In her first interview since being sentenced to 20 years in prison in June, Ghislaine Maxwell tied herself to people who no doubt would prefer she didn’t ― and acknowledged she has some regrets.
Speaking to journalist Daphne Barak, the onetime British socialite and now-imprisoned sex trafficker described Prince Andrew as a “dear friend,” adding that she “feels so bad for him.”
“I accept that this friendship could not survive my conviction,” she said. “He is paying such a price for the association. I consider him a dear friend. I care about him.”
The disgraced British royal has taken pains to distance himself from Maxwell, who helped groom girls for the late sex predator Jeffrey Epstein. That includes an American woman who accused Andrew of sexually abusing her when she was 17.
Epstein died by suicide in 2019 while jailed awaiting trial. Maxwell said she was shocked by the death, which she found “suspicious.”
Maxwell also said she’s thankful to Donald Trump for wishing her well after her arrest for helping traffic underage girls, which she said gave her “a big boost.”
“I was very touched that he would remember me and that he would wish me well,” she said. “And I was very touched by his remembrance of me.”
Asked by Barak if she made any mistakes, Maxwell said the answer is “obviously” meeting Epstein.
But asked if she considered herself a victim, Maxwell was evasive.
“I don’t particularly like the word victim,” she said. “I think it’s one that should be used very sparingly because, you know, today everyone is a victim of something, a victim of the pandemic, a victim of inflation. I’ve heard victim, the word victim used about things that I … I don’t like that word.”
The interview, some of which Barak published for Britain’s Mail on Sunday, will also feature in an upcoming special on Paramount+.