Ghislaine Maxwell guilty of sex trafficking as Prince Andrew squirms

After a life mingling with royalty, celebrities, the rich and the powerful, Ghislaine Maxwell faces decades in a US prison cell as the lowest of all ­inmates – a child sex trafficker.

Ghislaine Maxwell, with a bloody mary cocktail, in an undated photograph with her former lover and convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Picture: AFP

After a lifetime mingling with royalty, the rich and the powerful, and international celebrities, British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell now faces decades in a US prison cell as the lowest of all ­inmates – a child sex trafficker.

Maxwell, daughter of newspaper publishing tycoon Robert Maxwell and girlfriend of notorious pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein, was found guilty by a New York jury of five counts of sex trafficking for what the chief prosecutor described as “one of the worst crimes imaginable”.

Her conviction is a far cry from the days when she posed for photographs, bloody mary to hand, with Epstein – their friendship with royalty extending to holidays at the Queen’s summer sanctuary of Balmoral Castle.

Now Epstein is dead and their closest royal pal, Prince Andrew, faces the most difficult days ahead in his associated civil case.

Andrew’s legal battle, a huge embarrassment for the Queen and the rest of the royal family, is due back in court on Tuesday.

Andrew is seeking to have the case brought by Australian resident and former Epstein sex slave Virginia Roberts Giuffre thrown out because she currently lives in Western Australia, and also because of a 2009 sealed plea deal Epstein negotiated with Ms Giuffre that absolves certain people “from any and all liability”.

But Maxwell’s high-profile conviction, pending an appeal ­already announced, has not helped Andrew’s cause, if only for the intimate association that the prince, 61, has long had with the notorious couple.

Lisa Bloom, a lawyer representing some of Epstein’s accusers, said Andrew “should be quaking in his boots”.

Andrew with a young Virginia Giuffre. Picture: Shutterstock

She points out his close friend Maxwell, who turned 60 on Christmas Day, has now been convicted of recruiting young, under-age women as part of a sex ring and of normalising child sexual misconduct.

Ms Giuffre wasn’t part of the three-week Maxwell trial nor the jury deliberations over six days, but her previous testimony in other trials alleging that she was trafficked by Epstein and provided sexual services for Andrew on three occasions when she was aged 17 in London, New York and the Caribbean, as well as to other powerful men, has loomed large in the proceedings.

Andrew has strenuously denied all Ms Giuffre’s allegations and has said he cannot remember ever meeting her.

Ms Giuffre said on Thursday, shortly after Maxwell was found guilty: “My soul yearned for justice for years and today the jury gave me just that. I will remember this day always. Having lived with the horrors of Maxwell’s abuse, my heart goes out to the many other girls and young women who suffered at her hands and whose lives she destroyed.”

And in a broadside to other ­enablers and those who turned a blind eye to Epstein’s activities, Ms Giuffre said she hoped the ­decision was another step in justice being served.

“Maxwell did not act alone. Others must be held accountable. I have faith that they will be,” she said.

Maxwell will be sentenced at a date to be fixed but faces a maximum of 65 years in prison. However, there are suggestions that Maxwell – who declined to give evidence in her defence – may now offer evidence against others within Epstein’s circle of high-powered friends in a deal for a lesser sentence.

Although Epstein rubbed shoulders with many celebrities and politicians, there is no evidence they were aware of his activities. The 12 jurors in the Maxwell case were shown flight logs from Epstein’s private jets which showed regular travellers included Prince Andrew, former presidents Bill Clinton and ­Donald Trump, lawyer Alan Dershowitz, and Epstein’s benefactor Les Wexner, the owner of Victoria’s Secret.

Maxwell’s siblings, who have taken turns to be at the trial every day, said: “We believe firmly in our sister’s innocence – we are very disappointed with the verdict. We have already started the appeal tonight and we believe that she will ultimately be vindicated.”

They believe Maxwell is a scapegoat for crimes committed by Epstein, who died in a New York jail in 2019 before he could face trial on expanded child sex charges.

