Duke of York would ‘shout and scream’ if maids messed up collection of 60 stuffed toys
Prince Andrew and Ghislaine Maxwell had an ‘easy warmth’ around each other and may have dated in the past, a friend of the pair has claimed.
Euan Rellie, who is a New York-based, British investment banker, attended the University of Oxford with Maxwell, 60, and was a guest at dinner parties that she and her disgraced ex-boyfriend Jeffery Epstein hosted in the US.
He recalled being invited to Epstein’s New York home one evening and the disgraced socialite admitted that it was ‘for my friend Prince Andrew’.
And a former Palace police guard made similar claims. Paul Page said he and colleagues wondered if the Andrew and Maxwell were ‘intimate’ due to the frequency of her visits to the Palace.
Mr Rellie and Mr Page made the revelations during an interview with Ranvir Singh for the upcoming ITV documentary, Ghislaine, Prince Andrew and the Paedophile.
Prince Andrew and Ghislaine Maxwell had an easy warmth around each other and may have dated in the past, a friend of the pair has claimed
Euan Rellie (pictured), who is a New York-based, British investment banker, attended the University of Oxford with Maxwell, 60, and was a guest at dinner parties that she and her disgraced ex-boyfriend Jeffery Epstein hosted in the US
Page, who was jailed in 2009 for a £3million fraud scam, claimed Ghislaine Maxwell (right) rarely signed in and entered the palace ‘at will’
Speaking in the upcoming documentary, Mr Rellie said: ‘She described Andrew as being her friend, not Jeffrey’s.’
‘I got the sense that Prince Andrew and Ghislaine had probably been girlfriend and boyfriend in the past. They had an easy warmth around each other’, reports The Telegraph.
This comes as the disgraced socialite is set to be sentenced on sex trafficking crimes on June 28.
The sentencing date was set by Judge Alison Nathan on Friday afternoon.
The delayed sentencing was based on the defense attorneys’ decision due to recent ‘compelling’ evidence they say could overturn the trial, as well as Maxwell’s conviction.
Meanwhile, a former royalty protection officer claimed the Duke of York would ‘shout and scream’ if his teddy bear collection was knocked out of place by palace maids.
The former constable, who left the Metropolitan Police in 2007, was part of the elite Royal Protection Squad and had access to the Duke of York’s private residence.
He claimed that Andrew had a bed with ’50 or 60′ stuffed toys and maids were given a laminated picture so each bear could carefully be put back in its original position.
Former bodyguard Paul Page claimed that Andrew had a bed carefully positioned with ’50 or 60′ stuffed toys and maids had a laminated picture so each one would carefully be placed back in their original position to avoid a tantrum (file image)
Page (pictured) made the revelation during an interview with Ranvir Singh for the upcoming ITV documentary Ghislaine, Prince Andrew and the Paedophile
He said: ‘It had about 50 or 60 stuffed toys positioned on the bed and basically there was a card the inspector showed us in a drawer and it was a picture of these bears all in situ.
‘The reason for the laminated picture was if those bears weren’t put back in the right order by the maids, he would shout and scream.’
Writer Elizabeth Day was introduced to Andrew’s ‘strange’ teddy bear collection back in 2019 at Buckingham Palace.
She wrote: ‘I was told to wait in a corridor where my only other companion was an oversized teddy bear squashed into a seat.
‘When I was ushered in to meet Prince Andrew, I asked him about it. He sniggered and told me it had been a wedding gift from his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson.
‘It seemed rather strange to me that a grown man should be so amused by the presence of a stuffed toy, but I suppose the English upper classes have a long history with teddy bears used as transitional objects to express emotions they might feel uncomfortable with.
‘I wondered if this was someone who had never really grown up because he had never had to. Here he was, taking up space in his mother’s house, carrying out a made-up job to keep him entertained and still having a teddy bear his ex-wife had given him. It was weird.’
The royalty protection officer – who was in the Royal Protection Command from 1998 to 2004 – also said that officers believed the Duke has a close relationship with Robert Maxwell’s daughter, The Sun Online reports.
