Prince Andrew takes a ride around Windsor Estate

Prince Andrew takes a ride around Windsor Estate… as he braces himself for first day of friend Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex trafficking trial now just a week away

  • Prince Andrew today took a ride around Windsor Castle following the baptism of his first grandchild August
  • Andrew drove his Range Rover and rode atop a horse along with the Queen’s head groom at Windsor Castle
  • It comes just days ahead of his friend Ghislaine Maxwell’s six-week trial at federal court in New York

Prince Andrew today took a ride around Windsor Castle as his friend Ghislaine Maxwell is set to face a sex trafficking trial in just one week. 

The Duke of York arrived at the estate after yesterday attending the baptism of his first grandchild August – Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank’s first child, born in February. 

Andrew was today pictured driving his Range Rover and riding atop a horse at Windsor Castle, just days ahead of his friend Ghislaine Maxwell’s six-week trial at federal court in New York over alleged abuse, procurement of young women and trafficking crimes dating back decades. 

She faces more than 80 years in jail if convicted on all charges.

It is believed that the Duke of York’s name will be mentioned during the trial, and he already faces a civil lawsuit brought by Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre – who claims she was forced to have sex with Andrew on three occasions, an accusation he vehemently denies.

A lawyer had earlier this month told the Mail On Sunday that the Prince will be ‘dreading’ the upcoming trial, saying that it would be ‘inconceivable’ for his name not to be mentioned in Maxwell’s trial. 

Prince Andrew arriving at Windsor Castle today after attending his first grandchild’s Baptism yesterday 

Andrew was today pictured driving his Range Rover and riding atop a horse along with the Queen’s head groom Terry Pendry at Windsor Castle 

Ghislaine Maxwell, the Jeffrey Epstein associate accused of sex trafficking, stands before U.S. District Judge Alison J. Nathan with her defense team of Bobbi Sternheim and Christian Everdell during a pre-trial hearing

Epstein’s Palm Beach mansion, dubbed ‘Pleasure Palace’, was sold to a Florida developer for a reported $18 million

Reports reveal that prosecutors will say Maxwell, 59, had three ‘accomplices’ – Epstein and the two unidentified women who supposedly received big salaries and perks.

She asked that the ‘co-conspirators’ were named by prosecutors to prevent her from being ambushed at her trial, the Telegraph reported. 

‘It doesn’t seem right that only Maxwell is in the dock,’ one victim said. ‘There were others who facilitated the abuse and this makes it seem like it was only her.’ 

‘(The ”co-conspirators” were) intimately involved in the scheme to lure young girls to Epstein’s mansion,’ said a lawyer representing another of the victims.

Maxwell’s legal team has repeatedly made claims about her alleged mistreatment behind bars. She is shown in prison earlier this year with ‘a black eye’

Maxwell faces a six week trial at federal court in New York. 

Her lawyers are expected to argue she is being punished by proxy for Epstein’s heinous crimes because, as one source close to the case maintains, ‘someone has to pay for what he did’.

From 1994 to 2004, she allegedly ‘facilitated and contributed’ to the abuse of children by her ex-boyfriend, the convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

The youngest alleged victim was just 14 at the time she claims she was sexually assaulted by Maxwell.

Four women, one British, are listed in the indictment although only American Annie Farmer has waived her anonymity.

Farmer claims Maxwell posed as a ‘big sister’ figure before molesting her at Epstein’s New Mexico ranch in 1996. She called Maxwell ‘a sexual predator who has never shown any remorse’. 

Maxwell denies all the charges. 

Prince Andrew’s accuser Virginia Roberts is expected to attend the trial and may give evidence. She has described Maxwell as ‘pure evil’, saying: ‘Epstein was a sick paedophile but Maxwell was the mastermind.’

Another alleged victim said: ‘We thought she [Maxwell] was Mary Poppins because she acted like she was our friend and had that lovely English accent.

‘But she turned out to be a monster in designer clothing. She lured us in. She knew exactly what she was doing. I hope she rots in hell.’

In a world exclusive published in The Mail on Sunday, Ghislaine Maxwell spoke of the hell of her life in Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center, saying that conditions are so bad a rat would sit beside an open sewer in her cell as she went to the toilet (Pictured: Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein at an event in New York in 1995)

The Duke of York, 61, had previously denied making frequent visits to Epstein’s Florida home, despite the former housekeeper Juan Alessi claiming Andrew spent ‘weeks at a time’ at the property when he worked there. Pictured: Andrew with Epstein in Central Park, New York in 201

Prince Andrew stepped back from frontline royal duties in 2019 after further allegations came to light. Epstein (pictured) died in his prison cell while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges

The Duke of York faces a US lawsuit from Virginia Roberts Giuffre who claims she was forced to have sex with Andrew. The Duke of York has consistently denied all sexual allegations made against him

In a world exclusive interview with The Mail on Sunday after her $28million (£21M) bail application was denied for the fourth time, Maxwell claimed negative media coverage while she has been in custody and the deliberate withholding of evidence have made it ‘impossible’ for her to receive a fair trial.

Speaking from her 10ft by 12ft prison cell inside New York’s notorious Metropolitan Detention Center, where she has spent the past 16 months in solitary confinement, she said: ‘I’m overwhelmed by feelings of sadness and shock at the grotesque and untrue narratives that are total fabrication and bear no resemblance to reality.

‘I’m terrified the overwhelmingly negative coverage will poison my jury pool and affect the outcome of my trial, despite the evidence which I feel confident will prove my innocence.

‘I look forward to having my day in court to prove I played no part in Epstein’s crimes. I am innocent.’

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