Ghislaine Maxwell had 'free pass' to Buckingham Palace, former royal protection officer tells LBC

Paul Page, who worked at the palace for six years, said Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor made it clear not to interfere with his guests, including the former girlfriend of paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.

He told Tom Swarbrick she started "popping in" to the Palace in the 2000s.

"The rule was not to stop her...she had a free pass," he explained.

Maxwell is currently serving 20 years behind bars at a prison in Texas.

The disgraced socialite was convicted in 2021 of conspiracy to transport minors to participate in illegal sex acts, conspiracy to entice minors to travel to engage in illegal sex acts, transporting a minor to participate in illegal sex acts, sex trafficking conspiracy, and sex trafficking of a minor.

LBC has approached Buckingham Palace and Prince Andrew for comment regarding this allegation.

Mr Page said he witnessed no criminality by Andrew - who has consistently denied any wrongdoing.

Several police forces are now investigating claims against the paedophile financier as part of a coordinated effort to uncover the scale of his crimes in the UK. The Met Police say all officers are held to high standards and hasn't identified any wrongdoing by protection officers.

Earlier, the Palace said it stands ready to support Thames Valley Police, who are currently assessing a number of related claims concerning Mr Mountbatten-Windsor.

Mr Page said he knew who Maxwell was due to her father, the media mogul Robert Maxwell.

He recalled a memory where he saw Maxwell and Andrew having a "lavish" and "intimate" picnic.

"[Him and his colleagues] laughed and said, if the Queen looks out of a window and sees who's sitting on her grass, you know, it might be a problem.

"Let alone the press getting hold of that.

"The rule was not to stop her. She's to enter. Just let her in. She had a free pass."

Mr Page also said the normal identification process was suspended to allow young women, usually in their 20s, turned up to visit the former prince.

When quizzed on the women who were the former Duke’s guests, Mr Page defended him and his former colleague’s actions.

“This was going back 20 years! How do we know what’s going on with these women? We didn’t even know their names. So how the do we know they’re trafficked?

“If they’d came up to us and told us they’d been trafficked we could’ve dealt with it. “We didn’t know anything cause we weren’t told!”

In 2009, Mr Page was jailed following a £3 million property scam. He set up a sham company, tricking colleagues, friends and family into parting with their cash, savings and pension payouts.

It has recently been revealed that Maxwell admitted in an email that the infamous photo of Andrew with his arm around Virginia Giuffre is real.

The former Duke of York has long disputed the image's authenticity and claimed it may have been faked, but his theories were challenged by the message released as part of the Department of Justice's latest batch of Epstein files.

Giuffre, who was 17 at the time of the photograph, alleged she was forced to have sex with Andrew on at least three occasions included the day the picture was taken.

The email from Maxwell sees the socialite saying she was "stating for the record as fact" that not only had she introduced Andrew to Giuffre but that the photograph was taken at her London home the same night.

Andrew has always denied any wrongdoing in relation to Epstein and denied having ever met Giuffre, who died by suicide last year in Australia.

Earlier this month, Maxwell, 64, answered no questions from the powerful Congressional committee while appearing virtually from federal prison camp.

Those present at the hearing said her lawyer used the opportunity to "campaign" for a pardon from President Donald Trump.

The House Oversight Committee forced Maxwell to sit for a recorded deposition as part of its ongoing investigation into the US government’s handling of the cases against Epstein and Maxwell.

Video footage was also released showing Maxwell in a dirty cell wearing an orange jumpsuit. The video was filmed while she was awaiting a bail decision.

Read More: Ghislaine Maxwell seen languishing inside prison cell in new Epstein files footage

Read More: Ghislaine Maxwell admits infamous photo of Andrew with arm around Virginia Giuffre's waist is real

Maxwell was found guilty in December 2021 of:

• Conspiracy to transport minors to participate in illegal sex acts,
• Conspiracy to entice minors to travel to engage in illegal sex acts,
• Transporting a minor to participate in illegal sex acts,
• Sex trafficking conspiracy, and,
• Sex trafficking of a minor.