Prince Andrew has yet to talk about the arrest of Ghislaine Maxwell. Despite his silence, his name is again back in the headlines, turning up the heat on him and causing the monarchy another controversy.
Maxwell was arrested earlier this month and charged with six counts of sexual abuse-related cases, trafficking of minors, and lying to investigators. If found guilty, she will face up to 35 years of imprisonment.
The Duke of York remains mum about the issue, but it doesn't stop the press from talking about their alleged friendship, making it the latest scandal for the Royal Family, Town & Country noted. As he has been facing intense scrutiny over his relationship with the criminal sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, his relation to Maxwell has put him deeper into the spotlight.
The publication noted that Maxwell and Sarah Ferguson's former husband had been friends for decades. Details about their friendship started to publicly emerge in 1999. In fact, the socialite was the one who introduced the 60-year-old royal to Epstein, who took his own life while awaiting trial for his multiple sex trafficking charges in August.
The three were then seen together several times in 2000. They were also spotted attending the Royal Ascot horse races and visiting Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach.
In his controversial interview with Newsnight in November, Prince Andrew admitted Epstein was a guest at both Windsor Castle and a shooting weekend at Sandringham in 2000. He even revealed that Maxwell was "the key element" in the visits.
Now, as the 58-year-old British personality's arrest puts Prince Andrew back on the spotlight, Robert Currie, a law professor in the Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie University in Halifax and a specialist in international and transnational criminal law, believed it would also "turn up the heat" on him. He elucidated, via CBC, that the big question today is what Maxwell knows and what kind of deal she is willing to make with the prosecutors.
Currie also questioned if she's covered by Epstein's 2008 immunity agreement when he "pleaded down to some lesser charges." Prof. Trevor Farrow of Osgoode Hall Law School at York University in Toronto added that the recent charges filed against Maxwell could make things more complicated for Prince Andrew.
He explained that if other people were getting charged and coming forward, their circle seemed to be becoming smaller for those who were involved. Farrow continued that if Prince Andrew could credibly assert that he had no idea about what's happening, it would be one thing for him. But if not, the circle seemed to be "closing in on those directly involved" in this case.
