Prince Andrew and Ghislaine Maxwell may have been in relationship, former friend claims

Prince Andrew and Ghislaine Maxwell could have been in a relationship, a former friend claims

An ITV documentary will tonight lay bare the close relationships between Prince Andrew, Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell and reveal claims that the convicted sex trafficker went in and out of Buckingham Palace at will.

Through a series of interviews with members of their social circle, employees, and victims of Epstein and Maxwell, presenter Ranvir Singh will unravel the story of the billionaire heiress and her ultimate trial for child sex crimes.

Speaking for the first time in front of television cameras, former Buckingham Palace royal protection officer Paul Page will share his suspicions that Ghislaine Maxwell might have had a closer relationship with Prince Andrew than has been previously reported.

He told the documentary: “From the way she was allowed to enter and exit the palace at will, we realised... suspected, that she may have had an intimate relationship with Prince Andrew.”

He added: “A colleague of mine remembered her coming in four times in one day, from the morning till the evening. She kept coming in and out, in and out.”

Mr Page will also claim that Prince Andrew’s love of his soft toy collection meant that he would throw a tantrum if the teddy bears were moved.

Speaking about the duke’s private apartment, Mr Page said: “It had about 50 or 60 stuffed toys positioned on the bed.

“And, basically, there was a card the inspector showed us in the drawer, and it was a picture of these bears all in situ on the bed.

“And the reason for the laminated picture was that, if those bears weren’t put back in the right order by the maids, he would shout and scream and become verbally abusive.”

Prince Andrew is facing a civil sexual assault lawsuit from Virginia Giuffre, a victim of Jeffrey Epstein, who claims she had sex with the royal when she was 17. Prince Andrew , who denies all claims against him, was last week stripped of his honorary military roles and royal patronages.

Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s former girlfriend, was convicted of child sex trafficking charges on December 29.

The documentary will consider the friendship between Maxwell and Prince Andrew and interviews Lady Victoria Hervey and Euan Rellie, who remember Andrew turning up to social events organised by the socialite.

Mr Rellie, a banker who became friends with Maxwell at university, said that she could have been in a relationship with Prince Andrew.

“She described Andrew as being her friend, not Jeffrey’s,” he said. “I got the sense that Prince Andrew and Ghislaine had probably been girlfriend and boyfriend in the past. They had an easy warmth around each other.”

A juror at Maxwell’s trial, Scotty David, was also interviewed for the documentary. He described her as “like a stone” with “no emotion” when she awaited the verdict in her trial.

Lisa Phillips, a victim of Epstein and Maxwell, will recall going to stay on Epstein’s private island, Little St James.

She told ITV: “We got on the boat, we went over to the island. We went to the quarters where we were to sleep.

“A woman came to the door and said that Jeffrey was ready for his massage. She made it seem like it was something normal - it was no big deal. Once we were in the room doing the massage is where things took a turn and it wasn’t, um, normal anymore.”

Ghislaine, Prince Andrew and the Paedophile airs on ITV at 9pm on Tuesday January 19 and will be available on ITV Hub shortly afterwards.