Disgraced sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell has claimed she has “no memory” of Prince Andrew and Virginia Guiffre – and that the infamous picture of them together was faked.
In her first aired interview since her confinement, Maxwell, 61, has insisted she doesn’t recall the pair spending time together in the UK or US.
The couple’s infamous snap, reportedly taken at Maxwell’s flat in March 2001, was given to The Mail by Ms Guiffre on Sunday February 2011.
Ms Guiffre, previously Roberts, claimed she was forced to have sex with the prince when she was 17 after being trafficked by convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, who was found dead in his prison cell in 2019.
In the revealing interview, which will air tomorrow night at 7pm on Jeremy Kyle’s TalkTV show, Maxwell said: “I don’t remember meeting them. And I don’t think the picture is real.
“It is a fake. I don’t believe for a second it’s real, in fact I’m sure it isn’t.
“There has never been an original, there is no photo.”
Disgraced sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell (seen in the first video, speaking from prison) has claimed she has “no memory” of Prince Andrew and Virginia Guiffre – and that the infamous picture of them together was faked
The infamous photo of the Duke of York (left), Virginia Giuffre (centre) and Ghislaine Maxwell (right)
She added: “There is no original of this photo, (only) copies of copies and parts of it look like they have been photoshopped according to some experts. I don’t remember her in my house.’
Announcing the show, titled “Ghislaine Behind Bars,” Kyle told viewers, “Maxwell is lifting the lid on Epstein, Prince Andrew and even our late Queen. This is Ghislaine Maxwell behind bars and in her own words.’
The interview comes as Prince Andrew is set to make a dramatic offer to overturn the multi-million pound deal he struck with Ms Guiffre to get her to withdraw her sexual assault allegations and potentially receive an apology.
The Duke of York has taken action after Ms Guiffre dropped her lawsuit last year against Epstein’s former attorney Alan Dershowitz, whom she also accused of sexual assault, and admitted she “may have made a mistake” in the identification.
Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year sentence for procuring girls for her late lover and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, said: “I know Virginia traveled with Jeffrey, so it’s entirely possible.
Prince Andrew is set to launch a dramatic bid to overturn the multimillion-pound deal he struck with Ms Guiffre to get her to drop her sexual assault allegations
Kyle announced the show, titled “Ghislaine Behind Bars,” and told viewers, “Maxwell lifts the lid on Epstein.” Maxwell with Epstein in an undated photo
“It wasn’t something so outrageously out of left field that it couldn’t have happened.
“But the photo doesn’t appear to be real. And I don’t remember it being taken. I have no recollection of a meeting between Virginia and Prince Andrew.”
In February last year, Andrew agreed to pay 39-year-old Virginia a settlement to drop her civil suit, but accepted no blame and continues to strenuously deny any wrongdoing.
But the scandal has severely damaged his reputation and made him an outcast from the royal family. He was stripped of his military titles and asked not to use his HRH title.
New evidence, The Mail revealed on Sunday, has prompted him to consult with attorneys in the US in hopes of urging a recantation.
Those close to Andrew have claimed he wants to fight the allegations in court but was persuaded to agree to a deal by palace forces, who feared negative publicity about the case would overshadow the Queen’s platinum jubilee.
The revealing interview airing tomorrow night at 7pm on Jeremy Kyle’s TalkTV show
The Duke of York has taken action after Ms Guiffre dropped her lawsuit against Epstein’s former attorney Alan Dershowitz last year
“Andrew felt like he was in a pressure cooker, like he had no choice but to settle down,” a source said. “But he never wanted to settle down and has always insisted he was innocent. He wants to see what legal avenues might be available to him.’
The Duke has previously said he has “no recollection” of meeting Ms Giuffre and cast doubt on the picture by claiming he is “not someone who hugs” or “shows affection” in public.
In an interview with BBC Newsnight in 2019, Andrew said while he recognized himself in the picture with Ms Giuffre, he claimed it was not possible to prove if the picture was faked.
He also claimed that the picture could not have been taken in London as he was in his “travelling clothes”.
