Ghislaine Maxwell has sensationally claimed she did not introduce Prince Andrew to Jeffrey Epstein.

Instead, it was Andrew’s wife Sarah Ferguson who pushed for a friendship with the convicted paedophile, she said.

She staunchly defended the Duke of York, asserting his innocence regarding the sex allegations and labeling the claims as unfounded fabrications aimed at extorting money and targeting the Royal Family.

These explosive remarks surfaced through audio recordings and a 380-page transcript from a two-day interview that convicted child sex trafficker Maxwell had with US Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche last month.

She provided no incriminating information on high-profile individuals but spoke about her interactions with several well-known names.

The disgraced socialite Maxwell, 63, supported Andrew against allegations by the late Virginia Giuffre, who claimed she had been trafficked to the Duke of York at age 17.

Andrew has always vehemently denied the allegations against him.

Maxwell, daughter of billionaire publishing tycoon Robert Maxwell, reiterated her insistence that the photograph showing her with Andrew and Virginia is not genuine. ‘I believe it’s literally a fake photo,’ she told officials.

Ghislaine Maxwell (right) has sensationally claimed she did not introduce Prince Andrew (left) to Jeffrey Epstein 

Maxwell claimed it was Andrew’s wife, Sarah Ferguson (left), who encouraged the friendship with the convicted pedophile. Pictured: The Duke and Duchess of York at Royal Ascot in 2019.

Andrew (pictured with Epstein in 2010) has always vehemently denied the allegations against him

She insisted Andrew was introduced to Epstein through his ex-wife Sarah, who had met Epstein via US socialite Lynn Forester De Rothschild.

She stated: ‘I did not introduce him [Epstein] to Prince Andrew. That’s completely false. Lynn Forester had a house… and invited Epstein there, which I believe is where he met Prince Andrew.’

‘However, I believe that before that event he had gone to the Bahamas and had hung out with Sarah Ferguson. And Sarah had called Epstein and had arranged with Lynn. I think Sarah is the one that pushed that.

‘I couldn’t even imagine Epstein and Andrew together. And I thought that Sarah was trying to put the moves on Jeffrey.’ 

Maxwell described the Duchess of York as ‘a frenemy’, saying: ‘I don’t know if she liked me… I think my friendship with her ex-husband, well, sometimes she really did like me and sometimes she didn’t. So maybe a frenemy. I think there was some latent hostility.’

She also said that Epstein told her to organise a trip that Andrew was making to New York, saying: ‘He wanted to make sure that Andrew was taken care of and that he was comfortable, he had whatever he needed.’

Maxwell also denied there was a ‘client list’ of powerful men, saying: ‘There is no client list.’ She added that Epstein was ‘proud to flaunt royal connections’.

Ms Giuffre’s name has been redacted from the documents. Maxwell said: ‘The allegation was that at my house in London, in March 2001… we went to London, especially so that X [Virginia] could have a relationship with Prince Andrew and she was paid a vast amount of money for that purpose.

Maxwell described the Duchess of York (above with Prince Andrew) as ‘a frenemy’, saying she thought ‘there was some latent hostility’ between Fergie and herself 

Maxwell (above) said accusations that she had introduced Prince Andrew to Epstein were ‘a flat untruth’

Maxwell (left) insists Andrew was introduced to Epstein (right) through his ex-wife Sarah, who she claims had met Epstein via US socialite Lynn Forester De Rothschild

‘And that she then got in… my bathroom in my house and had sexual relations with him and then went into my guest room and had full-blown sex.

‘And a photograph was taken of them just before all these events took place in my study… I think it’s absolute rubbish.’

She said her Victorian bath was too small for Andrew and Virginia to have sex in: ‘There is no way in God’s green earth if that had taken place, that this is something that you would miss, because you couldn’t miss it.’

Maxwell said she was not even sure Prince Andrew and Virginia had ever met. She said: ‘I do not know that they met. I don’t have any recollection of that.’ 

But then she seemingly backtracked to say: ‘Could Andrew have come to the house to see me or see Epstein and she had been there? Yes, I can’t say that didn’t happen.’

Maxwell said she placed mirrors around her tiny bathroom at her London mews home to make it seem bigger. 

