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Andrew Mountbatten Windsor with Ghislaine Maxwell and Virginia Roberts in 2001 (Picture: Shutterstock) Poppers were found in the aftermath of a party former Prince Andrew threw for Ghislaine Maxwell, but later dismissed as a ‘straightforward shooting weekend’, a new book has claimed. The Sandringham event was held for Maxwell’s 39th birthday in 2000 and saw disgraced paedophile Jeffrey Epstein invited, a regular visitor to royal properties in the 1990s and early 2000s. Now a book entitled Windsor Legacy by Robert Jobson details how royal staff found lubricants, condoms, poppers and other drugs at the residence following the bash. Andrew attempted to brush aside suggestions the event was significant during his car crash interview with Emily Maitlis in 2019. A straight forward shooting weekend was it? Here is the full exchange between Emily Maitlis (EM) and then Prince Andrew (PA) in that Newsnight interview: EM: He (Epstein) was your guest as well, in 2000 Epstein was a guest at Windsor Castle and at Sandringham, he was brought right into the heart of the Royal Family at your invitation. PA: But certainly at my invitation, not at the Royal Family’s invitation but remember that it was his girlfriend that was the key element in this. He was the, as it were, plus one, to some extent in that aspect. EM: Am I right in thinking you threw a birthday party for Epstein’s girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell at Sandringham? PA: No, it was a shooting weekend. EM: A shooting weekend. PA: Just a straightforward, a straightforward shooting weekend. EM: But during these times that he was a guest at Windsor Castle, at Sandringham, the shooting weekend… PA: Yeah, yeah. EM: We now know that he was and had been procuring young girls for sex trafficking. PA: We now know that, at the time there was no indication to me or anybody else that that was what he was doing and certainly when I saw him either in the United States… oh no when I saw him in the United States or when I was staying in his houses in the United States, there was no indication, absolutely no indication. The former Duke of York is set to move to the Sandringham Estate after he vacates his home at Royal Lodge in Windsor next year. According to a new book, royal staff found an array of sex drugs following a party held by Andrew for Ghislaine Maxwell at Sandringham (Picture: Reuters) However the book also reveals that Andrew continued to enjoy support from his mother, the late Queen, even as details of his dealings with Epstein and Maxwell emerged, Daily Mail reported. While insiders pushed for Andrew to be sidelined, Queen Elizabeth II remained loyal to him to the end, telling one confidant: ‘You have to remember, he is my son.’ Maxwell is currently in jail serving a 20-year sentence in the US for sex trafficking. Windsor Legacy also chronicles how the King, who recently stripped Andrew of his official titles, was forced to rein in his brother’s spending including on health experts. Among Andrew’s extravagances curtailed by the monarch was a £32,000 bill for a live-in yoga instructor he hoped would be footed by the taxpayer. Prince Andrew pictured following a ‘lunch date’ with Ghislaine Maxwell in 2000 (Picture: Sygma) Aside from his relationship with Epstein, Andrew has also come under scrutiny for his decade as UK trade envoy, during which he used his position to further his business connections and have ‘private time’ at the taxpayer’s expense. Royal historian Andrew Lownie said that Andrew had as many as 40 prostitutes brought into his hotel room in the space of just four days during a diplomatic trip to Thailand. On another occasion Andrew reportedly virtually ‘booked out’ an entire floor of Bangkok’s Mandarin Oriental Hotel while visiting the city for the Thai king’s funeral. The former prince used to insist on staying in five-star hotels rather than at British embassies, and also used his trips to further his business interests, setting up meetings for contacts in China and the Middle East. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk. For more stories like this, check our news page.
