Ghislaine Maxwell explains 'what was happening' in photo of Andrew and Virginia Giuffre

Ghislaine Maxwell sent emails to Jeffrey Epstein about the photo of herself, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Virginia Giuffre.

Giuffre, who died by suicide in 2025, alleged that she was forced to have sex with the former prince on three separate occasions in 2001 and 2002, allegations which Andrew has continuously denied.

In 2022, the former Duke of York reached a reported out-of-court settlement of £12 million with Giuffre to end her US civil sexual assault lawsuit.

The agreement included a substantial donation to her charity for victims' rights, with no admission of liability by Andrew.

Mountbatten-Windsor, who has always denied any wrongdoing, had previously suggested in a 2019 BBC Newsnight interview that the photo of him, Giuffre and Maxwell may have been fake, saying he had 'no recollection' of the photo or Giuffre.

In the latest batch of the Epstein files, Maxwell - who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for conspiring with Epstein to sexually abuse minors - appears to confirm the photo.

Andrew has previously suggested that the photo is fake (Rasid Necati Aslim/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Drafting a statement with Epstein to hit back at mounting allegations, Maxwell wrote: "In 2001, I was in London when (redacted) met a number of friends of mine, including Prince Andrew.

"A photograph was taken as I imagine she wanted to show it to friends and family. I never asked (redacted) to give him a massage."

Maxwell went on to say there was ‘no knowledge’ of Giuffre ‘having sexual activity’ with Andrew or any other ‘famous people’.

She penned: "I am stating for the record as fact," before adding: "Prince Andrew came to my house to visit me – (redacted) was in the house and they did meet."

Epstein replied to say that the statement left 'too many unanswered questions'.

Ghislaine Maxwell is serving a 20-year prison sentence for conspiring with Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse minors (Joe Schildhorn/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)

"Her and Andrew?…what's the deal here? why is she there?" he wrote.

Maxwell said that she needed the statement ‘asap’ and wanted to add that she ‘was not aware of massage w/andrew in my house’.

This seemingly contradicts Maxwell's previous claim that the picture of her, Andrew, and Giuffre was 'literally a fake photo'.

According to Sky News, an email from Epstein in July 2011, released in the first batch of documents last year, also appears to confirm that Andrew was photographed with Giuffre, saying: "Yes, she [Giuffre] was on my plane and yes she had her picture taken with Andrew."

In the email headed ‘first draft privileged joint defense agreement’, Maxwell claims: "The allegations made against me by (redacted) are lies.

Andrew denied meeting Giuffre during a 2019 interview (BBC)

"I have consistently stated that they are untrue, and I have waited for an opportunity to prove this in a court of law."

Going against Giuffre’s version of her abuse, Maxwell added: "The salacious claims she makes are untrue and made purely for financial gain.

"The relentless media harassment to which I, Alan Dershowitz and Prince Andrew have been subjected to over the last week has become intolerable and breaches any justifiable sense of natural justice."