UK: In a rare Jailhouse interview, socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, who pleaded guilty to aiding financier Jeffrey Epstein in sexually abusing minors, referred to Prince Andrew with an endearing term, possibly to the Duke of York. undermined the claim that the two are not particularly close.

Maxwell, who received a 20-year prison sentence for sex-trading minors for US investor Jeffrey Epstein, referred to Prince Andrew as his "dear friend" in an interview with the Mail on Sunday.

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Maxwell, 60, continued during the interview, which was conducted over the summer from the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York, claiming that Prince Andrew is "paying such a price" for his friendship with Epstein.

She told the Mail on Sunday, "I care about her, and I feel so bad for her.
Virginia Giuffre sued Prince Andrew in August last year. When she was 17, she claimed that Andrew, Maxwell and Epstein forced her to have sex with the prince at Maxwell's London home.

The prince rejected the claims and later settled with Giuffre out of court. Giuffre's lawyers described Andrew in their complaint as a "close friend" of Maxwell. This was denied by Andrew's legal team, which has been questioned by many.

A former royal police officer was quoted by Business Insider as calling the denial "nonsense" and that she had seen Maxwell and Andrew together at least a dozen times. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, they were often seen together and even reportedly dating.

According to two sources consulted for the ITV documentary Ghislaine, Prince Andrew and the Pedophile, Andrew and Maxwell were so close that Buckingham Palace staff once assumed they were dating.

In his infamous Newsnight interview from November 2019, Andrew claimed that he has known Maxwell from his time in college.
She responded to the Mail on Sunday when Andrew's lawyers said she and the Duke of York are not close: "I accept that this friendship cannot escape my conviction."

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Maxwell expressed doubts that their friendship would ever fully rekindle. "I have no hope," she told the newspaper. "Whoever they are, the people I've been friends with - and who have very close friends - I can't imagine what they'd like to do or not. I'm only in control of my actions.

On Sunday, the Mail also questioned Maxwell about his infamous photo with Andrew and Virginia Roberts, then 17 and now Guifrey.

Giuffre claimed in an affidavit that Prince Andrew had ordered her to have sex with him, and the photo was attached to the document.

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The photo was allegedly tampered with, according to Andrew, who claimed he had reason to be suspicious but lacked solid evidence. According to the Mail on Sunday, Maxwell agreed with it in interviews, despite experts saying it was legit.
The Duke of York's press office declined to comment.