Left to Right: Prince Andrew and Virginia Roberts, aged 17, at Ghislaine Maxwell's townhouse in London. Photo / Supplied
Left to Right: Prince Andrew and Virginia Roberts, aged 17, at Ghislaine Maxwell's townhouse in London. Photo / Supplied
Accused "pimp" Ghislaine Maxwell's "biggest mistake" was luring Prince Andrew's accuser into her and paedophile Jeffrey Epstein's depraved world, according to a friend.
The 57-year-old is said to "not give a s**t" about the tally of girls that Epstein abused – including Virginia Roberts-Giuffre, The Sun reports.
According to a friend, Maxwell feared Ms Roberts-Giuffre's legal action would expose her powerful network of friends, which she spent years building.
Laura Goldman, 61, a former New York City stockbroker who mixed in Maxwell's social circles, said the alleged "pimp" was "undoubtedly" the mastermind behind Eptein's predatory plans as she was more intelligent and well connected.
Convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Photo / AP
"Ghislaine was hysterical about the defamation suit Virginia Roberts launched," she said.
"That suit made her nutso. She saw that as a threat to her whole network of famous friends.
"Ghislaine said her 'biggest mistake' was ever involving Virginia. Ghislaine doesn't give a s**t about the girls like Virginia who suffered, she is more worried about exposing her network."
Goldman attended many events with Epstein and Maxwell in the 1990s – even attending one of the billionaire's infamous parties, which was packed with "young girls".
Virginia Roberts holds a photo of herself at age 16, when she says Palm Beach multimillionaire Jeffrey Epstein began sexually abusing her. Photo / Getty Images
Ms Goldman recalled: "I got invited to attend by a male friend who was going."
"It was back in the '90s. I got there and there were lots of married men without their wives and young girls all over.
"Prince Andrew wasn't there. I didn't think the girls were underage but they probably were in retrospect.
"Jeffrey's house in New York was very lavish but his Florida place wasn't. It was away from the beach and at the end of a road.
Left to Right: Donald Trump and Melania Trump (formerly Melania Knauss), with convicted sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein, and socialite, Ghislaine Maxwell. Photo / Getty Images
"It was not a party for a woman to be a guest at and I was uncomfortable. Because of that I didn't want to go to any of his New York events because I knew there was just something wrong about it.
"After Jeffrey was arrested the first time back in 2008 I didn't want any more to do with either him or Ghislaine after that."
Ms Goldman also criticised Prince Andrew for not perceiving the tally of young girls at Epstein's for what they really were.
Ghislaine Maxwell's Belgravia property in London where the infamous photo was taken of Prince Andrew and Virginia Roberts, which shows Maxwell standing beside them. Photo / Getty
She said: "I think Prince Andrew is a dolt. He lives in a different world and may well have thought those girls were servants but obviously, they weren't.
"He is part of a world of people who think they are entitled to get whatever they want. It's a different reality to most people.
"They believe it's all coming to them and the world owes it to them."
