Topics: Film and TV, News, UK News, US News, Ghislaine Maxwell
Ghislaine Maxwell has used her first TV interview since she was jailed to claim that she has 'no recollection' of Prince Andrew meeting Virginia Giuffre.
Following a trial in December 2021, the disgraced former socialite, 61, was found guilty of helping American financier Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse young girls between 1994 and 2004.
Speaking from a Florida prison where she's serving a 20-year sentence, Maxwell repeated claims that the infamous picture of the Prince with his arm around Giuffre's waste is fake.
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The image is said to have been taken inside her home in Mayfair and she can be seen smiling in the background behind Giuffre and the King Charles' younger brother.
Giuffre accused Andrew of sexual assault and both parties reached a £12 million settlement in the civil sex claim filed in the US, court documents from February 2022 show.
However regarding the notorious image, Maxwell has now said: “It's a fake. I don't believe it's real for a second, in fact I’m sure it’s not…
“Well, there’s never been an original and further there is no photograph. I’ve only ever seen a photocopy of it.”
Maxwell also reflected on her destroyed public image, claiming she is not the person who has been portrayed in the media.
She said: “I feel completely divorced from the person that people reference and talk about in all the various newspaper articles and TV shows and podcasts.”
Giuffre, formerly known as Virginia Roberts and who now lives in Australia but is originally from the US, launched legal action against the Prince in August 2021.
In the suit, she claimed she was forced to have sex with him three times when she was 17 by convicted paedophile Epstein.
Before the case was settled out of court, Giuffre used the image to support her allegations against Andrew.
A settlement is not an admission of guilt and the Duke of York has consistently denied all wrongdoing.
Jeremy Kyle, who conducted the interview for TalkTV, explained: “This is utterly fascinating footage. It’s the first time she has been seen and heard since she was sentenced to 20 years in jail."
The convicted sex offender will talk about her relationship with Epstein, who was found dead in a jail cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in August 2019.
"There are lots of secrets and some quite extraordinary confessions," Kyle teased in a press release. "It really is a must-watch.”
The Ghislaine Maxwell interview airs Monday 23 January at 7pm on TalkTV.