Ms Giuffre insisted to BBC Panorama that the photo was “authentic” and said she turned the original over to the FBI in 2011.
In 2019, a BBC Panorama investigation revealed that Guiffre’s then-boyfriend Tony Figueroa said he saw the picture the year it was taken – 2001 – and that Ms Guiffre told him she had been forced to have sex with the prince.
Journalist Michael Thomas, who first copied the photo in 2011, said on the show that he was confident the image was authentic because he found it among a bundle of photographs.
He said: “It wasn’t like she pulled out the photo of Prince Andrew, it was just between the others.
“These were just typical teenage snaps. There is no way this photo is fake.
Last year, Prince Andrew’s ex Lady Victoria Hervey said the infamous picture was fake.
She claimed it was composed from a photograph taken on board a yacht in St Tropez at Naomi Campbell’s birthday party in May 2001, in which Virginia can be seen wearing the same white tank top with brightly colored patterned jeans.
However, Lady Victoria did not have a copy of the exact Virginia photo from St Tropez which she claims was used to fake Prince Andrew’s picture and it has never been seen publicly.
Last year, Prince Andrew’s ex Lady Victoria Hervey (pictured) said the infamous picture was fake and claimed it was stitched together
Lady Victoria added to her startling claims that an “Irish man” who dated one of Epstein’s victims in 2001 and also attended the boat party was used as a “body double” for Prince Andrew in the “fake” image.
Maxwell, who Ms Guiffre also accused of grooming her for sexual abuse, said during the interview: “I have read many of her testimonies and her testimonies are very categorical and her stories are very detailed and exhaustive, including the claim that she left his (Dershowitz’s) house.
“So I think their ‘memory lapses’ are disingenuous. If her memory is so bad, how can you trust everything she says?
“When you give a lot of details and make claims that go back five, six, seven years and then suddenly decide at the last moment that it was a memory lapse, I find that hard to believe.”
Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year after a jury found her guilty of luring young girls into massage rooms between 1994 and 2004 so Epstein could molest them.
Epstein was found dead in his cell at a Manhattan federal prison in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
THE TIMELINE OF THE INFAMOUS VIRGINIA GIUFFRE AND PRINCE ANDREW PHOTOS
March 2001 – An infamous photo of Virginia, Ghislaine and Prince Andrew is reportedly taken at Ghislaine’s London home.
May 2001 – Naomi Campbell threw a boat party on the French Riviera attended by Jeffrey Epstein, Virginia, and Ghislaine Maxwell.
February 2011 – Virginia is approached by the Mail On Sunday while living a quiet life with her family on Australia’s Central Coast.
She had been tracked down by journalist Sharon Churcher, who was investigating reports that the FBI was planning to reopen an investigation into Epstein’s sexual exploitation of teenagers.
Speaking to the Mail on Sunday at the time, she showed the picture of Andrew emerging from a white envelope containing a collection of photos chronicling her teenage years and traveling to New Mexico and Paris with Epstein.
She explained that the picture with Andrew was taken at Mrs Maxwell’s home after a visit to Tramp nightclub – a claim the Duke denies.
She claimed the photo was taken in March 2001, two months before the boat party in St Tropez.
She told Churcher at the meeting that she had sex with Andrew three times as a teenager, but for legal reasons the MoS could not release her claims, which the Duke denies.
The photos are published by the Mail On Sunday.
November 2019 – Andrew hinted that the hand around her waist might not be his.
Prince Andrew told BBC Newsnight: “You cannot prove whether or not this photo is fake because it is a photo of a photo of a photo.”
“It’s very difficult to prove, but I don’t remember this picture being taken…
“That’s me, but if that’s my hand…I just have no recollection of the photo ever being taken.”
December 2019 – Virginia told BBC Panorama the photo was real and gave the original to the FBI in 2011.
February 2022 – Lady Victoria Hervey says victims of Epstein told her picture of Virginia and Maria Farmer was photoshopped.
January 2023 – Maxwell claims the picture is fake and that she didn’t see the original, only photocopies.