Page 16It’s the picture
that’s dogged him
for years... now
‘friends’ say
it may have been
faked. But the Mail
probes what really
happened that
night — and the
photographic
evidence. The
conclusion is in
front of your eyes
T
O her Australian neigh-
bours, the only thing that
made the slight, blonde
mother-of-three stand
out was her American ac-
cent. Otherwise ‘Gina’ or ‘Ginny’,
as she was known to them, was
just another ‘Central Coast mum’
enjoying her new life close to the
ocean in New South Wales.
Only later would they discover that
Virginia Giuffre’s very ordinary life
hid an extraordinary past.
On a bookshelf in the three-bedroom
bungalow she shared with her husband
was a small, white envelope containing a
collection of photos dating back a decade
or so, documenting her teenage years.
Among pictures of her partying and rid-
ing horses was a single 7 x 5in photo taken
in early 2001 when Virginia Roberts – as
she was before she married – was 17.
Dressed in sparkly embroidered jeans
and a pink top bought specially for the
occasion, the teenager looks her age. But
while smiling broadly for the camera,
there is an underlying tension in her pose,
one arm held uneasily to her hip.
Given the circumstances in which she
claims it was taken, and considering thehangs like an albatross around the
Duke of York’s neck, it is a story
that will not go away.
Because that picture preceded
what California-born Roberts
claims was the first of a number of
sexual encounters with the prince.
She has alleged that at the age of
15 she was procured by Maxwell to
become Epstein’s ‘personal mas-
seuse’. She would claim that she
and other girls were subsequently
sexually exploited by Epstein and
his roster of rich friends.
Prince Andrew has denied being
among them, with Buckingham
Palace saying ‘any suggestion of
impropriety with underage minors
is categorically untrue’.
A spokesman added: ‘It is
emphatically denied that the Duke
of York had any form of sexual con-
tact or relationship with Virginia
Roberts.’ As for that photo, some
close to Andrew have even sug-
gested it may have been tampered
with by someone wanting to stir up
trouble for him.
A source close to Andrew told the
London Evening Standard: ‘Look
at his fingers in the photo. The duke
has quite chubby fingers – they
don’t look right and nor does the
height of the duke and the girl.’
However, while Andrew is said to
be around 6ft tall, Virginia is under-
stood to be around 5ft 8in – which
is reflected in the picture.
Another anonymous source told
the Standard: ‘Many close to the
duke believe this is a witch-huntbased on absolutely no evidence.’
But Andrew’s harshest critics
point out that in the eight years
that have passed since Virginia
went public with her claims, he has
never addressed them in detail.
Another source close to the
prince has also claimed that Rob-
erts alleged that, later the night
the picture was taken, Andrew was
drinking cocktails with her at a
London nightclub. The source said
such a claim could not be true
because the duke is teetotal. How-
ever, Roberts’s account is that
cocktails were bought for her aloneby Andrew. The prince, meanwhile,
reportedly claims he is unable to
recall the photo being taken.
While that may be the case, the
details Roberts has provided over
the years, combined with other evi-
dence revealed today in the Daily
Mail, paint a compelling picture of
how this extraordinary image came
into existence. For starters, at the
time it was taken, it is known
Andrew had established a close
friendship with Epstein after they
were introduced by Ferguson in
the late 1990s.
The duchess had been introducedto Epstein by Maxwell, by then a
New York socialite.
Maxwell and Epstein dated for a
time but after they broke up they
remained close, she connecting him
with high-profile friends such as
Andrew, magician David Copper-
field, disgraced film tycoon Harvey
Weinstein and Donald Trump.
It is claimed she also acted as
Epstein’s ‘madame’, recruiting
young girls for ‘massages’ and
more. A 15-year-old Roberts was
among those recruits.
Andrew was quickly swept into
Epstein’s orbit, holidaying on his
private island in the Caribbean and
enjoying trips on his jet and invita-
tions to carouse with supermodels
at star-studded parties.
Andrew would repay Epstein’s
hospitality by inviting him to sam-
ple the perks of royal life. In 1999
Epstein and his entourage visitedSAME SHIRT AND CUFFLINKS
SAME CHUBBY FINGERS?
Report: Christian Gysin
Picture research: Liz Trotter
‘Many believe this is
a witch-hunt’Signature style: Andrew leaving the Chinawhite clubDistinctive: Sources say Andrew’s fingers ‘don’t look right’other people in the picture, any nervous-
ness is entirely understandable.
Behind Roberts, off to one side, stands a
smiling Ghislaine Maxwell, daughter of
disgraced media tycoon Robert Maxwell.
And then there is the older man who
has his arm around Roberts’s waist, the
fingers of his left hand touching the bare
skin of the teenager’s midriff.
It is, of course, Prince Andrew, the
Queen’s second son, who was 41 when
the photo was taken. By then divorced
from Sarah Ferguson, his elder daughter
Beatrice would have been 13 – just four
years younger than Roberts.
His young companion had requested
the picture as a keepsake of the moment
she met a real-life prince.
The reflection of the flash in the window
behind her helped obscure who took the
photo but the Daily Mail can reveal that
it was Jeffrey Epstein.
It would take ten years for the existence
of that photo to be revealed – in 2011, it
was published by The Mail on Sunday
after it located Roberts in Australia.
The newspaper was looking into
reports that the FBI was planning to re-
open an investigation into the sexual
exploitation of teenagers by the Ameri-
can multi-millionaire who several years
earlier had admitted soliciting sex from
girls as young as 14.
At the time, few would have known
much about those involved in the photo,
Prince Andrew aside. Today, it is a differ-
ent story. And, like that photo, whichQQQ Daily Mail, Thursday, August 29, 2019PRINCE AND THE PAEDOPHILE
ANDREW’S IN