NEW YORK — A photo of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell lounging at the Queen of England’s Scottish castle is among the evidence Manhattan jurors will review when they weigh the case against the financier’s accused enabler.
The image captures the multimillionaires lounging outside a log cabin at the British monarch’s northern getaway, according to the BBC, where the Queen has been photographed numerous times. The British broadcaster reported that the photo was taken in 1999 when Maxwell and Epstein visited the estate with their friend Prince Andrew.
The FBI found the photo with dozens more during a 2019 raid of Epstein’s $77 million Upper East Side mansion. Government prosecutors admitted the photos as evidence Maxwell was not just Epstein’s assistant, as her defense has claimed, but was in an intimate relationship with him.
Maxwell was good friends with the Queen’s son, Prince Andrew, whom she met while studying at Oxford University. He is the subject of a civil lawsuit by one of Epstein’s most prominent accusers, Virginia Giuffre, who claims she had sex with him at 17 years old at Epstein’s behest.
Meanwhile, Maxwell’s trial was delayed Thursday after it emerged an attorney on the case was ill.
After brief testimony from a FedEx employee, who testified about 2002 invoices associated with Epstein, Judge Alison Nathan met with the parties in the robing room and returned shortly after to send the jury home.
“I’ve been informed that there is an attorney in the case who is ill,” Nathan advised the jury, noting there was “no reason” to believe it was related to COVID-19.
“Thank you, everyone. We are adjourned until tomorrow.”
Prosecutors had been expected to rest their case by the end of day.
As jurors unexpectedly headed home, attention returned to Prince Andrew, whose name has come up many times at Maxwell’s sex trafficking trial.
On Nov. 30, one of Epstein’s longtime pilots told jurors he had flown the Duke of York as a passenger on the financier’s so-called “Lolita Express” private Boeing.
“You already said that former President Bill Clinton flew on some of the flights?” asked Maxwell’s attorney Christian Everdell on Nov. 30.
“Yes, he did,” replied the pilot, Larry Visoksi.
“And Prince Andrew on some of the flights?” followed up the lawyer.
“Yes.”
The Duke of York has defended his friendship with Epstein and vehemently denied Giuffre’s allegations. He nevertheless stepped down from royal duties in the wake of a disastrous interview with the BBC about the allegations.
The British royal bizarrely said Giuffre’s sexual misconduct allegations couldn’t be true because she described him as sweaty.
“There’s a slight problem with ... the sweating because I have a peculiar medical condition, which is that I don’t sweat — or I didn’t sweat at the time,” a bumbling Andrew said.
Last year, the Manhattan U.S. attorney slammed Andrew for stating publicly he would cooperate with an investigation into Epstein’s alleged enablers, while privately refusing to talk to the feds.
Maxwell has pleaded not guilty to charges she sexually exploited teenagers and trafficked them to Epstein’s properties worldwide between 1994 and 2004. Her lawyers say authorities and the media have blamed her for the actions of a deceased, “narcissistic” man and that her accusers are out for money. She also faces perjury charges.
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