Prince Andrew hosted Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell and Harvey Weinstein at Royal Lodge before they all attended Princess Beatrice’s 18th birthday celebrations, according to new claims.
The 65-year-old prince, who recently renounced his Duke of York title amid mounting scandal, is said to have invited the trio to his 30-room Windsor residence ahead of the dress-up party held at Windsor Castle on July 15, 2006.
While it was already known that Epstein, Maxwell and Weinstein attended the event, the BBC has now reported that the three convicted sex offenders were at Andrew’s private home first.
More disturbingly, the invitation came just two months after a US arrest warrant was issued for Epstein over the sexual assault of a minor.
He was taken into custody in Florida eight days after the party.
A witness told the BBC they recalled seeing Epstein and Weinstein at a drinks gathering in the back garden of Royal Lodge before guests moved on to the castle.
The outlet said it had also matched a photo of the three at the mansion to other images of the property.
Princess Beatrice’s celebration had an ‘1888 masked ball’ theme, a nod to her birth time of 8.18 pm on August 8, 1988, and paid tribute to her late great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria, whose youngest daughter she was named after.
Beatrice wore a Victorian-style blue gown, with her sister Princess Eugenie, then 16, donning a similar design.
Around 400 guests attended, including Demi Moore and then-husband Ashton Kutcher, Kelly and Jack Osbourne, and Pixie Geldof.
Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah ‘Fergie’ Ferguson were both present, though other senior royals, including the late Queen Elizabeth II, King Charles III, and Princes William and Harry, did not attend.
Years later, in his ill-fated BBC Newsnight interview with Emily Maitlis, Andrew insisted he “wasn’t aware” of Epstein’s arrest warrant when extending the invitation.
“Certainly, I wasn’t aware when the invitation was issued what was going on in the United States, and I wasn’t aware until the media picked up on it because he never said anything about it,” he said.
Epstein and Maxwell, now jailed for sex trafficking offences, are understood to have visited other royal residences on multiple occasions.
Though the origins of Andrew’s relationship with Weinstein remain unclear, the disgraced film producer had his honorary CBE stripped by Queen Elizabeth II in 2020 following his rape and sexual assault convictions and a raft of public allegations.
The latest revelations come amid growing pressure on Andrew and Fergie to vacate Royal Lodge, where they have lived rent-free since 2003.
Resurfaced emails between the Yorks and Epstein, and the recent release of Virginia Giuffre’s posthumous memoirs, have reignited scrutiny over the couple’s position.
On Tuesday, Maitlis said on her podcast The News Agents that Prince William had allegedly threatened to remove Beatrice and Eugenie’s titles unless their parents left Royal Lodge.
Maitlis said the media had been “tipped off” about the meeting.
“There was a possible question whether there had been, earlier in the day, a meeting between Prince William and the Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, saying, ‘You guys have got to get your dad to move out of Royal Lodge, otherwise we will start re-examining the state of your own titles’,” she said.
“At the moment, they are allowed to be Princesses, but there was a bit of pressure, we understand, being put on the Princesses to say, ‘You know, this is going to happen’.”
Maitlis added: “Obviously, you can see why Andrew, as a father, would want to keep his daughters happy and keep their titles in place, come what may.”
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.skynews.com.au ’
