Ghislaine Maxwell claimed she “never introduced Prince Andrew to Jeffrey Epstein” in an interview under oath, newly released documents show.

The disgraced British socialite, in a video-taped interview in April 2016, known in the US as a deposition, described Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre’s alleged meetings with the Duke of York as a “tissue of lies”.

Andrew stepped down from public life after the furore over his friendship with the paedophile financier, and paid millions to settle a civil sexual assault case with Ms Giuffre, a woman he claimed never to have met.

Maxwell told Ms Giuffre’s lawyer Sigrid McCawley that she had known Andrew a “very long time”.

Questioned if she remembered how she first met him, the convicted sex trafficker said: “No I do not.”

Jeffrey Epstein legal documents
The Duke of York strenuously denies any wrongdoing (Joe Giddens/PA)

Ms McCawley then asked: “Did you introduce him to Jeffrey?”

Maxwell responded: “That would be another of Virginia’s lies and the lies you perpetrate.

“I never introduced Prince Andrew to Jeffrey Epstein at any time ever, so just add that the (sic) to long list of lies.”

Ms McCawley continued: “Did Jeffrey know Prince Andrew?”

Maxwell replied: “Clearly he knew him.”

Pressed on whether she knew how Andrew met Epstein, Maxwell said: “I do not know (sic) Jeffrey met Prince Andrew.

“What I do know is that I did not introduce them.

“That is one of the many lies. Are we tallying all the lies?”

Ghislaine Maxwell with Jeffrey Epstein in a picture shown to the court during the sex-trafficking trial of Maxwell
Ghislaine Maxwell with Jeffrey Epstein in a picture shown to the court during the sex-trafficking trial of Maxwell (US Department of Justice/{PA)

Ms McCawley went on: “Do you know when Jeffrey met Prince Andrew?”

Maxwell said: “I do not know when Jeffrey met Prince Andrew.”

Ms McCawley then asked: “Did you ever introduce Prince Andrew to any girls under the age of 18 who were not friends of your children?”

The socialite responded: “I have not introduced Prince Andrew to anyone that I am aware of other than friends of mine who have kids under that age that he may have met socially through me.”

Questioned on whether she introduced the duke to Ms Giuffre in London, Maxwell said: “I understand her story about London but, again, her tissue of lies is extremely hard to pick apart what is true and what isn’t.

“Actually I wouldn’t recollect her at all but for her tissue stories about this situation.”

Ms McCawley asked again: “So did you ever introduce Prince Andrew to Virginia in London?”

“I have no recollection,” Maxwell replied.

Epstein was found dead in his cell at a federal jail in Manhattan, New York, in August 2019 while he awaited trial on sex-trafficking charges. The death was ruled a suicide.

Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in prison in New York in June 2022 after being found guilty of helping recruit his underage victims.