Prince Andrew’s advisors have warned that Ghislaine Maxwell’s conviction for child sex trafficking is ‘not good news’ for the Duke of York.
Gatekeepers News reports that U.S Jury on Wednesday found Maxwell guilty of helping her former boyfriend, the late Jeffrey Epstein, sexually abuse teenage girls between 1994 and 2004. One of the five charges Maxwell was guilty of related to Andrew’s own accuser Virginia Roberts Giuffre. She claims she was forced to have sex with Andrew three times after being trafficked by Maxwell and Epstein.
According to MailOnline, Prince Andrew’s US lawyers held emergency talks after Maxwell’s convictions. They believe the ninth in line to the British throne should now be ‘quaking in his boots’ as his old friend faces spending the rest of her life behind bars unless she flips and ‘names names’.
Experts also believe that the Duke of York’s chances of defeating the legal action brought against him by Giuffre will now be even harder after Maxwell was found guilty.
And the Queen’s continued and unwavering support for her son, including reportedly spending millions of pounds privately funding the Duke of York’s defence case against allegations of sexual abuse, risks bringing the Royal Family into disrepute, critics have claimed.
Robert Jobson, author of Prince Philip’s Century, told MailOnline: “Whatever way you look at the Maxwell verdict it is not good news for the Duke of York. Not only has he admitted a judgement failure regarding his friendship with the dead convicted paedophile Epstein, but it is known that he also enjoyed a longer friendship with convicted sex trafficker Maxwell.”
Prince Andrew has consistently denied any wrongdoing and is not facing criminal prosecution in the United States – but was named twice in proceedings including by a pilot as one of the passengers flying on sex offender Epstein’s private jet, the so-called ‘Lolita Express’ because it was used to ferry the billionaire paedophile’s victims around the globe.
Jobson said: “Prince Andrew may well be innocent and his accuser’s allegation baseless, as he claims. But in the court of public opinion his association with these convicted criminals calls his own character and lack of judgement into question. Why did he spend so much time with them? What did he know of their debauched behaviour?
“At the moment this is a civil case again the Duke of York, but I am sure the authorities will be watching the developments in this case very closely. Unless he is cleared his position as a working royal representing the Queen going forward is untenable unless the Queen is prepared to bring the institution into disrepute.”
Andrew’s biographer Nigel Cawthorne told Newsweek: “The verdict does not help Prince Andrew at all in the court of public opinion. The famous picture is now seen in a whole new light.
“Now we have Ghislaine Maxwell, sex trafficker, standing there next to a woman who says she was trafficked, next to Prince Andrew who says he wasn’t there.
“If Maxwell was acquitted that would have helped him, indeed they could have called her as a defence witness. Things are looking a bit more bleak for him now.”
Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams said: “Andrew was barely mentioned in Maxwell’s trial. Yet the photograph of him, Virginia Roberts, now Giuffre and Maxwell, taken in 2001, remains unexplained and is constantly reproduced.
“He has not fulfilled his promise to help the FBI, who are attempting to trace Epstein’s accomplices. The conviction of Ghislaine Maxwell adds yet another name to the list of notorious friends of his. Every appearance in public ends up with photographs which are bad publicity and at 61, he has no foreseeable role of any sort.
“His hopes obviously rest on either having the case against Virginia Roberts Giuffre dismissed, or ultimately in winning it. He might eventually have to settle, if the case against him goes ahead this would be extremely damaging to the monarchy.
“Even if he were to win, his close friendship with Ghislaine Maxwell will leave him tainted.”
New York defence attorney Bradley Simon, a former federal prosecutor, said that Andrew could face trouble because the required burden of proof in a criminal trial is higher than a civil case. He said: “Every jury is different and the facts will be different – but it does not bode well for the prince.”
Los Angeles attorney Lisa Bloom, who represented eight victims of Epstein, said: “He [Andrew] should be quaking in his boots. Because this shows that a jury is willing to come back with a guilty verdict even if the accusers are not perfect.”
New York judge will on January 4, decide on Andrew’s accuser Giuffre’s civil lawsuit.