She said: ‘She [Virginia] could say she was having sex with 5,000 generations of the Royal Family because that’s how far back you could see yourself.’

She accused Ms Giuffre, who committed suicide earlier this year, of making up the story for financial gain: ‘I can absolutely, categorically say that I never, at any time, set Andrew up to have relations with her or any other human being ever.

Maxwell accused Virginia Giuffre (above) who committed suicide earlier this year, of making up the story for financial gain

‘I believe that story was created for the purposes of – well, there are multiple. The first one is financial … for the serialization, both of her book and [her story] in the papers. And for the story to attack the Royal Family.’

Maxwell is currently serving 20 years for her 2021 convictions on sex trafficking charges. She has appealed to the US Supreme Court to hear her case. 

She told Mr Blanche she believed Epstein may have been murdered, saying: ‘I do not believe he died by suicide, no. If it is indeed murder I believe it was an internal situation.’

Maxwell defended President Donald Trump – whose administration has been rocked by claims of a cover-up over the Epstein Files – saying she never heard that Trump acted inappropriately ‘absolutely never, in any context’.

She said: ‘The President was never inappropriate with anybody. In the times I was with him, he was a gentleman in all respects.’ She also said Mr Trump never received massages from underage girls. 

She added that she never saw anyone behaving inappropriately with a woman ‘of any age’ but said her definition of ‘inappropriate’ could differ from others.

Maxwell also said she did not remember Trump submitting a sketch to a book she put together for Epstein’s 50th birthday. 

Mr Trump is suing the Wall Street Journal over claims he wrote a note to Epstein which included a sketch of a naked woman with his signature as the pubic hair.

Maxwell (pictured in 1991) is currently serving 20 years for her 2021 convictions on sex trafficking charges

Maxwell mentioned other big names including Bill Clinton, saying: ‘President Clinton was my friend, not Epstein’s friend.’

She claimed Clinton only travelled on Epstein’s jet for philanthropic trips and never visited the paedophile’s private island.

‘He never. Absolutely never went,’ Maxwell said. ‘I don’t believe he had an independent friendship with Epstein.’

And she mentioned Tesla billionaire Elon Musk saying she met him at Google co-founder Sergey Brin’s birthday party: ‘We went to another friend’s island and we were together for… three or four days.’

Supermodel Naomi Campbell struck up a friendship with Epstein and may have gone to his Island, Little St Jeff’s, nicknamed ‘Paedo Island’, Maxwell claimed.

Maxwell said of Campbell: ‘I believe she may have gone to the island and she may have gone to see his house in New York… They were friends. Her friendship with Mr Epstein was independent of me.’

Maxwell also mentioned a trip she took to Africa alongside President Clinton, actor Kevin Spacey and comedian Chris Tucker on Epstein’s private jet, nicknamed the ‘Lolita Express.’

And she said she went to Virgin billionaire Sir Richard Branson’s private Necker Island in the Caribbean with Epstein, adding: ‘I wouldn’t characterize Branson and him as friends but he did go, and I think I went with him.’

Maxwell mentioned other big names in the released tapes including Bill Clinton (above) saying: ‘President Clinton was my friend, not Epstein’s friend’

Maxwell said she met Elon Musk (above) at Google co-founder Sergey Brin’s birthday party, claiming: ‘We went to another friend’s island and we were together for… three or four days.’

Maxwell also claims that supermodel Naomi Campbell (above) struck up a friendship with Epstein

Maxwell attempted to whitewash claims she was Epstein’s madam – made by multiple victims – saying: ‘I am not here to defend him. But I never knew about it.’

Maxwell claimed both Epstein and she had ‘medical conditions’ that prevented them from having a lot of sex. Epstein told her he had a heart condition and she explained she had a medical condition which ‘precludes me having a lot of intercourse’.

She acknowledged that at one point Epstein began preferring younger women but insisted she never understood that to ‘encompass children’.

She was interviewed on July 24 and July 25 in a Tallahassee federal courthouse close to the jail where she was sent after her conviction. She was told that she would have immunity over anything she said in the interview unless it transpired to be a lie.

The Duchess of York was contacted for comment.