Dressed in country clothing and striking a casual pose, Ghislaine Maxwell converses with her paedophile financier boyfriend Jeffrey Epstein, amid the picturesque surrounds of the Scottish highlands.
What makes the photograph – released on Friday night as part of the Epstein files – most remarkable is that it shows the now disgraced pair standing on the estate of the late Queen Elizabeth II‘s beloved Balmoral Castle.
It reveals just how close Epstein and Maxwell – who is currently serving 20 years for her role in recruiting and trafficking minors for sex for the billionaire – were able to get to the very heart of inner royal circles, thanks to their close relationship with Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.
Evidence of the couple having stayed at Balmoral had already previously surfaced in 2021, during Maxwell’s sex trafficking trial, where jurors were show photographs of the pair relaxing in the Queen’s private log cabin on the estate.
Wearing a blue checked shirt, the British socialite was seen resting her arm on Epstein’s knee as they sat in the exact same spot in the hut in Glen Beg that the Queen herself had been pictured in on previous occasions.
Although it is not clear when the latest image was taken, previous reports suggest Maxwell and Epstein were invited to Balmoral by the former prince in 1999.
The late Queen was especially fond of her Scottish royal home not just for the tranquility and wilderness that the 50,000 acre estate offered the long-reigning monarch.
It was at Balmoral that Prince Philip proposed and it was where the young newlyweds spent their honeymoon. But it was also the Scottish hideaway that Elizabeth escaped to as a child with her family, having been purchased by Prince Albert in 1845.
Royal access: Ghislaine Maxwell converses with her paedophile financier boyfriend Jeffrey Epstein, amid the picturesque surrounds of the highlands close to Balmoral Castle
A picture of Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein relaxing in the Queen’s log cabin at Balmoral was previously shown at her sex trafficking trial
Her cherished Scottish home was also where the Queen chose to spend her final days before her death in September 2022.
But Balmoral was not the only special royal invitation that Epstein and Maxwell enjoyed.
A trove of newly-released images, uploaded on Friday night to the US Department of Justice website, provide evidence that the pair were offered intimate access to other royal residences, including Sandringham.
One bombshell photograph taken within the saloon room, shows a smiling Andrew, the former Duke of York, dressed in black tie while sprawled across the legs of five women.
Behind him stands Epstein’s grinning pimp Maxwell, alongside another unidentified woman who has had her face redacted by the US Department of Justice.
The saloon room, located at the entrance to the nineteenth century house, is where King Charles III sometimes hosts more than 40 members of the family to watch his pre-recorded speech – a tradition dating back to the times of his late mother Queen Elizabeth II.
Within royal circles, the room overlooking the grand entrance hall on the King’s private Norfolk estate has always been a informal gathering place for the family who often watch TV, play games or enjoy afternoon tea there.
But now it will also be known as the room where Andrew hammed it up for the camera.
A picture of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor lying across a row of women in a photo during a black-tie event with Ghislaine Maxwell has been released as part of the Epstein files
A group including Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell, Tom Pritzker and Prince Andrew gather for a photograph in front of the Queen’s hunting lodge on her Sandringham Estate in 2000
Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell on a pheasant shoot on the Sandringham estate in 2000
Just visible to the left of Maxwell in the image is the concealed door to the room in Sandringham House where George V broadcast his first Christmas radio message in 1932.
It is not clear when the photo of Andrew in front of the fireplace in Sandringham’s saloon room was taken – but it is known that Andrew hosted a surprise birthday for the now-jailed socialite at the King’s private country Norfolk retreat in December 2000.
The former prince would go on to describe the stay at Sandringham as a ‘straightforward shooting weekend’ in his disastrous BBC Newsnight interview with Emily Maitlis in 2019.
In October, The Mail on Sunday published a photograph of the shooting party at Sandringham, which included Maxwell and Epstein.
Police in Paris had obtained the image while investigating claims that Epstein’s associate, French model agency boss Jean-Luc Brunel, who killed himself while awaiting trial for rape, recruited under-age girls for the billionaire including three 12-year-old sisters.
