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A lawyer for the victims of Jeffrey Epstein has responded angrily to claims by the pedophile’s jailed accomplice that the notorious photo showing Prince Andrew with his accuser Virginia Giuffre has been doctored.
In an interview from prison, Ghislaine Maxwell said she had “no recollection” of the encounter and did not believe “for a second” the image was real, adding: “There has never been an original, there is no photograph.”
But Lisa Bloom, a lawyer for the victims of Jeffrey Epstein, called her comments “disgusting” and told Good Morning Britain that it “doesn’t really matter” what the former British socialite thought because she has never seen the original.
The March 2001 image shows Andrew with his hand around Ms Giuffre’s waist alongside a laughing Maxwell. The night she was taken, Ms Giuffre says she had sex with royalty after Epstein trafficked her to Britain.
The March 2001 image shows Prince Andrew with his hand around Virginia Giuffre’s waist alongside Ghislaine Maxwell laughing.
She maintains that it was taken at Maxwell’s house in central London after a night in Mayfair. However, the prince, who has always denied having sex with her, insisted that he “does not remember” meeting her or posing for the photo.
The image was first published by The Mail on Sunday in 2011 after the newspaper found Giuffre living in a small bungalow in New South Wales, Australia. He is said to have given the original to FBI investigators in 2011.
But Andrew and his allies have put forth a number of theories to suggest that the photo is fake. These include:
Andrew’s fingers ‘aren’t chubby enough and he’s too small’
Friends of the Duke of York have previously raised doubts about the veracity of the photo by claiming the hand around Ms Giuffre’s waist “doesn’t look right” and suggesting she looks too small.
A source told the London Evening Standard: ‘Look at her fingers in the photo. The duke has quite chubby fingers, they don’t look good, and neither is the height of the duke and the girl.
However, while Andrew is said to be around 6 feet tall, Virginia is understood to be around 5 feet 8 inches, which is reflected in the image.
Other images of his hands do not highlight any obvious discrepancies. Experts have pointed out that the practice of manipulating images was in its infancy when the photograph was taken.
Maxwell has insisted that the photo of Andrew with his accuser, Ms Giuffre, is a fake.
It is improvised from various images.
Last year, Lady Victoria Hervey introduced her own dubious mix-up theory by suggesting that the photo had actually been cobbled together from several different images.
The 46-year-old former ‘It Girl’ said she armed herself using a photo taken at Naomi Campbell’s birthday party aboard a yacht in St Tropez in May 2001, in which Ms Giuffre can be seen wearing the same white tank top. with colored patterned jeans.
The logical explanation is, of course, that she was wearing the same outfit on both occasions.
Furthermore, Lady Victoria does not have a copy of the exact photo from St Tropez which she claims was used to fake Andrew’s image, and has never been seen publicly.
However, he shared a bizarre painted reproduction of the alleged image on Instagram.
Lady Victoria Hervey said a picture taken on Naomi Campbell’s 2001 birthday in St Tropez was used to ‘fake’ Prince Andrew’s photo, pointing out that Virginia wears the same outfit in both (pictured)
The former ‘It Girl’, daughter of the sixth Marquess of Bristol, has claimed that the image is manipulated.
Andrew is actually a body double.
Lady Victoria added to their baffling claims by saying that an “Irish guy” who was dating one of Epstein’s victims in 2001 and also attended the boat party was used as a “body double” for Andrew in the “fake” image.
In an exclusive interview, Lady Victoria told FEMAIL that she spoke to several victims of Epstein, who said they believe the image was edited by Ms Giuffre and Maria Farmer, another victim who worked as an ‘artist-in-residence’ for Epstein.
She said other victims had “seen” Ms Giuffre and Ms Farmer retouching the image, before being “intimidated and silenced” by Ms Giuffre.
Lady Victoria said the couple had been “in cahoots” for 20 years because they “wanted to bring down the monarchy using Prince Andrew”, adding that this was also Epstein’s intention.
“I know this sounds pretty wild: Epstein told a survivor that he basically wanted to bring down the monarchy,” he said.
Lady Victoria claimed that a photograph of this unidentified man, who she said is Irish and was dating one of Epstein’s victims at the time, was used as a body double for Prince Andrew.
ANDREW’S CLAIMS TO EMILY MAITLIS
During his notorious 2019 interview with Emily Maitlis on Newsnight, the Duke of York said he had “no recollection” of meeting Ms Giuffre or posing for the photo.
He also echoed previously unnamed sources who have questioned the veracity of the photo, even hinting that the hand around his waist may not be his own.
The prince told interviewer Emily Maitlis: “I have absolutely no recollection of that photograph being taken.”
“From the investigations we have carried out, it cannot be proven whether that photograph is false or not because it is a photograph of a photograph of a photograph.
“So it’s very hard to prove it, but I don’t recall that photograph being taken.”
Andrew also said:
He has never seen Epstein with a camera.
The Duke of York questioned the idea that Epstein could have taken the photo because: “I have never seen Epstein with a camera in my life.”
Mrs Maitlis suggested that her former friend had borrowed Mrs Roberts’s camera, leaving the prince to reply: ‘Listen, I don’t remember. I don’t recall that photograph ever being taken.
Prince Andrew during his notorious BBC Newsnight interview with Emily Maitlis
You haven’t been on the first floor of Maxwell’s house.
The photo purportedly shows the first floor of the property, with the window appearing to match one in the front of the house.
But the prince denied having been on the first floor. Ms Maitlis asked: ‘There is a picture inside the house of Ghislaine Maxwell, Ghislaine herself in the background.
‘Why wouldn’t people believe you were there with her that night?’ He replied: ‘You may want to believe it, but the photograph is taken upstairs and I don’t think I ever went up… because the dining room and everything was on the ground floor…
I don’t know how to explain this particular photograph. I don’t remember going up because that picture was taken upstairs and I’m not entirely convinced that… we can’t be sure if that’s my hand on it or not, whatever it is, side.’
I would have been wearing a tie on a night out.
The prince even questioned his own casual clothing in the photo. He said: ‘I don’t think it’s a photo of me in London because when I go out in London, I wear a suit and tie.’
Instead, he is dressed in dark pants and a light blue shirt, with cufflinks adorning his sleeves.
Other photos show that this was his favorite look at the time and he was photographed in almost the exact same clothes he had left London’s Chinawhite club in a few months earlier.
The Duke of York left the famous Chinawhite nightclub in London at around 2am in July 2000.
Andrew attends the Royal Family Christmas Service at Sandringham Church
he is not a hugger
In the Newsnight interview, Andrew also argued that he would not have put his arm around the teen, saying: “I’m not one to, so to speak, hug, and public displays of affection are not something I do.”
But that claim also seems to be contradicted by a series of photos over the years.
Ms Maitlis asked: ‘Do you think that photo has been faked?’ Andrew replied, “No one can prove whether or not that photograph has been tampered with, but I don’t recall that photograph being taken.”
So that’s the best explanation I can give you and I’m afraid to say that I don’t think that photograph was taken in the way suggested.
“If the original was ever produced, maybe we can figure it out, but I can’t.”