Page, who was jailed in 2009 for a £3million fraud scam, claimed Ghislaine Maxwell rarely signed in and entered the palace ‘at will’.
Ghislaine Maxwell gives Jeffrey Epstein a foot massage on his private jet dubbed the ‘Lolita Express’ and said to have taken Virginia to London where she was allegedly forced to gave sex with Andrew
He added: ‘From the way she was allowed to enter and exit the palace at will, we suspected that she may have had an intimate relationship with Prince Andrew.
‘She kept coming in and out, in and out.’
Ghislaine, Prince Andrew and the Paedophile will feature on ITV on Tuesday night at 9pm.
This news comes as Prince Andrew will no longer be known as His Royal Highness ‘in any official capacity’ in a stunning downfall as his family abandoned him to fight his sex abuse lawsuit in America as a private citizen.
Andrew, who remains Duke of York, also lost his military titles and royal patronages ‘with the Queen’s approval and agreement’, Buckingham Palace said in a terse statement that brought his 61 years as a senior royal to a shock end.
He is only the 5th royal in recent history to stop officially using the HRH title, with Princess Diana and Sarah, Duchess of York, losing the styling after their divorce, while Prince Harry and Meghan Markle agreed to lose theirs publicly as part of their ‘Megxit’ deal with the Queen.
But like Harry and Meghan, Andrew will privately retain the title inside Palace walls, meaning he will not have to start bowing to all HRH members of the family.
‘The Prince was tearful when told the news even though he had expected it. He feels that he has let so many people down, not least his mother, during her Platinum Jubilee year,’ a senior defence source said.
This news comes as Prince Andrew will no longer be known as His Royal Highness ‘in any official capacity’ in a stunning downfall as his family abandoned him to fight his sex abuse lawsuit in America as a private citizen
‘The Prince was tearful when told the news even though he had expected it. He feels that he has let so many people down, not least his mother, during her Platinum Jubilee year,’ a senior defence source said. (Andrew is pictured above in RAF regalia in Lossiemouth, Scotland in 2015)
The decision to shred Andrew’s military ties is likely to be particularly painful for the Royal Navy veteran, who served with distinction as a helicopter pilot during the Falklands War.
The news came a day after a US judge unequivocally rejected the prince’s bid to have his sex abuse case thrown out, leaving him facing the prospect of being cross-examined for seven hours on camera with embarrassing questions on everything from his sex life and ‘private parts’.
Andrew has been urged to settle out of court with his accuser Virginia Roberts Giuffre ‘for the sake of his mother’, who celebrates her Platinum Jubilee this year. But he could face difficulties given Ms Giuffre is said to be pushing for ‘her day in court’.
Buckingham Palace announced the Queen’s decision to cast Andrew out of the royal fold in a statement released on Thursday.
‘With The Queen’s approval and agreement, The Duke of York’s military affiliations and Royal patronages have been returned to The Queen,’ it read. ‘The Duke of York will continue not to undertake any public duties and is defending this case as a private citizen.’
The Duke of York’s legal team on Saturday revealed it wants to question his accuser Virginia Giuffre’s husband Robert and her psychologist Dr Judith Lightfoot.
Prince Andrew was photographed with his former wife Fergie in the passenger seat as he was said to be fearful of ‘complete financial ruin’ as the costs of the case start mounting up.
The couple were in a two-car convoy, indicating the Duke is still receiving royal protection. Last week security minister Damian Hinds would not be drawn on whether taxpayers would still foot the bill to protect Andrew.
Andrew (pictured on Saturday with Sarah Ferguson), who denies the allegation, has complained to friends about the financial impact of the case, adding that he fears being left insolvent
The Duke and Fergie were in a two-car convoy, indicating he is still receiving a level of protection despite the stripping of his royal patronages and military roles this week.
Ms Giuffre is pictured with her husband Robert Giuffre in Queensland, Australia (left). Lawyers for Prince Andrew (right, with the Queen) wish to be allowed to inspect documents including the doctor’s notes from all sessions with Ms Giuffre
Andrew’s lawyers’ fees are currently at least £2million and legal experts believe he may have to pay £10million to his accuser Ms Giuffre to stop the case coming to court.
