Prince Andrew’s account of the beginnings of his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein have been disputed by the disgraced financier’s former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell.
The claims were revealed as transcripts from a US Department of Justice interview with Ms Maxwell were published.
Ms Maxwell, a British socialite, is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence in the US after being found guilty of child sex trafficking and other offences relating to Mr Epstein in 2021.
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US attorney general Todd Blanche spoke with the 63-year-old in July when she claimed to have not introduced the New York financier to Prince Andrew.
Prince Andrew's account of his friendship with Epstein has been disputed by Ghislaine Maxwell
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In the interview, Ms Maxwell confidently suggested she had no part in the pair’s friendship.
“First of all, let’s just state, I did not introduce him to Prince Andrew. I did not introduce him to Prince Andrew or to Sarah Ferguson. That is a flat untruth. I’ll start with that, "she alleged.
The Duke of York's links with Mr Epstein has been the subject of intense scrutiny, which grew to fever pitch after his disastrous Newsnight interview in 2019.
In the interview, Andrew said he had been introduced to the financier by Maxwell in 1999.
Ms Maxwell made the claims in a US Department of Justice interview from July
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“I met him through his (Epstein’s) girlfriend back in 1999 who… and I'd known her since she was at university in the UK,” he said.
Contrary to the Duke’s narrative, Mrs Maxwell went on to claim it was Andrew’s then wife, Sarah Ferguson, who had encouraged their relationship.
“I thought that Sarah was trying to put the moves on Jeffrey, if I’m being honest, and I thought the whole thing was annoying and I was p****d off.
“I think Sarah is the one that pushed that. And they met and hung out, I want to say two or three times that had nothing to do with me,” she alleged to Blanche.
Ms Maxwell claimed she had not introduced Andrew to Mr Epstein, contradicting the Duke's own account
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GB News has approached the representatives of Prince Andrew for comment and Sarah Ferguson, who declined.
In her DoJ interview, Ms Maxwell claimed she did not have a close relationship with Prince Andrew, adding that the Duke’s friendship with the Mr Epstein had left her frustrated.
“I wasn’t communicating with Andrew, I wasn’t in touch with him,” she told Blanche.
“I know this because I was annoyed and I felt left out, and I felt disrespected and I was like, this is weird. I couldn’t even imagine Epstein and Andrew together,” Mrs Maxwell added.
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Prince Andrew's relationship with Mr Epstein has long been a subject of scrutiny
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Ms Maxwell believed Fergie: “Liked Mr Epstein.”
However, she alleged this her relationship with the Duchess of York was complicated, calling her a “frenemy”.
Prince Andrew was sued for unspecified damages by one of Mr Epstein’s first accusers, the late Virginia Giuffre.
The case was settled out of court by Prince Andrew who has consistently denied any wrongdoing.