DM1ST(^4) DAILY MIRROR FRIDAY 30.08.
Partying with
a paedophile
Epstein in the background before his conviction
WORLD PICTURE EXCLUSIVE:
EXCLUSIVE
BY MARTIN FRICKER in West Palm Beach, Floridafor 18 months, but served just 13. A search of his
home uncovered sex toys and a dentist’s chair.
After Epstein’s arrest this year, President
Trump claimed: “I was not a fan of his.”
But in 2002 he said: “I’ve known Jeff for 15
years. Terrific guy. He’s a lot of fun to be with.
“It is even said he likes beautiful women as
much as I do, and many are on the younger side.”
Maxwell, daughter of late Mirror owner
Robert, strenuously denies any wrongdoing.
Her spokesman said: “The allegations made
against Ghislaine are untrue.”
A Buckingham Palace spokeswoman refused
to comment on the photo last night.
martin.fricker@mirror. co.uk
@MartinFrickershe said of the prince: “He knows what he’s done.
I hope he comes clean about it.”
Last weekend Andrew expressed “tremendous
sympathy” for Epstein’s victims.
He admitted it was a “mistake” to continue to
meet the billionaire after his 2008 jail sentence
for procuring teenagers for prostitution.
In a statement released by Buckingham
Palace, he said: “I met Mr Epstein in 1999. During
the time I knew him, I saw him infrequently and
probably no more than once or twice a year. I
have stayed in a number of his residences.
“At no stage during the limited time I spent
with him did I see, witness or suspect any behav-
iour of the sort that led to his conviction.”
Under a plea deal Epstein had been locked upapproached by
Maxwell about
her giving
massages to
men after
starting work
at the club.
She said she
later had sex
with Andrew on
three occasions in
London, Palm Beach
and the US Virgin
Islands. Following a New
York court hearing
earlier this week,CHAT Epstein and Donald Trump in conversationAT first glance it looks like any other high-
society photo – the future President and
First Lady of America alongside the
Queen’s second son.
But lurking in the background, looking
directly at the camera, is now-notorious paedo-
phile and pal of Prince Andrew, Jeffrey Epstein.
British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, alleged by
the billionaire’s young victims to have been
complicit in their abuse, is also pictured.
The never-before seen photo sheds further
light on the Duke of York’s then friendship with
disgraced financier.
Epstein killed himself in jail this month while
awaiting trial on child sex trafficking charges.
It also shows the global scale of the widening
scandal that now embroils a number of the
world’s most powerful and wealthy men.
Prince Andrew’s presence will also increase
intrigue as he continues to reel from sex abuse
allegations revealed in court documents.
It is the first time the Duke, Epstein and
Maxwell have been captured in the same frame.
The image, printed by the Daily Mirror for the
first time, was taken at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-
Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida in 2000.
Andrew was guest of honour at the star-
studded gala, hosted by Trump eight years
before Epstein’s conviction for child sex offences.
It took place just months before Andrew’s
accuser, Virginia Roberts, began working at the
club as a changing room assistant.
Within a year of the snap being taken she
alleges disgraced Epstein had lent her out to
sleep with the prince.
The duke strenuously denies the allegation,
which was thrown out by a judge in Florida as
“immaterial and impertinent”.
In the photo, Trump and his then-girlfriend,
Melania Knauss, are looking directly into the
in-house snapper’s lens.
Andrew, wearing a grey suit,
appears distracted as he
glances off-camera.
Grinning British
socialite Maxwell, 57,
leans in to speak to
another woman.
Epstein, in a
blazer and blue
jeans, looms in the
background.
In another snap
Andrew and
Epstein are seen
laughing with
Melania and politi-
cian Gwendolyn Beck.
Beck, who once ran
unsuccessfully for
Congress, was in Epstein’s
“little black book”.
Roberts says she was EYES UP Prince Andrew with Melania Knauss, now Trump