Shameless Ghislaine Maxwell drags Princess Diana into Jeffrey Epstein scandal

Shameless Ghislaine Maxwellhas dragged Princess Diana into the Jeffrey Epstein scandal - claiming the paedophile was set up with the Princess of Wales.

In tapes made public on Friday by the US Justice Department, the disgraced socialite, 63, told US Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche that she believed the financier had travelled to Britain to meet Lady Diana. Talking about Epstein’s alleged courtship of the Princess, she said he had gone to a “big event” in the UK without her.

“I don’t know if he sat with Diana or he met with Diana and he’d already met her. I don’t know, but this, I believe, was organised by [one of Diana’s closest confidantes]."

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Maxwell added: “I don’t know if she was being set up as a date for him, maybe because she was... I don’t want to speak bad of Diana, but... I’m not going to do that.” She also told how Epstein had lived in London for a period in the 1980s and mixed with “high society people".

Maxwell’s comments were made during a two-day interview last month with Blanche, part of an ongoing series of disclosures relating to her relationship with Epstein. The convicted teen sex trafficker, who is serving a 20-year sentence in a Texas prison, agreed to speak while seeking a pardon to her sentence from Donald Trump. Her recollection of events was inconsistent.

Maxwell was unclear about the timing of the alleged date, suggesting it may have been around the early 2000s, which would have been impossible, as Diana died in 1997. Maxwell did not elaborate further on Diana, but went on to describe Epstein’s dealings with Prince Andrew, with whom she had a long-standing friendship.

The claims add a further controversial layer to the already sprawling scandal surrounding Epstein’s social connections. The billionaire, who was awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges, died in his New York prison cell in August 2019. His death was ruled a suicide.

Maxwell’s testimony to Blanche adds to other accounts of Epstein’s interest in Diana. Michael Wolff, biographer of Donald Trump, claimed that the two men once competed to seduce the Princess in an attempt to boost their own status.

“They had a competition, Trump and Epstein,” Wolff said. “Of who would be the one, the first one to sleep with Princess Diana? … They just understood, what could you get from these people? Both Trump and Epstein. What can you get from somebody, is the question you would always ask about anybody.”

Broadcaster Selina Scott also wrote in 2015 that Trump had viewed Diana as “the ultimate trophy wife” after her divorce from Charles in 1996, sending huge bouquets of flowers to Kensington Palace in a bid to win her over.

The release of Maxwell’s remarks is likely to reignite scrutiny of Epstein’s relationship with the Royal Family and his close friendship with the Duke of York.

He was photographed alongside Prince Andrew in Central Park in 2010, two years after he had served time in Florida for procuring a minor for prostitution. Andrew also stayed at Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse, where the financier was known to entertain prominent figures from politics, business and the arts.

The Duke and the paedophile often socialised together, with both men spending time together in the UK and the US. Andrew shamelessly took Epstein to several of the royal palaces, including Windsor Castle and Balmoral. Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein’s accusers, alleged that she was trafficked to Andrew as a teenager.

The Duke of York has always denied the claim but in 2022 reached a financial settlement in a US civil lawsuit, reportedly worth £12m, without admitting liability. Epstein also maintained relations with Sarah Ferguson.

In 2011 it emerged that Epstein had helped the Duchess of York pay off debts, though she later described accepting the money as “a gigantic error of judgment.”

For Buckingham Palace, the resurfacing of Epstein’s alleged royal connections represents another unwelcome development. King Charles has sought to steady the monarchy after years of reputational damage caused by Andrew’s association with Epstein and Maxwell.

The Duke of York was forced to step back from royal duties in 2019 and has remained out of public life ever since. Maxwell, daughter of crooked publishing tycoon Robert Maxwell, is serving two decades behind bars and continues to mount appeals against her conviction.

The Department of Justice’s decision to release the recordings suggests US prosecutors believe her testimony may carry evidential value as they continue to investigate the web of connections surrounding Epstein’s activities.

The tapes also highlight how Epstein cultivated relationships at the highest levels of society on both sides of the Atlantic. From New York business circles to Palm Beach and London’s Mayfair, he sought access to the elite, often through Maxwell, who acted as his social gatekeeper.

Diana, who died aged 36 following a crash in Paris, remains an iconic figure, and the public will be deeply uneasy about any suggestion that she could have been drawn into Epstein’s orbit. Maxwell’s hesitancy to “speak bad of Diana” underlines the sensitivity of linking the late Princess to Epstein.