It was as early as June 1991 when socialite Maxwell was first linked to Epstein, flying around with him on his private plane, having been sent to New York by her father to facilitate a purchase of the Daily News. This was shortly before the bombastic newspaper baron died in mysterious circumstances off his boat, The Lady Ghislaine – named after his daughter – near the Canary Islands in November 1991, not long after he had fraudulently raided hundreds of millions from the Mirror’s staff pension fund.

Virginia Giuffre says ‘my soul yearned for justice for years and today the jury gave me just that’. Picture: Romy Bullerjahn

It has been said Ghislaine Maxwell’s life of luxury had been utterly overwhelmed by the dominance of controlling men. As the youngest of nine children, she was indulged by her father and then Epstein, who became her financial and emotional crutch after her father’s sudden death.

Yet damning evidence provided by the four women at her trial, two aged just 14 when Epstein’s abuse began, told of a ­manipulative, calculating woman who was the “madame’’ and who participated in the sexual abuse, as well as facilitating it.

One accuser, called Jane, said she was 14 when she met Maxwell and Epstein in 1994 after admiring their dog in Michigan and that she was then abused nearly every fortnight for three years.

On occasions during Epstein’s abuse, she said, Maxwell would touch her breasts.

Early in their relationship, Maxwell and Epstein helped Andrew, who was going through a personal relationship trauma with his wife Sarah Ferguson.

For years, Andrew would host the couple to the usual country pursuits: shooting weekends and royal parties. The couple had an open entree to the seat of royal power, and Andrew has said that he invited Epstein along to various events because he was Maxwell’s companion.

The Queen’s second son has also admitted to flying on Epstein’s plane and staying at various Epstein residences, including his private island, but he claims he has never seen any behaviour that struck him as suspicious.

Andrew addressed some of Ms Giuffre’s allegations in a trainwreck BBC interview, saying it was impossible he met Ms Giuffre because on the day in question he was at a Pizza Express and that he doesn’t sweat, after Ms Giuffre said she danced with him and he was sweating profusely.

Andrew has claimed a picture with his arms around Ms Giuffre, with a smiling Maxwell in the background at Maxwell’s London house may have been “doctored”.

But at the very least, the calibre of Andrew’s friendships has raised a lot of eyebrows. In 2002, he thought nothing of inviting Maxwell along with actor Kevin Spacey (who has since successfully defended claims of sexual assault) to Buckingham Palace to entertain Bill Clinton – and they complied, sitting on the thrones and waving for photographs.

Four years later, Epstein and Maxwell joined another of their friends, a tuxedoed Harvey Weinstein (now in jail for sex abuse), to celebrate the 18th birthday of ­Andrew’s daughter, Princess Beatrice, at Windsor Castle.

But while Epstein, dressed in a Navy Seal uniform, and Maxwell, in a gold mask and flamboyant headdress, drank champagne as the Royal Philharmonic performed with the female theatre troupe Circo Rum Ba Ba, the US authorities already had an arrest warrant prepared for Epstein.

Andrew claims that as soon as he discovered the existence of the charges – Epstein was subsequently convicted of a single sex offence in a plea deal – he cut off contact with him for four years.

This was between 2006 and the now infamous photo of Andrew striding with Epstein in Central Park, New York, when he stayed for four nights at Epstein’s town house in 2010. Andrew said he had wanted to do the “honourable” thing and tell him he could no longer be associated with him.

It is now likely that some of the testimony provided in the Maxwell case will be introduced into Ms Giuffre’s civil case against ­Andrew – which has a lesser bar of proof than a criminal trial.

In particular, Andrew’s lawyers will be scrutinising the testimony of “Carolyn” who said Ms Giuffre introduced her to Epstein.

“Virginia asked me if I wanted to come make money,” Carolyn said, describing that she was 14 and a drug user when Ms Giuffre encouraged her to go to Epstein’s Palm Beach house to give him a massage. Carolyn said Maxwell greeted them and told Ms Giuffre to bring her upstairs and instruct her what to do.

Both Ms Giuffre and Carolyn massaged Epstein, Carolyn testified, and Ms Giuffre then had sex with him. Carolyn said she then went to Epstein’s house over 100 times for the next four years. She said Maxwell had also fondled her and “because of that, my heart is broken, and so is my soul”.