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Inside Ghislaine Maxwell’s ‘close’ friendship with Prince Andrew

Ghislaine Maxwell and Prince Andrew shared a “close bond” and may have even dated, an author who wrote a biography of the sex predator has claimed.

Nigel Cawthorne – who wrote Ghislaine Maxwell: The Fall of America’s Most Notorious Socialite – said rumours had been mounting for years around the nature of the pair’s relationship.

But their long-standing friendship became the biggest royal scandal in decades when Andrew was accused of having sex with 17-year-old Virginia Giuffre – something he strongly denies.

It is alleged his old friend Ghislaine trafficked the teen – who was a sex slave for paedophile Jeffrey Epstein – to him at her townhouse in London after a night out at Tramp.

The infamous photo of Andrew with his hand around Virginia’s waist as Ghislaine beams in the background shone a new light of scrutiny on their decades long friendship.

“There’s always gossip about a man and a woman who are seen frequently in each other’s company,” Cawthorne told The Sun Online.

“They’d been together for an awful long time and it appears she [did] the same favour for Prince Andrew that she did for Jeffrey Epstein,” said Cawthorne – who most recently wrote a biography of Virginia Giuffre.

“In other words, trafficking a young woman to him.”

He said Ghislaine and Andrew had met at university and immediately hit it off and were often seen in each other’s company at public outings.

“It certainly went on for a very long time. They did seem very close,” Cawthorne said.