She says they no longer communicate
Disgraced socialite Ghislaine Maxwell has given a rare interview from prison, saying she “feels so bad” for Prince Andrew.
She told how the Duke of York was a “dear friend”, saying she understood why they were no longer in contact.
Maxwell is being held in the Metropolitan Detention Centre in Brooklyn, New York, until a few weeks ago when she was moved to women’s jail the Tallahassee’s Federal Correctional Institute.
In June this year, she was sentenced to 20 years in prison after her conviction in December last year.
“I accept that this friendship [her and Prince Andrew] could not survive my conviction,” she told the Daily Mail from prison.
“Yes, I follow what is happening to him. He is paying such a price for the association with Jeffrey Epstein. I care about him, and I feel so bad for him.”
She said she did not have high hopes their friendship would be rekindled, saying she had lost many friends since her arrest and conviction, including former US president Bill Clinton.
Prince Andrew, who met Maxwell when she was at university, was pictured with her several times in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
But after sex trafficking allegations against her came out – and he himself was implicated – he denied that she was a close friend, and said a notorious photo showing them together was doctored.
He has stepped back from working royal duties over the controversy.
Maxwell told the paper she also believes the photo is fake, but Virginia Guiffre, who is also pictured with Prince Andrew’s arm around her, says it is real.
Ms Guiffre accused the Queen’s son of sexually abusing her three times when she was just 17, and while she was the victim of a trafficking ring orchestrated by billionaire paedophile Jeffry Epstein and his girlfriend Maxwell.
Last year, the Duke of York stepped down from public life following scrutiny over his friendship with the paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
He reached a £12 million out-of-court settlement with alleged Giuffre in March. He admitted no admission of liability and continues to strongly deny the claims.
Epstein himself was not able to face trial as he was found dead in his prison cell before he could.
Maxwell insists that she is innocent, saying she has been portrayed as a ‘wicked witch’ but that her ‘greatest mistake’ was simply meeting Epstein.
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