Britain's Prince Andrew could be on FBI's radar after socialite Ghislaine Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years of imprisonment in the U.S. this week, a report suggests.
Lawyers representing victims of sex offender and U.S. financier Jeffrey Epstein have urged U.S. prosecutors to look into the nexus between Maxwell and Prince Andrew, the Mirror reported.
Lending credence to the demand, a new Sun report, citing a former Royal armed protection officer, said the two shared an intimate relationship that gave the British socialite unrestricted access to Buckingham Palace.
The manner in which Maxwell was given access to the palace, irrespective of the time of the day, reportedly led the officer to think the two might be in "some sort of relationship."
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Both reportedly had an intimate picnic on the Buckingham Palace grounds, which the officer termed as "right outside the Queen's bedroom window." He stated that the staff was instructed to always keep Maxwell's name out of the visitors' book.
The Sun report also listed several of their public appearances together in 2000.
"She appears to have been a key fixture of Andrew's social life at the time - but the nature of their relationship has never been confirmed," the report said.
The publication quotes the former Royal protection officer saying, "I was under the opinion they had some form of intimate relationship."
It was Maxwell, who introduced Prince Andrew to Epstein. The tainted U.S. financier and Maxwell were reportedly involved in trafficking a teen-aged girl to the latter's London home, where she was allegedly forced to have sex with Prince Andrew.
Although the Duke of York refuted the accusations, he came to a 12-million-pound ($14.5 million) out-of-court settlement with the victim earlier this year.