The triplets were presented to him ‘as a surprise birthday present’.
Among the shooting party at Sandringham was Tom Pritzker, chairman of Hyatt Hotels.
Now 75, the Chicago-based businessman was accused – like Andrew – of having sex with Virginia Giuffre.
A photograph of Prince Andrew flanked by Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell looking down onto the racecourse from Ascot’s Royal Box in June 2000
Th photograph is said to have been on show at Epstein’s home in New York where underage girls were sexually exploited
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Ghislaine Maxwell at the Royal Ascot, Ladies Day, on June 22, 2000 – when the DOJ picture was believed to have been taken
A photograph of Ghislaine Maxwell pictured outside Number 10 Downing Street – the offices of the UK Prime Minister – has been released as part of the Epstein files
Ms Giuffre claimed she was the victim of trafficking and abuse by Epstein and his powerful associates when she was a teenager. Like Andrew, Mr Pritzker has strongly denied the claims.
Additional photographs released on Friday night include an image of the couple with the former prince inside the royal box at Ascot, and a picture of Maxwell standing out the Prime Minister’s office at 10 Downing Street.
The latest images come as Maxwell formally asked a federal court to throw out her sex trafficking conviction on Wednesday, just 48 hours before the Epstein files were expected to be published.
Maxwell claimed ‘substantial new evidence has emerged’ which shows she did not receive a fair trial, according to the filing reviewed by ABC News.
Maxwell wrote: ‘This newly available evidence – derived from litigation against the Federal Bureau of Investigation, various financial institutions, and the Estate of Jeffrey Epstein, as well as from sworn depositions, released records, and other verified sources – shows that exculpatory information was withheld, false testimony presented, and material facts misrepresented to the jury and the Court.’
The disgraced socialite’s last-ditch effort, submitted without an attorney, comes after she has exhausted all of her direct legal appeals.
Hundreds of thousands of documents, including court records, footage and images, were uploaded on Friday night to the US Department of Justice website, which held users in a queue as it experienced an ‘extremely high volume of search requests’.
The trove includes images from Epstein’s homes, including rooms adorned with nude photographs and distinctive bright blue carpeting. However, the DOJ did not provide any context for the images of people included in the files.
Being pictured or named in these files is not proof of any wrongdoing.
Some records detail Epstein’s associations with high-profile figures such as Michael Jackson, Sir Mick Jagger, Kevin Spacey and other famous individuals.
Former president Bill Clinton features prominently in the files, appearing in photographs smiling at parties and swimming with women. He has since issued a blistering response, denying having any knowledge of Epstein’s crimes.
More than 600,000 pages related to the pedophile have now been released this year, prompting the Trump administration to describe itself as the ‘most transparent in history’ following Friday’s disclosure.
The data dump came after US deputy attorney general Todd Blanche said ‘several hundred thousand’ documents from the so-called ‘Epstein files’ would be released ahead of a legal deadline, but the need to protect the sex offender’s victims meant thousands more would be released over the coming weeks.
US President Donald Trump signed the legislation last month to ensure the release of the files, despite previously resisting disclosure and claiming the issue was a ‘Democrat hoax’.
The paedophile financier Epstein was found dead in his cell at a federal jail in Manhattan, New York, in August 2019 while he awaited trial on sex trafficking charges. His death was ruled a suicide.
The law has some exemptions tied to it, including allowing Attorney General Pam Bondi to withhold certain records if their publication could interfere with an active prosecution or criminal investigations.
Maxwell was convicted and jailed for 20 years in December 2021 after prosecutors presented evidence that she procured girls as young as 14 for abuse by Epstein.
She was initially serving her sentence in Tallahassee, Florida, but was transferred in August to Prison Camp Bryan in Texas.
Maxwell was reportedly ‘bombarded’ with death threats from violent inmates who branded her a ‘snitch’ for spending two days talking to Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche about the men linked to Jeffrey Epstein.
Experts have called Prison Camp Bryan a ‘cushy country club’ compared to FCI Tallahassee.
