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Prince Andrew and Ghislane Maxwell
Prince Andrew and Ghislane Maxwell
The Duke of York was on Monday once again shamed by US authorities who say he "completely shut the door on voluntary cooperation" with the investigation into his late pedophile pal's crimes.
Now a family friend of Maxwell's claims Andrew was "persuaded" to do so at her urging.
"Ghislaine told me that yes, the lawyers and Ghislaine have finally convinced Andrew that it would do no good for him to talk to the FBI," Maxwell friend Laura Goldman told The Sun.
"He wanted to talk to them because he has nothing to hide," Goldman said of the "honorable" 60-year-old royal.
"But it was Ghislaine who persuaded him that it didn't matter. The FBI will never be satisfied."
Media heiress Maxwell — who has been in hiding since her ex Epstein was busted on serious sex charges before his suicide last summer — is "beside herself" over the damage the scandal has done to Andrew and the British royal family.
"She said that the attempt to question Prince Andrew is a publicity ploy and reeks of desperation."
Seeing the scandal failing to die down, Andrew has now hired Mark Gallagher, a crisis management specialist known as "the backroom fixer," according to The Telegraph.
It follows his hiring of Britain's "most formidable" extradition lawyer to lead an "eminent team of lawyers" to "fend off" the FBI, The Telegraph previously reported.
Andrew has always denied any knowledge of Epstein's crimes and vehemently denied any wrongdoing.
