Prince Andrew apparently did not meet Jeffrey Epstein through the latter's former girlfriend, the socialite Ghislaine Maxwell. Contrary to reports, a friend close to Maxwell said that she wasn't the one who introduced the pedophile billionaire to the royal.
In an interview with the New York Post, the friend said that Prince Andrew was actually introduced by Lynn Forester de Rothschild to Epstein in 1999 during a party at the Hamptons. Maxwell was not even at that party and the friend said Prince Andrew and Epstein clicked because their friendship was "all about the money."
The friend also defended Maxwell from the recent reports painting her as the villain in this Epstein scandal. Maxwell has been accused of working as Epstein's pimp. She was, allegedly, the one responsible for recruiting vulnerable minor women to be peddled as prostitutes for Epstein's rich friends.
The pal further said that Maxwell and Epstein's relationship have ended long before Prince Andrew and Epstein became buddies. She was dating a different man at that time but Epstein still kept wooing her.
In his BBC interview in November 2019, Prince Andrew said that he met Epstein through his girlfriend in 1999. That girlfriend, who is Maxwell, has been a long-time acquaintance of the Duke of York from the university.
Maxwell has been a constant figure in the London social scene since the late '80s. In 1991, when her billionaire father died, Prince Andrew was one of her sources of comfort. She and the Duke of York also traveled a lot together in 2000. In fact, friends said that his connection to Maxwell improved his lifestyle because Prince Andrew was a couch potato and it was Maxwell's influence who turned him into the man about town.
Meanwhile, one of Epstein's accusers, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, said that Prince Andrew is included in some secret tapes stashed in the Epstein property. The tapes might raise concerns over Prince Andrew's denial that he didn't know anything about the pedophile ring or that he also took advantage of the women working for his billionaire friend.
Lawyers of the victims said that there are cameras everywhere at the Epstein mansions, where the women were forced into having sex. While the lawyers are not suggesting Prince Andrew has sex tapes, he could still be captured in the one of these home cameras visiting Epstein's home.
The FBI has been investigating Epstein for his illegal activities for decades. He was arrested without bail in 2019 but he took his own life while awaiting his trial.