The disgraced duke was stripped of his military titles and remaining royal patronages following a 30-minute audience with the Queen on Thursday.
Both Mr Giuffre and Dr Lightfoot are residents of Australia and would be requested to be examined under oath, either in person or by video-link.
In recently published documents, lawyers for the Queen’s son argue that Ms Giuffre ‘may suffer from false memories’, and state that Dr Lightfoot should be examined on ‘theory of false memories’ among other topics including matters discussed during their sessions and any prescriptions she wrote for Andrew’s accuser.
They also wish to be allowed to inspect documents including the doctor’s notes from all sessions with Ms Giuffre.
Lawyers want Mr Giuffre to be questioned on a range of areas including the circumstances under which he met his now wife around 2002 and the Giuffre household finances.
Lawyers want testimony to be obtained from the witnesses by April 29 this year ‘or as soon thereafter as is possible’.
The trial is scheduled to take place between September and December.
Andrew’s lawyers have requested that the US court issues letters to the Central Authority of Australia for their assistance in obtaining the testimony.
The requests from the duke’s lawyers follow similar requests from Ms Giuffre’s legal representatives.
Her team is seeking witness accounts from Andrew’s former equerry Robert Olney and a woman called Shukri Walker, who claims to have seen the royal in Tramp nightclub.
Documents submitted by Ms Giuffre’s legal team say that Mr Olney’s name appears in Jeffrey Epstein’s phone book under ‘Duke of York’.
They say this means it is likely Mr Olney has relevant information about Andrew’s travel to and from Epstein’s properties during the relevant period.
The documents say Ms Walker has stated publicly in the press that she was a witness to Andrew’s presence at Tramp during the relevant time period with a young woman who may have been Ms Giuffre.
Ms Giuffre is suing the duke in the US for allegedly sexually assaulting her when she was a teenager and claims she was trafficked by Andrew’s friend, convicted sex offender Epstein, to have sex with the duke when she was 17 and a minor under US law.
The duke has strenuously denied the allegations.
Ms Giuffre claims Andrew had sex with her against her will at Maxwell’s London home and at Epstein’s mansion on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.
The duke is also alleged to have abused Ms Giuffre on another occasion during a visit to Epstein’s private island, Little St James, and on a separate occasion at Epstein’s Manhattan mansion.
Ghislaine, Prince Andrew and the Paedophile will feature on ITV on Tuesday night at 9pm.
Andrew becomes fifth royal to lose HRH title in 26 years
His or Her Royal Highness is a title applied to some members of the Royal Family dating back to the 17th century, used to denote superiority for some ruling members over others.
Today, it signals a divide between those in the Royal Family engaged in active service to the monarchy and those who lead more private lives.
It is often conferred to the children and grandchildren of the monarch by letters patent and is typically associated with the rank of prince or princess.
The Duke of Windsor desperately pushed his successor George VI to grant Wallace Simpson the title of Her Royal Highness after the abdication
Prince Andrew is the fifth royal to stop using the Royal Highness title in 26 years. Diana, Princess of Wales, was stripped of her HRH title following her divorce from Prince Charles in 1996.
It was apparently proposed by Prince Philip that Diana should also be downgraded to Duchess of Cornwall – but he eventually accepted the view of courtiers that, as the mother of the future King William, Diana should retain the rank of Princess.
The Duchess of York lost her HRH title when she and Andrew divorced in 1996, by which time the couple had already been separated for four years.
The Queen ordered Harry and Meghan not to use their HRH status following the couple’s decision to ‘step back’ as senior royals in January 2020. They now style themselves Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, in their commercial dealings.
Like Harry and Meghan, Andrew retains his title but will not use it in any official capacity.
Edward VIII kept his HRH style after he abdicated in 1936 to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson. His brother George VI decreed that Edward ‘having been born in the lineal succession to the Crown’ should be ‘entitled to hold and enjoy for himself only the style title or attribute of Royal Highness’.
Mrs Simpson became the Duchess of Windsor, but was never permitted to adopt the style HRH.
