Two people are sitting in a tub.
Dressed in white, her legs curled up, her faces roughly masked by the portraits of Prince Andrew and Virginia Giuffre.
This photo, to say the least lunar, was taken by the family of Ghislaine Maxwell in the London home of the latter.
His goal: to prove the innocence of the son of Queen Elizabeth II, as well as the perfidy of his accuser.
Indeed, Virginia Roberts – her real name – accuses the Duke of York of having abused her when she was a minor.
A sex slave of Jeffrey Epstein, she was also one of the first to publicly denounce, and openly, the trafficking of young women by the deceased tycoon Jeffrey Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell.
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"The truth must come out"
“I am publishing these photographs now because the truth must come out, spoke one of the members of the Maxwell clan to the
Telegraph
.
These photos show conclusively that the bath is too small for any kind of sexual intercourse."
With his remarks, the family intends to dismantle the accusations of the complainant who declared, during an interrogation in 2016, to have had forced sexual relations with Prince Andrew in the toilets, then in the bathtub of the London apartment of Ghislaine Maxwell .
The defendant and friend of the 62-year-old prince had, already at the time, justified herself as follows: “She said that things were happening in my bathroom in London.
Its description is simply not possible.
The bathtub is too small for any type of activity.
His story is ridiculous and absurd about what happened in my house.
It is an obvious lie.”
This photo is therefore a continuation of the words of Ghislaine Maxwell, sentenced to a 20-year prison sentence for sex trafficking in the Jeffrey Epstein case, the latter having committed suicide in his cell in 2019.
Read alsoThe fall of the favorite son: how the royal family sidelined Prince Andrew after the Epstein scandal
A counter-productive photo
Could this photograph really discredit Virginia Giuffre's accusations?
For US lawyer Spencer Kuvin, who represents nine of Epstein and Maxwell's victims, this cliché would not only be "absurd" but also counterproductive.
In addition to the idea that sexual intercourse may have been complicated in this bathtub - but not impossible - this reconstruction would demonstrate above all that the accuser is not lying.
“In fact, they say indirectly that Virginia was fine in this house.
So it undermines their case,” he said, as reported by the
Mirror
.
It should also be remembered that in early January, Ghislaine Maxwell told the British channel TalkTV, from her prison cell, that the famous photo showing the accuser and the accused in 2001, arm in arm in her apartment, was "a fake". .
The daughter of Robert Maxwell assures that she has no memory of this moment.
“Prince Andrew is desperate to rehabilitate his image, continued Spencer Kuvin.
And Ghislaine Maxwell protects the men with her life.
By defending her, she hopes that Prince Andrew can help her afterwards.
Prince Andrew, Virginia Giuffre, and Ghislaine Maxwell posing at the latter's home in London.
Handout / US District Court - Southern District of New York (SDNY) / AFP
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Outcast of the royal family
Since Virginia Giuffre's accusations, Prince Andrew has become the pariah of the royal family.
Stripped of his military titles and royal patronages by the queen herself, he is often targeted during his outings.
At the funeral of Elizabeth II, who died on September 8, this was again the case.
As he meditated behind his mother's coffin, a 22-year-old man insulted him with several bird names.
"
Andrew, you're a sick old man, you're disgusting
(Andrew, you're an old pervert, you're disgusting)", exclaimed the fellow before being arrested by the police.
Since then, it would seem that the father of Eugenie and Beatrice aims to restore his image.
An image tarnished by the agreement signed with Virginia Giuffre in February 2022, which made him a little more guilty in the eyes of public opinion.
In recent days, various sources have also claimed that he would think about canceling this financial agreement.
For Spencer Kuvin, the lawyer for Epstein's victims, he has "nothing to lose by saying that he wants to do this, by declaring that he is innocent and that he should be reinstated in the royal family. But that will never happen”.
