Jailing of Maxwell is not the end of sordid affair for Duke
WITH Jeffrey Epstein dead and Ghislaine Maxwell now behind bars for the next 20 years, Prince Andrew’s former circle of friends has taken a huge hit.
Together, the three of them once enjoyed each others’ company jetting to their homes both in the UK and US.
At the same time, American billionaire, Epstein and his socialite girlfriend Maxwell were trafficking teens to abuse.
Now with Epstein gone and Maxwell incarcerated, the Duke may have thought his connection to this terrible affair was finally over.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few years, you will be aware that our ninth in line to the throne and the Queen’s “favourite son” has been accused of being caught up in the criminal couple’s sick world.
The self-proclaimed “teenage sex slave” of Epstein, Virginia Giuffre, claimed she was forced to sleep with the Prince by Epstein and Maxwell in 2001, when she was 17.
Despite his vehement denials, the allegations led to an astonishing fall from grace for the Duke. He has been stripped of numerous patronages and stood down from public life.
Giuffre pursued the Duke in America which ended in an out-of-court £12 million civil settlement being paid to her by the royal. Of course, the payment was in no way an admittance or acceptance of any of her allegations.
However, crucially, the deal prevented Andrew from having to answer questions under oath. Questions Epstein’s victims, as well as the FBI, still deserve answers to.
At the time of the February settlement with Giuffre, the royal pledged “to demonstrate his regret
for his association with Epstein by supporting the fight against the evils of sex trafficking, and by supporting its victims.”
So far, he has failed to keep his end of the bargain by speaking to any US law enforcement agency investigating his former pal’s catalogue of horrific crimes. Several lawyers I spoke with last week, all of whom represent victims of Epstein and Maxwell, were unanimous in what they believe Prince Andrew should do.
One attorney, Spencer Kuvin, said if Andrew “did nothing wrong, then come forward and tell the full story to the FBI, not the media.”
Lawyer Lisa Bloom was more direct, calling “upon the FBI to fully investigate Prince Andrew”.
The calls must indeed serve as a warning to the grand old Duke.
Last week’s sentencing of Maxwell, Epstein’s lieutenant-on-chief, should only be the start.
For such a large-scale enterprise to have been orchestrated by the late Wall Street financier, others must have played a part.
Giuffre’s own lawyer Brad Edwards said at the sentencing of Maxwell that prosecutors’ “next target” should be Epstein’s associates and he is right.
So, while Andrew continues to plot his not-so-secret return to public life, perhaps the greatest hurdle he needs to overcome is his refusal, so far, to speak to the FBI.
Until he does, he will remain the palace pariah.
SIXTY years after the infamous Alcatraz prison break, police have released new age-progressed images of the three escapees believing they could still be alive.
Pictures by a forensic artist of Frank Morris, Clarence Anglin and his brother, John Anglin, have been released by the US Marshals Service who are still hunting the men.
If alive, all would be in their 90s today.
The three convicted bank robbers escaped from ‘The Rock’ in June 1962.
There are a few people we could all name who we wish would disappear for 60 years.
He has failed to keep his end of the bargain by speaking to any US law enforcement agency investigating his former pal’s catalogue of crimes.