With Ghislaine Maxwell under arrest, the Prince Andrew Problem isn’t going away

Will the socialite labelled as Jeffrey Epstein’s groomer name names to reduce any potential jail sentence? I imagine Andrew will be concerned, writes Janet Street-Porter

Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell pictured at a New York event in 2005 (Patrick McMullan/Getty)

Whether you are a royalist or not, at 94 the Queen is entitled to some sympathy this week. Remaining in isolation at Windsor Castle, and unable to see her family, she might have been enjoying some peace and quiet after a lifetime making small talk and being on public display.

But events of the last few days have demonstrated that it’s business as usual for the dysfunctional Windsor family: her grandson and his wife are suing the press, and one of her sons is embroiled in an international sex scandal.

This week, details of the legal proceedings brought by the Duchess of Sussex over the publication of a private letter to her father before her wedding have been filling the pages of the tabloids. According to the Mail, Meghan feels she was “hung out to dry” by the Palace when she was pregnant, and the focus of critical and, at times, racist comment. Fed up with what they perceive as a media vendetta, Harry and Meghan have decamped to the other side of the Atlantic – but they continue to use social media and a high-powered team of lawyers, agents and media managers to disseminate their thoughts and protect their interests as they seek to establish a “brand”, which will provide them with income for the future. They are not supposed to be “royal”, and yet everything they do or say is given a higher significance because of Harry’s bloodline.

I wouldn’t be surprised if, like many of us, the Queen finds the couple’s constant homilies and apologies irritating and at times superfluous, but at least they mean well and are harmless.

Her second son is another matter. The Andrew Problem is not going anywhere.

His friend Ghislaine Maxwell has been arrested in New Hampshire, charged with several counts of recruiting and transporting underage girls (some aged 14) to have sexual encounters with her former boyfriend Jeffrey Epstein, as well as committing perjury. Andrew’s lawyers claim he has offered to “help” US officials “on at least three occasions this year”, while prosecutors in the US disagree, saying Andrew has “declined” to talk to them.

In this war of words, Andrew is the loser. His television interview with Emily Maitlis in November was an unmitigated disaster, and did nothing to dispel speculation about his exact relationship with Jeffrey Epstein and explain how much he knew, if anything, about the illegal sexual activities that appear to have taken place at all the millionaire’s mansions in Florida, New York, New Mexico and the Virgin Islands.

Recently, the Netflix documentary series Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich (based on the 2016 book by James Patterson) placed the victims of Epstein’s cravings centre stage. A series of mostly working class young women, many of whom grew up in relative poverty and were from troubled backgrounds, recounted how they had been recruited and invited to the Epstein mansion to give him a “massage”. Ghislaine Maxwell was alleged – over and over again – to have been the conduit: the fixer and their groomer, the person who took her clothes off and joined in to make it seem quite normal.

It’s hard to reconcile that person these victims talk about with the smiling socialite pictured at so many high profile events over the past three decades – a charity event with Donald Trump and Naomi Campbell, at Chelsea Clinton’s wedding, chatting in the Royal Enclosure at Ascot with Prince Andrew.

Ghislaine Maxwell had been introduced to Andrew by Sarah Ferguson in the 1990s and quickly parlayed this introduction into a regular friendship. The Prince subsequently invited Ghislaine to Balmoral, to a shooting party at Sandringham, to Princess Beatrice’s 18th birthday ball in 2006, and to the Dance of the Decades party at Windsor Castle celebrating Prince Andrew’s 40th and Princess Anne’s 50th in 2000. The Prince freely admitted to Maitlis that Ghislaine was a friend, and confirmed that he saw her in London in 2019, after Epstein had been arrested.

Prince Andrew told Maitlis he is “loyal” to his friends as the explanation for his visit to New York after Epstein had served one jail term for illegal sexual activities. The Prince and Epstein were photographed walking and talking together in Central Park. But how closely did the Prince know Ghislaine?

Maxwell had met Epstein shortly after she moved to New York following the death of her father in 1991. After a couple of years, their sexual relationship became a close friendship. But was Ghislaine herself groomed by Epstein?

She had a difficult childhood. Her father was extremely dominating and beat his children. It is well documented that they were terrified of him, and Ghislaine told one interviewer her father used a riding crop to punish them for wrongdoing. Before Captain Bob met his death in 1991 (off the boat he named after his favourite daughter: Ghislaine) I met his sons Kevin and Ian on several occasions because my friend was setting up a television network for the Maxwells. It’s true to say their father had blighted their lives with his dominating manner and extreme tempers.

What was Ghislaine’s relationship with her own father? She was distraught when he died. She craved acceptance after he brought disgrace and shame on the family name with his fraudulent behaviour, cheating pensioners out of millions.

In New York, Ghislaine became a super networker, and it was her black book (with the phone numbers of the rich and famous, from the Clintons to the Trumps, and of course Prince Andrew) that the FBI found when they raided Epstein’s homes.

Will Ghislaine Maxwell name names in order to reduce any potential jail sentence? I imagine Prince Andrew will be concerned. Considering the Epstein houses were full of uncompromising erotic art, photographs of naked pre-pubsecent girls with soaps shaped like male members in the washrooms, can he continue to plead ignorance?

Virginia Roberts Guiffre continues to allege she had sex on three occasions with the prince when she was aged 17, and there’s the famous photo with the prince’s arm around her waist.

Before he took his life in jail last August, Epstein tried to move all his assets to a protected trust in the Virgin Islands, to ensure his victims couldn’t access his wealth. Perhaps Prince Andrew could provide whatever help the authorities need to ensure that Epstein’s victims are able to access these funds. It won’t atone for his poor judgement in friends – but it might give his mother some consolation by proving that her son has a conscience.