Prince Andrew was dragged into the Ghislaine Maxwell sex trafficking trial yesterday as one of several high-profile names who flew on the private jets of paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Epstein’s chief pilot told how he flew a string of VIPs including the Duke of York, Bill Clinton and Donald Trump, along with disgraced actor Kevin Spacey, on the financier’s luxury fleet.
After it was thought Maxwell may try to protect her friends in high places, it was her own lawyer who introduced the topic of Andrew.
In the court in New York, Christian Everdell asked pilot Larry Visoski: ‘Are you aware of Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, he is the son of Queen Elizabeth II of England?’
The pilot said: ‘Yes.’
Mr Everdell said: ‘Did he fly on Epstein’s planes?’
Again Mr Visoski said yes, but could not recall when.
During his testimony Mr Visoski described Maxwell as Epstein’s ‘number two’ when asked by prosecutor Maurene Comey what place she occupied in the paedophile’s ‘hierarchy’. Epstein, he said, was ‘definitely number one’.
The pilot, the trial’s first witness, said he was used to flying high-profile passengers but that he never encountered sexual activity aboard three jets he piloted for Epstein during roughly 1,000 trips between 1991 and 2019.
Prince Andrew (pictured yesterday enjoying an early morning ride at Windsor) was dragged into the Ghislaine Maxwell sex trafficking trial yesterday as one of several high-profile names who flew on the private jets of paedophile Jeffrey Epstein
Epstein’s chief pilot told how he flew a string of VIPs including Donald Trump (pictured together in 2000) on Epstein's planes
Mr Trump flew ‘a number of times’, he said. The pilot recalled how he would have to make the aircraft ‘look nice’ for Mr Clinton.
Mr Visoski said he stayed in the cockpit for the majority of flights, but would sometimes emerge to go to the bathroom or get coffee.
Although he was called as a witness by the US government, the pilot’s testimony seemed to aid the defence of Maxwell as he answered questions from Mr Everdell about what he saw when he checked the planes over after a flight.
Mr Visoski didn’t hesitate when Mr Everdell asked him if he ever saw sexual activity aboard Epstein’s Gulfstream G2B or Boeing 727 jets or found sex toys when he cleaned the planes up.
‘Never,’ the pilot answered to both questions. He said he never saw used condoms either. And when he was asked if he ever saw sex acts with under-age females, he answered: ‘Absolutely not.’
The pilot said Epstein never warned him to stay in the cockpit during flights and also encouraged him to use a bathroom near the rear of the plane that would require him to walk past the aircraft’s couches. He said he never saw any children on his planes who were not accompanied by their parents.
On the second day in New York, Pilot Larry Visoski said during the trial of Ghislaine Maxwell how he could recall having to make Epstein's planes 'look nice' for US President Clinton (pictured with Epstein and Maxwell at the White House in 1993)
The scene was a world away from the packed court room which greeted his friend Maxwell last night as she faced allegations of recruiting minors for Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse from 1994 to 2004
The Boeing has been dubbed the ‘Lolita Express’ amid claims Epstein flew under-age girls around the world to sexually abuse them, including at his ranch in New Mexico and private island in the Caribbean.
Maxwell, 59, is accused of grooming young girls and sex trafficking them to be ‘served up’ to be assaulted by her powerful boyfriend Epstein.
Her trial will feature four women who allege she facilitated Epstein’s sexual abuse of them. She denies all of the charges.
Yesterday the chief pilot said that while he remembered the famous names, he had no recollection of three of the accusers, known in court as Annie, Kate and Carolyn.
The other woman, known as Jane, was allegedly just 14 when Maxwell trapped her in a nightmare of abuse that lasted years.
Mr Visoski said he remembered meeting Jane in the mid to late 1990s but did not know how old she was. He told jurors: ‘Mr Epstein brought her to the cockpit and introduced her to me.’
The Duke of York, 61, appeared to be in high spirits and was joined by three others on his ride through Windsor, the scene a world away from the packed court room which greeted his friend Ghislaine Maxwell (sketched in court on Monday) last night as she faced allegations of recruiting minors for Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse from 1994 to 2004
Andrew, who was also seen driving his Range Rover this morning, has been accused by Epstein sex slave Virginia Giuffre of raping her, allegations which he denies
He said she had ‘piercing powder-blue eyes’, but added: ‘She looked like a mature woman.’ Mr Everdell asked him: ‘You remember she had large breasts?’ The pilot replied: ‘She was a mature woman... like she was in her twenties.’
The court was shown photos of the luxury airliners Epstein owned, along with his array of homes. Mr Visoski said Epstein gave him 40 acres of his New Mexico estate to build a house on and paid for his daughters’ college education.
The shocking claim that Prince Andrew was onboard the peadophile Epstein's private jet comes as the Duke of York was pictured grinning while riding his horse through Windsor on Tuesday morning - just hours after Maxwell's trial began in New York.
The Duke of York, 61, appeared to be in high spirits and was joined by three others on his ride through Windsor, the scene a world away from the packed court room which greeted his friend Maxwell last night as she faced allegations of recruiting minors for Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse from 1994 to 2004.
Andrew, who was also seen driving his Range Rover this morning, has been accused by Epstein 'sex slave' Virginia Giuffre of raping her, allegations which he denies.
Giuffre, who has filed a related civil lawsuit against Andrew but is not part of the criminal case against Maxwell, has previously described Epstein's former 'madam' as a 'Mary Poppins' figure who made young girls feel comfortable as they were being lured into the paedophile's web. Maxwell is known to have introduced the prince to Epstein.
Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell attend an event in New York in 2005
This is Jeffrey Epstein's infamous 'Lolita Express' - a private Boeing 727 airliner that carried prominent passengers and allegedly underage girls
Ms Giuffre has sued the duke in New York, alleging he had sex with her more than 20 years ago when she was a minor under US law. That civil lawsuit is expected to be heard before a jury in late 2022. Andrew has not been criminally charged and has 'unequivocally' denied the allegations.
Photos of Andrew riding today come after a court was told that Maxwell was a 'dangerous predator' who 'served up' girls for sexual abuse. The British socialite was billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein's 'second in command' and lured vulnerable teenagers for him to assault, a jury in New York heard.
The courtroom was packed as Maxwell's trial on sex trafficking charges got under way, with observers queuing in the freezing cold from 5am to guarantee a seat. They were silent throughout as lurid claims against Epstein's alleged madam were aired.
During the trial, Maxwell listened intently, occasionally scribbling in a notebook and turning to look at her sister, as Assistant US Attorney Lara Pomerantz accused her of 'heinous crimes'.
The prosecutor warned the jury that some of the evidence they will hear over the course of the six-week trial may make them uncomfortable.
But, after hearing it, she added, they would 'reach the only verdict possible – that Ghislaine Maxwell is guilty'. Miss Pomerantz accused Maxwell of being one half of a powerful couple with Epstein, devising a sick 'pyramid scheme of abuse' in which they bribed schoolgirls to recruit their friends.
The 59-year-old former girlfriend of Wall Street financier Epstein was his 'partner in crime', the jury was told – putting young girls at ease so they could be 'molested by a middle-aged man'.
The jury of seven women and five men, plus several substitutes, heard how the daughter of the late media tycoon Robert Maxwell went after young girls with 'difficult home lives', often daughters of single mothers, and would 'promise them the world'.
'They lured their victims with a promise of a brighter future then destroyed their lives,' the prosecutor said in a
