Ghislaine Maxwell claims she never introduced Prince Andrew to him

Disgraced socialite Ghislaine Maxwell claimed she “never introduced Prince Andrew to Jeffrey Epstein” in an interview under oath, court documents have revealed.

A video-taped interview with Ms Maxwell in April 2016, in which she made the claims, were included in the third tranche of files connected with the paedophile financier, which were published on Friday.

The newly unsealed files relate to a 2015 defamation case against Maxwell, his former fixer and a convicted child trafficker, by Epstein’s victim Virginia Giuffre.

In the clip Ms Maxwell described Ms Giuffre’s meetings with the Duke of York as a “tissue of lies”.

It contradicts the Duke of York’s account of how he met Epstein. During a 2019 interview with the BBC’s Newsnight he said he met him “through his girlfriend [Maxwell] back in 1999…,” adding he’d known her since she was at university in the UK”.

Other new documents also revealed Epstein’s former housekeeper clained the Duke of York had daily massages when he spent “weeks” at the paedophile financier’s Florida home,.

Prince Andrew stepped down from public life amid the furore over his friendship with Epstein, and paid millions to settle a civil sexual assault case with Ms Giuffre, a woman he claimed never to have met.

In the wake of the lawsuit, which alleged the prince sexually assaulted Ms Giuffre when she was 17, he was cast out of the working monarchy and stripped of his royal patronages and military titles.

The duke strenuously denies any wrongdoing.

A US judge ordered hundreds of documents to be unsealed as part of Ms Giuffre’s previously settled civil claim against Maxwell, which was filed in 2015.

In an exchange with Ms Giuffre’s lawyer Sigrid McCawley during her deposition, Maxwell was first asked: “Do you know Prince Andrew?”

“I do,” she replied.

Ms McCawley continued: “How long have you known him?”

Maxwell said: “A very long time.”

The lawyer then asked “Since you were a child?”

“I really – it’s so long, it’s really a long time ago. I just don’t recall,” Maxwell said.

Questioned if she remembered how she first met him, the convicted sex trafficker said: “No I do not.”

Ms McCawley then asked: “Did you introduce him to Jeffrey?”

Maxwell responded: “That would be another of Virginia’s lies and the lies you perpetrate.

“I never introduced Prince Andrew to Jeffrey Epstein at any time ever, so just add that the (sic) to long list of lies.”

Ms McCawley continued: “Did Jeffrey know Prince Andrew?”

Maxwell replied: “Clearly he knew him.”

Pressed on whether she knew how Andrew met Epstein, Maxwell said: “I do not know (sic) Jeffrey met Prince Andrew.

“What I do know is that I did not introduce them.

“That is one of the many lies. Are we tallying all the lies?”

Ms McCawley went on: “Do you know when Jeffrey met Prince Andrew?”

Maxwell said: “I do not know when Jeffrey met Prince Andrew.”

Ms McCawley then asked: “Did you ever introduce Prince Andrew to any girls under the age of 18 who were not friends of your children?”

The socialite responded: “I have not introduced Prince Andrew to anyone that I am aware of other than friends of mine who have kids under that age that he may have met socially through me.”

Questioned on whether she introduced the duke to Ms Giuffre in London, Maxwell said: “I understand her story about London but, again, her tissue of lies is extremely hard to pick apart what is true and what isn’t.

“Actually I wouldn’t recollect her at all but for her tissue stories about this situation.”

Ms McCawley asked again: “So did you ever introduce Prince Andrew to Virginia in London?”

“I have no recollection,” Maxwell replied.

The court also heard Juan Alessi, who worked at Epstein’s Palm Beach residence, said both Prince Andrew and his then wife Sarah, Duchess of York, were both friends with him and now convicted sex-trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell.

During his video-taped interview under oath in 2009, Mr Alessi was questioned on the duke’s relationship with Maxwell and Epstein.

In the interview with Mr Alessi, lawyer Katherine Ezell asked: “Were Prince Andrew and Princess Sarah friends of Ms Maxwell?”

Mr Alessi replied: “Both of them”

Ms Ezell continued: “Both Ms Maxwell and Mr Epstein?”

“Yeah.”

The lawyer went on: “Did they ever have massages when they were there?”

Mr Alessi replied: “Prince Andrew did.

“I think Sarah was there only once and for a short time. I don’t think she slept in there. I cannot remember.

“I think she was visiting Wellington and she came to the house and we met her.

“But Prince Andrew, yes, Prince Andrew spent weeks with us.”

Ms Ezell then asked: “Where would he sleep?”

Mr Alessi said: “In the main room, the main guest bedroom. That was the blue room.”

The lawyer then said: “And, so, when he would come and stay, during that time would he frequently have massages?

Mr Alessi replied: “I would say, daily massages.”

Asked if it was sometimes more than one a day, Mr Alessi said: “I can’t remember if he had more than one, but I think it was just a massage for him.

“We set up the tables and…”

Ms Ezell interjected: “Do you have any recollection of (Virginia Giuffre) coming to the house when Prince Andrew was there?”

Mr Alessi replied: “It could have been, but I’m not sure.”

In a further interview under oath by an Epstein employee, who is labelled only as “the witness” in the documents, they claimed Maxwell took the paedophile financier to England “to introduce him to royalty”.

The staff member said there were “many pictures” of the Duke of York with Epstein in the property they worked at.

The Metropolitan Police today it is not investigating allegations made against the duke.

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

Maxwell has been imprisoned since July 2020 despite attempts by her defence counsel to have her released on bail.

She was sentenced to 20 years in prison at the federal court in the Southern District of New York in June 2022.

The socialite indicated her desire to appeal shortly after her conviction, with her lawyers claiming victims had “faded, distorted and motivated memories”.

Her appeal is scheduled to be heard in November next year.

Additional reporting by Press Association.