PRINCE Andrew and Ghislaine Maxwell had an “intimate relationship” that gave the social member “unrestricted access” to Buckingham Palace, a former royal policeman claimed.
Maxwell and The Duke of York’s relationship is being intensely scrutinized, as she was jailed for 20 years this week for her role in caring for girls for pedophile multimillionaire Jeffrey Epstein.
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Paul Page, who served the royal family as an armed protection officer for six years, spoke of how he would often see Ghislaine coming and going from Andrew’s apartments.
And she had “unrestricted access” at Buckingham Palace – with police told to simply wave her in when she arrived to see the Duke.
Page – who worked at the Palace from 1998 to 2004 – said he and his colleagues were convinced Andrew was more than friends with Ghislaine.
“She was allowed to enter the palace day and night and leave at will,” he told The Sun Online.
“I and my other colleagues formed the opinion that they were in a kind of relationship.”
It is known that Andrew and the British socialite were old friends – they knew each other even before she became involved in the perverse Epstein.
And it was Ghislaine who allegedly introduced Andrew to the American, with the Royal and the pedophile becoming firm friends in the years to come.
Maxwell and Epstein are said to have traded Virginia Giuffre, 17, to the social person’s home in London where she was forced to have sex with Andrew after a night out dancing at the Tramp nightclub.
Page remembers Ghislaine was one of Andrew’s most frequent visitors in the early 00’s – a time reportedly when they approached and when she first introduced him to Epstein.
And for the policeman, his decision was about the nature of their relationship when he saw them having an “intimate picnic” in the grounds of Buckingham Palace.
“It was right outside The Queen’s bedroom window,” Page told The Sun Online.
“So from that point on, I was of the opinion that they had some form of intimate relationship.”
Page said he and his colleagues were instructed to keep her name out of the visitors’ book – which was “highly unusual”.
He continued: “We assumed they did not want any evidence that she had visited the palace, perhaps because she was Robert Maxwell’s daughter – it would not have been a good look.”
She had access like no other individual outside the royal family. She was on another level
Paul Page
Ghislaine’s father, Robert, was a disgraceful newspaper magnate, a former Labor MP, and the owner of Oxford United.
He was found dead in November 1991 while floating in the water near his yacht – The Lady Ghislaine – along the Canary Islands.
And after his death, it turned out that he had stolen hundreds of millions of pounds from pension funds of his own companies.
Ghislaine apparently spent more and more time in New York after his death – but remained a high society on both sides of the Atlantic.
And possibly it was a catalyst for her perverse relationship with Epstein.
Page explained: “We would blow her in and she would go straight to the square and straight up to the Duke of York apartments.
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“She had access like no other individual outside the royal family. She was on a different level.”
And he added that they all knew if his entry was denied, they would be “shouted and shouted” by Andrew.
Asked what he remembers about Ghislaine, Paul said she was “very aloof.”
“She did not say anything, she will not say hello, just look at us and then look away,” he explained.
“Not a friendly person – I would almost say she looked down on us.”
Maxwell’s trial revealed revelations about her relationship with Epstein, which included a photo of them posing together at The Queen’s lodge in Balmoral.
It is unknown when the photo was taken – but shows just how deeply they managed to satisfy themselves with the royals.
‘LOVE DOVEY’
Andrew denies any wrongdoing over his relationship with Epstein and Maxwell – and strongly insists he did not have sex with Virginia.
Earlier this year, he settled a civil case with her out of court worth £ 12 million – despite having previously clumsily promised to take the trial to clear his name.
Maxwell and Andrew apparently knew each other for most of two decades before she allegedly introduced him to Epstein.
During his infamous car accident interview on BBC Newsnight with Emily Maitlis, the Prince dropped some important tips about his friendship with Ghislaine.
He explained that he had met Epstein through the financier’s “girlfriend” – Maxwell – whom he had known “since she was at university in the UK”.
The duke claimed his relationship with the pedophile was always through the prism of Ghislaine.
Events that Epstein and Maxwell attended together – such as at Windsor Castle – were usually arranged by her, with Epstein as the plus one.
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Ghislaine and Andrew’s friendship is reported to have become more prominent in the early noughties – with him first spotted with her and Epstein at a tennis tournament at Donald Trump’s resort of Mar-a-Lago in February 2000.
Vanity Fair reports that friends claim Andrew changed his lifestyle as he got closer to Maxwell.
“Andrew is a very poor character judge, easily impressed,” said a source in the Evening Standard.
“He went from this bank potato to man across town, with nothing better to do than go from one holiday to the next.”
The duo was reported to have been together at least eight times in the year 2000 – and were seen at several nightclubs in London.
Photos from this period capture the fact that Andrew apparently became close friends with Ghislaine.
The duke is pictured leaving a “loving lunch” with Ghislaine at Nello’s in New York in April 2000, where he is reportedly “holding hands with his new love”.
And she and Epstein both attended the Dance of the Decades in June 2000 – a birthday celebration for Andrew, Princess Anne, Princess Margaret and the Queen Mother, who turned 40, 50, 70 and 100.
The two are pictured together at the wedding of Aurelia Cecil and Rupert Stephenson at St Michaels and All Angels Church in Compton Chamberlayne in Wiltshire in September 2000.
Andrew was also caught at a “pimps and hookers” theme party in New York in October 2000 when he was partying with Ghislaine and Heidi Klum.
And in that December, Epstein and Maxwell were also pictured on a pheasant shoot that was also attended by Andrew at Sandringham Estate.
Not long after, he was spotted on a wild holiday with Epstein and Maxwell on which he allegedly visited red-light district clubs and partyed with topless women.
The Duke of York, then 40 years old with two young children, is notoriously portrayed while partying with topless women at a yachting party in Phuket, Thailand.
It is also reported that Maxwell accompanied him and the Prince and Epstein were apparently spotted in pubs around Patong resort on the island, including one manned by half-naked go-go dancers.
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Epstein’s “Madame” is also depicted frolicking on a throne at Buckingham Palace in 2002 after being invited by Prince Andrew.
And meanwhile, four years later in 2006, just before he was first publicly accused of sex crimes, Epstein and Maxwell were photographed at Princess Beatrice’s 18th birthday party.
Next to them was the perverted film magnate Harvey Weinstein as they beamed together at Windsor Castle.
But of course, the most infamous photo containing a link between Andrew and Ghislaine was taken in 2001 at her London townhouse.
It shows the Duke with his arm around Virginia Roberts while the social person smiles in the background – with the photo allegedly taken by Epstein.
Andrew has since suggested the photo is fake.
He claims that night he was actually at a Pizza Express in Woking.
Ghislaine was also photographed with Andrew’s ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, with the couple clipped at an event in December 2003.
It turns out that she was an important part of Andrew’s social life at the time – but the nature of their relationship was never confirmed.
Previously, Royal Writer Nigel Cawthorne – who wrote books about Andrew, Ghislaine and Virginia – said: “There is always gossip about a man and a woman who are often seen in each other’s company.”
He said Ghislaine and Andrew met at university and hit it off right away and were often seen at public outings in each other’s company.
Cawthorne added: “It definitely lasted for a very long time. They looked very close.”