Prince Andrew left Ghislaine Maxwell's Manhattan party with three young, blonde girls, recalls couple
A British couple claimed they saw Prince Andrew leaving a restaurant with "three young, blonde girls" after partying with disgraced socialite Ghislaine Maxwell. Speaking on the condition of anonymity, the pair recounted their "very strange" experience when they stayed with Maxwell for a few days in New York. They were mostly shocked by her extravagant life.
The couple also revealed their alleged encounter with Prince Andrew, who is embroiled in controversy due to his links with Maxwell and the late financier Jeffrey Epstein. The Prince reportedly attended a party thrown by Maxwell at her luxurious Manhattan townhouse, the couple claimed, adding that among the guests was also a two-time Academy Award winner. The party reportedly featured virtual games of tennis on a huge movie screen set up in Maxwell's basement.
Speaking to the Sunday Times, the couple revealed how they went to dine at a neighborhood restaurant the following night and were told Andrew would be joining them. "I remember seeing him sitting at a table at the far end with these three young blonde girls when we walked in," the source told the paper. "He immediately got up, I imagined to join us, but instead he said goodbye and left with them in tow. It was all very strange," they added.
Epstein and his longtime confidante Maxwell are said to be at the center of a nefarious sex trafficking ring that lured young girls, often minors, for the billionaire and his friends to abuse. Meanwhile, Andrew is known to have known Epstein and Maxwell for the longest time and has been accused of sleeping with a 17-year-old girl at Maxwell's London property. However, the Duke of York has denied all allegations against him.
It is said that Maxwell was the one to introduce Andrew to Epstein, especially after she and the Duke were friends since college. In a disastrous interview with BBC Newsnight, the prince admitted that he invited Epstein to Windsor Castle and Sandringham in 2000. In his defense, he said, "remember that it was his girlfriend who was the key element in this" and that Epstein was a "plus one" for Maxwell.
The Queen's second son is under increasing pressure to cooperate with US authorities in their investigation into Epstein and Maxwell. However, Andrew's team has claimed he has offered to help prosecutors multiple times. That said, the couple who stayed with Maxwell in Manhattan recalled how they were stunned to see her lavish lifestyle and palatial townhouse. "My first thought was, how did she afford this?" the wife said. "I asked her about her work and she was adamant that she’d earned it all herself, that it was her money. I tried to get to the bottom of it, but she was quite vague."
Maxwell is the daughter of late media mogul Robert Maxwell, who died in 1991 under mysterious circumstances after reportedly falling from his yacht The Lady Ghislaine. Since Maxwell's arrest earlier this month, her finances have come under scrutiny. Prosecutors noted how she had at least $20 million across 15 bank accounts at the time of her arrest, and described her cash as "opaque".