The claim contradicts the Duke of York’s own account of how he met the late financier and convicted sex offender.
In a 2016 deposition released by a New York court onFriday, Maxwell said “clearly” the Prince knew Epstein, but that she did not know how the pair became acquainted.
“What I do know is that I did not introduce them,” she said during the deposition, which is among hundreds of pages of legal documents related to the British socialite and convicted sex offender made public by a US court on Friday.
The documents are linked to a 2015 defamation case brought by Virginia Giuffre, who accused the Duke of abusing her as a teenager.
“I never introduced Prince Andrew to Jeffrey Epstein at any time ever, so just add that to the long list of lies.”
She added that “clearly he [Epstein] knew him”, but said: “I do not know [how] Jeffrey met Prince Andrew.”
Prince Andrew, Duke of York. Photo / WPA Pool/Getty Images
Maxwell’s testimony appears to contradict Prince Andrew’s own testimony during a 2019 Newsnight interview.
The Prince told the BBC’s Emily Maitlis he met Epstein “through his girlfriend [Maxwell] back in 1999… and I’d known her since she was at university in the UK.”
The disastrous interview was instrumental in the Duke stepping back from public life and the loss of his HRH title.
He settled a claim by Giuffre for an undisclosed sum in 2022 without admitting any wrongdoing.
During her testimony, Maxwell said she had known Prince Andrew for “a very long time”.
Questioned on whether she introduced the Duke to Giuffre in London, Maxwell said: “I understand her story about London but, again, her tissue of lies is extremely hard to pick apart what is true and what isn’t.”
She later added: “I have no recollection”.
Another document released on Friday, that will make for uncomfortable reading at Buckingham Palace, is an interview with one of Epstein’s former housekeepers, who said the Duke had daily massages when he spent “weeks” at the pedophile financier’s Florida home.
Juan Alessi, who worked at Epstein’s Palm Beach residence, said both Prince Andrew and his then wife Sarah, Duchess of York, were friends with Epstein and Maxwell.
Asked during a 2009 deposition whether the pair ever had massages at the Florida property, Mr Alessi replied: “Prince Andrew did.”
He added: “I think Sarah was there only once and for a short time. I don’t think she slept in there. I cannot remember.
“I think she was visiting Wellington and she came to the house and we met her.
“But Prince Andrew, yes, Prince Andrew spent weeks with us”, he said, adding that he would sleep in the main guest bedroom.
He said during his stays he would have “daily massages”.
Asked if it was sometimes more than one a day, Mr Alessi said: “I can’t remember if he had more than one, but I think it was just a massage for him.
“We set up the tables and...”
He said he could not recall whether Giuffre had come to the house when Andrew was there.
In a further interview under oath by an Epstein employee, who is labelled only as “the witness” in the documents, they claimed Maxwell took the paedophile financier to England “to introduce him to royalty”.
The staff member said there were “many pictures” of the Duke with Epstein in the property they worked at.
Documents released stated a former private chef, Rinaldo Rizzo, said he was told by a 15-year-old girl Maxwell had stolen her passport and tried to make her have sex with Epstein before threatening her.
