Prince Andrew reportedly welcomed Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell and Harvey Weinstein to his Windsor residence, where he lived rent-free.
Andrew allegedly hosted the trio at his publicly owned Royal Lodge in Windsor for his daughter Beatrice’s 18th birthday, the BBC reports.
Prince Andrew hasn’t paid rent at the Royal Lodge for 22 years, but he is now thought to be preparing to move out following the publication of Virginia Giuffre’s posthumous memoir.
The reported visit in 2006 is said to have taken place two months after US officials had issued an arrest warrant for Epstein for the sexual assault of a minor.
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It had previously emerged that the financier, Maxwell and the movie mogul Weinstein had set foot in the residence, but it was not known until now that the trio was hosted there.
Epstein was arrested in Florida eight days after the July 15 birthday party.
The following year, Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution from a minor, and he was sentenced to 18 months in prison, but he was released after 13 months on probation.
He faced a spate of allegations from more women over the next decade before his arrest on sex trafficking charges in 2019 and until he died in his New York prison cell.
Prince Andrew is said to have his eyes set on the 5,089 sq ft Frogmore Cottage as his new pad.
The Windsor cottage was previously the home of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, who spent around £2.4 million renovating it.
Princess Eugenie, Andrew’s daughter, lived at Frogmore for around two years with her husband, Jack Brooksbank.
The former Duke of York, who gave up his titles this month, is reportedly willing to move out of the Royal Lodge if he can relocate to Frogmore, while his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, is said to be keen to move into nearby Adelaide Cottage, according to The Sun.
A source claimed that works are being carried out at the cottage ‘day and night.’
The Palace is said to be ‘cranking up the pressure’ to try to get Andrew to leave the Grade II listed mansion.
He cannot be legally evicted due to a ‘cast iron’ lease.
Metro has contacted Buckingham Palace for a comment.
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