Ghislaine Maxwell at a function in 2007 in New York City
Credit: Patrick McMullan
Even a prince would sweat at that kind of grilling. For seven hours over the course of two days, Ghislaine Maxwell was interrogated, probed and prodded over everything from sex toys in a laundry basket to whether Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted paedophile, had ever had sex with a child.
On the subject of the Duke of York, Ms Maxwell gave the Queen’s son her backing.
The prince famously told Newsnight that allegations he had slept with Virginia Roberts Giuffre when she was a teenager were false, not least because he didn’t sweat, but Ms Maxwell came up with a different explanation for why the sex didn’t take place – her bathtub was too small.
Ms Maxwell had fought hard to keep the deposition, given in April 2016 in response to a defamation claim brought by Ms Roberts Giuffre, out of the public domain.
However, on Thursday, on the orders of a New York judge, all 417 pages were unsealed – most of it unsavoury, often lurid accusations, followed by Ms Maxwell’s ever-angrier denials.
Prince Andrew, the then-named Virginia Roberts and Ghislaine Maxwell
Ms Maxwell, for her part, is now languishing in a prison cell awaiting trial on child sex trafficking and procurement charges and two counts of perjury relating to the newly-released deposition.
On the allegation that Ms Roberts Giuffre, at the age of just 17, was brought to London in 2001 to have sex with Prince Andrew at Ms Maxwell’s mews house in Belgravia, Ms Maxwell dismissed the story as "ludicrous" and "absurd".
"She claimed things took place in my bathroom in London," Ms Maxwell, now 58, said in her deposition: "Her characterisation is just not possible. She then characterised things that took place in my bathroom, in the bathtub itself. The tub is too small for any type of activity whatsoever."
Prince Andrew’s name never appears in the deposition, his identity blanked out along with some of the other rich and powerful men accused of being too close to Epstein, who died in a New York jail cell last summer.
However, the testimony unmistakably refers to the prince and a now infamous photograph taken of the trio at the mews house. The photograph, Ms Maxwell insisted in 2016 – a claim later echoed by Prince Andrew – might be fake. She said: "I don’t recognise that picture. I’m not sure if that’s a real picture or not."
Hours before the photograph was apparently taken, Ms Roberts Giuffre had claimed Ms Maxwell had taken her shopping, buying her a £5,000 Burberry bag as well as a pink singlet and a pair of embroidered jeans, in which she is pictured.
Ms Maxwell was aghast at the allegation that she would ever purchase such an ensemble. "If this photo were real and if this is – I would never – the outfit doesn’t work at all, so," she said, dismissively. "I did not take her shopping."
She revealed she had discussed the allegations – first made public in a Sunday newspaper – at length with the prince.
"We discussed Virginia’s entire tale and he asked me if he even knew her," she said. "He doesn’t even know who Virginia Roberts is. It would be difficult to have sex with someone you don’t know."
The deposition reveals the pair exchanged emails again in January 2015 after another article in a UK newspaper. "What did you talk about?" asked Ms Roberts Giuffre’s lawyer. "Just what a liar she is," replied Ms Maxwell, the daughter of the disgraced media tycoon Robert Maxwell. "Her entire ludicrous and absurd story is an obvious lie."
Ms Maxwell warmed to the theme during the deposition, calling Ms Roberts Giuffre a liar on no less than 28 occasions. She also called her an "exaggerator", "fantasist" and "truly terrible person" and pounded the desk "inappropriately", according to one lawyer at a heated stage in the proceedings.
Virginia Roberts Giuffre speaks in New York
Credit: Bebeto Matthews/ AP
Asked whether Ms Roberts Giuffre was just 15 when first recruited by Epstein, Ms Maxwell responded: "What I know is her story, about how she claims that initial situation happened, is so egregiously false and such a giant fat enormous, repulsive, disgusting, inappropriate, vile lie, that that I can testify to."
The bizarre subject of a Spitting Image puppet of Prince Andrew also reared its head. In a previously released witness statement, another of Epstein’s alleged victims, Johanna Sjoberg, claimed that, at Epstein’s New York home, she sat on a sofa with the Duke, Ms Roberts Giuffre and a puppet provided by Ms Maxwell.
The puppet’s hands, according to Ms Sjoberg, were placed on Ms Roberts Giuffre’s breast and then in mimicry she claimed Prince Andrew put his hand on Ms Sjoberg’s breast.
Ms Maxwell, in her deposition, denied the claim, saying: "I never gave him a gift of a puppet. I am not aware of any small hand-held puppet that was there. There was a puppet – not a puppet – there was a – I don’t know how would you describe it really. A caricature of that was in Jeffrey’s home."
Asked if she had used the "caricature" to put its hand on someone’s breast, she said: "I don’t recollect. I recollect the puppet, but I don’t recollect anything around the puppet."
Ms Maxwell was asked 20 times whether she "believes" Epstein abused any minor children. She repeatedly responded that the only claim she was aware of was from Ms Roberts Giuffre, and that she was a "liar".
She also denied taking naked photgraphs of minors, and said she had never asked Epstein if he had sex with underage girls.
It was pointed out that, in 2008, Epstein had already pleaded guilty to procuring for prostitution a girl below age 18.
However, Ms Maxwell said: "I don’t know exactly what he was convicted of. I don’t know that he was convicted. I know he spent time in jail," later adding: "I only know he went to jail for – it was alleged that he hired – had an underage prostitute."
She denied any knowledge of a message left at Epstein’s Florida home by a 13-year-old girl and also denied knowing if Esptein had sex with a 16-year-old Russian girl.
Ms Maxwell, in the deposition, was asked about relationship with Epstein, whom she first met in 1991. She accepted her relationship with him was "intimate" but, asked if she was his girlfriend between 1999 and 2002, said: "I don’t know if I would have ever characterised myself as his girlfriend."
She was asked if the pair had ever tried to find a surrogate to have their baby and said: "That’s completely rubbish. I have never asked anybody to carry a baby for me."
Convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein was found dead in a New York jail
Credit: New York State Sex Offender Registry
Epstein, she accepted, had given her a loan to buy a $4.95 million townhouse as well as money for a car. Asked about what her salary was at the time she stopped working for Epstein in 2009, Ms Maxwell said: "It was under $500,000 and I did it out of thoughtfulness and consideration for somebody who was in trouble. I’d remember if it was over $1 million."
After his conviction in 2008, the pair had stayed in contact. "I’m a very loyal person and Jeffrey was very good to me when my father passed away, and I believe that you need to be a good friend in people’s hour of need," she said.
Ms Roberts Giuffre was also thankful on Thursday for the decision by the judge to make the deposition public, saying in a statement: "I’m very grateful to Judge Preska for her decision to unseal these depositions.
"This journey to justice has taken decades for my fellow abuse survivors and me, including years in which our voices were ignored. Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein did not act alone. With more transparency, I am hopeful that all who helped perpetrate these heinous crimes will be held accountable."
There was no official communique from Prince Andrew on Thursday. He has always denied all the allegations against him, but he knows too well his one-time friendship with Epstein continues to dog him.
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