Maxwell and Epstein ‘pictured at log cabin on Balmoral estate’

The image was one of 19 released of the pair during Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex trafficking trial in New York.

Ghislaine Maxwell with Jeffrey Epstein, which has been shown to the court during the sex trafficking trial of Maxwell (US Department of Justice/PA) (PA Media)

A photo which appears to show Ghislaine Maxwell and paedophile Jeffrey Epstein relaxing at a log cabin on the Queen’s Balmoral estate has been released as part of the socialite’s sex trafficking trial.

The pair are seated next to one another on a bench, with a smiling Maxwell, dressed in a blue checked shirt, nestled into Epstein and resting her arm on his leg.

It was previously reported that the couple were invited to Balmoral by the Duke of York who was friends with both Maxwell and Epstein, in 1999.

In the past, the Queen has been pictured sitting on what appears to be the same bench at the Scottish rural retreat, as was the Duke of Edinburgh.

The image was among a collection of 19 photos released in New York which prosecutors say demonstrate the intimacy of Maxwell’s relationship with paedophile financier Epstein.

One snapshot shows Maxwell with her blouse unbuttoned, massaging Epstein’s bare foot as she holds it to her breasts on a private jet, while in another she appears to be unbuttoning her blouse.

In another, she is seen kissing Epstein on the cheek as they stand on a sunlit street corner, and in a further image she kissed him again with her arms tightly around his neck as they are pictured in front of a stretch of water.

Maxwell is also seen smiling broadly, with her hands on Epstein’s waist, as she sits behind him on the back of motorbike.

The British socialite, 59, is accused of luring young girls to massage rooms to be molested by Epstein between 1994 and 2004.

Convicted sex offender Epstein was found dead in his cell at a federal jail in Manhattan in August 2019 while he awaited trial on sex trafficking charges. The death was ruled a suicide.

Maxwell, who has been held in a US jail since her arrest in July last year, denies all charges.

Buckingham Palace declined to comment.