Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein pictured at Balmoral in Scotland.Photo: HANDOUT/US District Court for the Southe/AFP via Getty Images
A photograph ofJeffrey EpsteinandGhislaine Maxwellrelaxing at a log cabin onQueen Elizabeth’s Balmoral Estate in Scotland has been shown at theBritish socialite’s trialin New York.
The picture, which is thought to have been taken in 1999 when the disgraced financier reportedly visited the estate with the Queen’s youngest sonPrince Andrew, shows Epstein and Maxwell casually reclining on the cabin’s veranda. TheQueen and her family have been picturedsitting in what appears to be the exact same location over the years.
Prince Andrew announced he would be"stepping back" from public dutiesfollowing backlash from a disastrous BBC interview in November 2019 when he addressed his relationship with disgraced American financier Jeffrey Epstein, who died in prison two months before the interview amid allegations of sex trafficking.
In June 2020, Maxwell, now 59, was charged with six felonies, including conspiracy to entice minors to engage in illegal sex acts, transportation of a minor to engage in illegal sex acts and perjury. She has pleaded not guilty to all charges and has been held without bond in a Brooklyn, N.Y., jail.
Balmoral Castle.Andrew Milligan - WPA Pool/Getty
Epstein was found dead in prison at age 66 while awaiting trial forsex trafficking in 2019.
On Dec. 1, Sarah Ransome, 37, spoke exclusively to PEOPLE about her horrific nine-month ordeal at the hands of Epstein and Maxwell after she relocated from Scotland to New York in 2006.
Can’t get enough ofPEOPLE’s Royals coverage?Sign up for our free Royals newsletterto get the latest updates onKate Middleton,Meghan Markleand more!
“I was naïve. I was vulnerable. I was broken,” said Ransome, whose new book,Silenced No More: Surviving My Journey to Hell and Back,was published on Dec. 7. “I was literally the perfect victim for them.”
Sarah Ransome.Lauren Fleishman
On Thursday, the jury in Maxwell’s sex-trafficking trial was sent home, and the trial was temporarily put on hold after a lawyer in the case fell sick. Judge Alison J. Nathan said she expected the trial to continue on Friday, reportsTheNew York Times.
Prince Andrew is due in court next week for the forthcoming trial over thelawsuitVirginia Roberts Giuffre filed in New York City this past August. The lawsuit centers on Giuffre’s allegations that the Duke of York forced her to have sex with him three separate times between 1999 and 2002, including occasions when she was under the age of 18. Prince Andrew has consistently denied these accusations.
Prince Andrew.STEVE PARSONS/POOL/AFP via Getty
source: people.com
