Prince Andrew cracked jokes about Camilla's upset stomach at Ghislaine Maxwell's party, says New York playboy
A New York playboy has claimed Prince Andrew told a joke about Prince Charles' future wife Camilla at one of Ghislaine Maxwell's dinner parties where he was the "guest of honor". Millionaire hotelier Vikram Chatwal first told the story in 2002, long before Andrew and Maxwell faced scrutiny over their alleged links with pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein. Chatwal, who was 31 at the time, was quizzed about his social life after he revealed he had attended a party with Maxwell and Andrew, according to The Observer.
The hotelier said he had gone to the British socialite's lavish Manhattan townhouse for a dinner party, where Prince Andrew was the "guest of honor". At some point at the party, Andrew allegedly told a "quite humorous" joke about Camilla and Pepto-Bismol, a drug used to treat stomach upsets.
Chatwal then described Maxwell as the "most rocking babe I've ever met" and said she was the "coolest person alive". According to him, Maxwell bragged at the party she had "flown a Blackhawk helicopter in Colombia" and blown up a terrorist camp. "She blew up a tank. That is amazing," Chatwal said at the time. "After that, my perception of her completely changed."
The dinner party purportedly took place sometime around November 2002. Having said that, Chatwal has not been accused of any wrongdoing over his alleged links to Maxwell, who became a fixture in New York's high society and luxurious parties after moving there following the mysterious death of her media mogul father, Robert Maxwell.
The British newspaper heiress is said to have hosted numerous rich and influential people while working as Epstein's 'madam'. Andrew has admitted that Maxwell was the one who introduced him to Epstein, as they were pals since college in the UK. But the Duke of York has denied all allegations against himself and maintained he had no knowledge of any wrongdoing despite his long association with Maxwell and Epstein.
He has been accused of sleeping with former Epstein sex slave Virginia Roberts at Maxwell's London townhouse in March 2001. In fact, a viral photo showing the prince with his arm around Virginia's waist and Maxwell in the background was reportedly taken on the same night. But Andrew has said he doesn't remember the photo being taken and suggested it could have been doctored.
Virginia, however, alleges she and the prince dined, danced, and drank in Tramp nightclub in London before having sex that night. According to her, she also had sex with Andrew at Epstein's New York mansion and on his private Caribbean island Little Saint James. She further alleged that Maxwell was the one who recruited her for Epstein and his powerful friends to abuse.
Maxwell was arrested by the FBI last month and is currently being held in a New York jail as she awaits trial next year. The longtime confidante of Epstein is believed to have facilitated his abuse of young girls in the mid-1990s and allegedly participated in some of the abuse herself, prosecutors allege. Nonetheless, she has pleaded not guilty to all charges against her.