Prince Andrew 'flew on Jeffrey Epstein's Lolita Express jet at least four times' including trip to 'paedo island'
PRINCE Andrew flew on Jeffrey Epstein's Lolita Express jet at least four times, including a trip to the financier's private sex island in the Caribbean, flight logs reportedly reveal.
Records are said to show the Duke's first flight was to Little St James – also known as "paedo island" – which was owned by Epstein at the time.
The findings have cast further doubt over Prince Andrew's personal judgement and his relationship with Epstein, who took his own life in a New York prison in 2019.
The Duke has admitted visiting Little St James but insists he never saw anything untoward.
It comes as a jury in the Ghislaine Maxwell trial heard claims the Duke had been on a flight with one of Epstein's alleged sex slaves.
Maxwell's youngest accuser was quizzed about the plane ride as she was cross examined by defence lawyers during the trial in New York.
The victim – who is testifying anonymously as Jane – was asked if she had been on a flight with Andrew, to which she responded "yes".
There are no allegations of improper behaviour by Andrew as part of this case.
It is the second time in as many days that the Duke of York has been dragged into the sex abuse trial of his old friend Ghislaine.
Flight records seen by the Mail on Sunday suggest Andrew's first flight on Epstein's plane was to his private Caribbean island in the US Virgin islands on February 9, 1999.
According to the paper, Epstein, Maxwell, and one of the Duke's personal protection officers were on board.
They landed at Cyril E King Airport on the island of St Thomas before being escorted to Little St James on one of Epstein's black helicopters.
The 75-acre islet was known for being a playground for the super-rich with a mansion and luxury villas that Epstein and other influential figures used while the financier was still alive.
After spending three nights on the island, Andrew returned to Epstein's £15milllion West Palm beach home, along with Russian model Anna Malova, it is reported.
Sources close to Andrew reportedly said that in 2019 the Duke had "no recollection" of being on the flight in 1999.
Records also reportedly show the Prince flew on Epstein's Gulfstream jet from Teterboro Airport in New Jersey to West Palm Beach on May 12, 2000.
He flew again on September 1, 2006 – six weeks after the financier was arrested for sex offences – but this time he was with Maxwell on a flight from London Luton to Edinburgh.
These logs have "Prince Andrew" written on them, but confusion over the way passenger details were recorded means the Duke may have enjoyed more flights on Epstein's fleet of private planes, according to the Mail on Sunday.
One of Epstein's former pilots David Rodgers told investigators he would annotate the Duke's name and other acquaintances to "AP", which is recorded on flight manuals more than 100 times.
A 2016 deposition given by the pilot under oath claimed that Jane had also been on board a flight with Prince Andrew, Epstein, Maxwell. The initials "AP" appear on the flight log.
Records show they flew on the billionaire's Gulfstream jet.
ROYAL PRIDE
Andrew – pictured grinning at Windsor yesterday – denies any wrongdoing over his friendship with Epstein.
And he strongly denies he slept with 17-year-old sex slave Virginia Roberts, who is alleged to have been trafficked to him at Maxwell's house in London.
Virginia's allegations are not part of the case against Maxwell, but are subject to a seperate civil suit which she has brought against the Duke.
Epstein and Maxwell rubbed shoulders with the world's rich and famous – allegedly hiding in plain sight amid a web of sordid sex abuse.
Multi-millionaire Epstein would keep a "little black book" of powerful contacts as he jetted around the world allegedly with Maxwell.
Jane testified this week that Maxwell and Epstein would use names like Trump and Clinton to boast about their social circle.
And she also told the court that Epstein brought her to journalist Mike Wallace’s 80th birthday party in New York.
“I sang happy birthday,” said Jane, who would have been about 15.
Maxwell's lawyers deny all charges against her, argue she is being made a proxy for Epstein, and have painted the alleged victims as in it for the cash.
The Prince and ‘The Madam’
PRINCE Andrew says he first met Ghislaine Maxwell when he was at university – but it became a friendship that plunged the Duke into scandal.
The pair are believed to have known each other for the better part of two decades before she is alleged to have introduced him to Epstein.
She and the American financier are believed to have been dating at the time – and the Duke is believed to have subsequently struck up a friendship with Epstein.
It was a relationship that allegedly saw him make multiple visits to Epstein's homes and his private island, Little Saint James.
And during this pally period, Epstein and Ghislaine are said to have introduced the royal to the then 17-year-old Virginia Roberts.
She claims she was trafficked to have sex with Andrew – something he strongly denies.
During his infamous car crash interview on BBC Newsnight with Emily Maitlis, the Prince dropped a few key hints about his friendship with Ghislaine.
He explained he met Epstein through his "girlfriend" – Maxwell – who he had known "since she was at university in the UK".
The Duke laid out how his relationship with the paedophile was always through the prism of Ghislaine, the daughter of newspaper mogul Robert Maxwell.
Events which Epstein and Maxwell attended – such as at Windsor Castle – were normally arranged through her, with Epstein as the plus one.
And he did not comment on Maxwell's own alleged involvement in Epstein's trafficking scheme.
"If there are questions that Ghislaine has to answer, that's her problem I'm afraid, I'm not in a position to be able to comment one way or the other," he said.
Andrew did however admit to speaking her as late as 2019, but said they did not discuss Epstein.
"There wasn't anything to discuss about him because he wasn't in the news, you know, it was just… we had moved on," he said.
Ghislaine and Andrew's friendship is reported to have become more prominent in the early noughties – with him first being spotted with her and Epstein at a tennis tournament at Donald Trump's resort Mar-a-Lago in February 2000.
Vanity Fair reports that friends claim Andrew changed his lifestyle as he became closer to Maxwell.
"Andrew’s a very poor judge of character, easily impressed," a source was reported to have said in the Evening Standard.
"He’s gone from this couch potato to man about town, with nothing better to do than go from one holiday to the next."
Ghislaine and Andrew were pictured together at various events in the 00s.
Her and Epstein attending functions such as a shooting weekend at Sandringham in 2000 and Princess Beatrice's 18th birthday in 2006.
And the most infamous picture detailing a link between Andrew and Ghislaine was taken at her London townhouse in 2002.
It shows the Duke with his arm around Virginia Roberts while the socialite smiles in the background – the pic was allegedly taken by Epstein.
Andrew has since suggested the photo is fake.
"Nobody can prove whether or not that photograph has been doctored but I don't recollect that photograph ever being taken," he said.
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