Photo reveals Prince Andrew hosted Jeffrey Epstein, Harvey Weinstein at Royal Lodge

London: Convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein gained access to Prince Andrew’s private home in Windsor with their friend Ghislaine Maxwell and disgraced movie producer Harvey Weinstein, according to new details about an infamous photograph.

The three visitors were photographed at Andrew’s home, Royal Lodge, during the early stages of a lavish 18th birthday celebration for his daughter, Princess Beatrice, in 2006.

The image highlights the ties between the prince and three people who were later convicted of serious crimes, ranging from Epstein’s guilty plea for sex with a minor to Weinstein’s convictions for multiple sexual assaults and Maxwell’s convictions for trafficking girls.

The three guests were known to have visited Windsor Castle in 2006 for the birthday party, but the BBC analysed the photograph this week and matched it to known locations at Royal Lodge to establish they were at Prince Andrew’s home.

“A witness told the BBC they remembered seeing Weinstein and Epstein at a drinks event in the back garden of Royal Lodge, before guests headed to the main party at the castle,” the BBC said.

The party was held before any of the three guests were charged or convicted over their conduct, although Epstein was only days away from being arrested in the first case against him for sex with minors.

Epstein was charged in 2006 and negotiated a plea deal with prosecutors that led to most of the charges being dropped. He was found guilty of soliciting a minor for prostitution and spent time in prison and under house arrest before he emerged in 2010.

Andrew acknowledged the damage to the royal family in a statement on October 17, saying he would stop using his titles. While he remains a prince and has not been stripped of his titles by parliament, he will not be known as the Duke of York.

But the media debate has intensified around Andrew with last Wednesday’s release of a memoir by Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who has written a detailed account of having sex with Andrew on three occasions, starting when she was 17. Andrew has denied the allegations and has said in the past that they had never met.

The photograph highlights the access to the royal estate that Epstein and Maxwell enjoyed through their friendship with the prince.

The pair were photographed at Balmoral, the Scottish estate that was a favoured retreat for Queen Elizabeth, during a visit thought to have taken place in 1999.

Epstein and Maxwell were also photographed at Sandringham in 2000, when they went pheasant-shooting at the royal estate.

Entries in the infamous birthday book given to Epstein in 2003, when he turned 50, also suggest that he and his friends went to Buckingham Palace. The birthday book included a greeting from US President Donald Trump, then a property developer and television personality.

One of Epstein’s assistants at the time, a young woman photographed in a bikini, wrote in the birthday book about meeting Prince Andrew and visiting Buckingham Palace.

“Before Jeffrey, I was a 22-year-old divorcee working as a hostess in a hotel,” she wrote.

“Now I live in New York.

“I have met Prince Andrew, President Clinton, Sultan of Brunei, Donald Trump, Antonio [sic] Verglas, Naomi Campbell, Stephanie Seymour, Peter Brant, Kevin Spacey, Chris Tucker, Diana Ross and Michael Jackson.

“I have flown on the Concorde, gone skydiving, taken a flying lesson, been scuba-diving, parasailing, attended a Victoria’s Secret fashion show, seen the private quarters of Buckingham Palace, sat on the Queen of England’s throne, rode on a racetrack with Max Papis, learnt countless skills.”

The assistant included photographs of herself, but her face and name were redacted before the US Congress released the book.

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