, and on Epstein’s private island in the US Virgin Islands (in an orgy with numerous other under-aged girls).”
Epstein instructed her to “give the Prince whatever he demanded and required Jane Doe #3 to report back to him on the details of the sexual abuse”, according to the document.
It stated Maxwell “facilitated Prince Andrew’s acts of sexual abuse by acting as a ‘madame’ for Epstein”.
In another filing, Alfredo Rodriguez, Epstein’s housekeeper, said that the Duke would call Epstein once a week.
Asked whether the Duke had visited Epstein’s private island in the US Virgin Islands, Maxwell said in an unsealed deposition that he had, but no girls had been present.
When questioned about how many times he had visited, she said: “I can only remember once.”
Asked if there were any girls under the age of 18 on the island at the time, Maxwell said: “There were no girls on the island at all.
“No girls, no women, other than the staff who work at the house. Girls meaning, I assume you are asking underage, but there was nobody female outside of the cooks and the cleaners.”
