Noora Mykkanen
Published February 21, 2026 5:12pm
Updated February 21, 2026 5:12pm
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Ghislaine Maxwell’s brother appeared to show sympathy for the disgraced Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor after his arrest (Picture: EPA/Getty)
Ghislaine Maxwell’s older brother has weighed in on Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s situation and insisted that his sister was the ‘fall guy’ for Epstein.
Ghislaine, a former socialite and Epstein’s girlfriend, has been behind bars in the US since 2020 after she was convicted of sex trafficking of girls.
Her name has remained in the headlines due to the release of Epstein files containing more documents and images of her and those with links to the late convicted paedophile, including Andrew.
It led to the arrest and subsequent release under investigation of former Prince Andrew on suspicion of misconduct in public office after allegations that he shared sensitive government information with Epstein during his role as the UK trade envoy.
Andrew was seen leaving the Aylsham police station on Thursday evening after his release under investigation (Picture: REUTERS)
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While the royal has seen a spectacular fall from grace, Ghislaine’s brother Ian Maxwell, 79, appeared to express sympathy for the former duke, who was arrested on his birthday within the Sandringham Estate.
Maxwell, a British businessman and one of nine siblings, told The Telegraph: ‘You have to note he hasn’t been charged with any sort of sexual offence. And the police will have looked really hard for evidence.
‘Look, he’s a single man and what he did or didn’t do with various women was sleazy, humiliating for him and embarrassing for the royals.
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor pictured with his hand around the waist of 17-year-old Virginia Giuffre, with Ghislaine Maxwell in the background. Andrew has claimed the photo is a fake (Picture: US District Court/AFP)
‘But there he is, kicked out of his home, completely isolated and unlike Ghislaine, he doesn’t even have a supportive family; even his daughters are at sixes and sevens about what to do.’
Maxwell claimed that Ghislaine’s trial ‘wasn’t fair and her conviction isn’t safe.’
‘My sister is the fall guy. Somebody had to pay the price for what Epstein did and so the government and the media chose her.
Ghislaine Maxwell’s siblings (L-R) Kevin Maxwell, Christine Maxwell, Isabel Maxwell, and Ian Maxwell, arrived at her sex trafficking trial in New York in December 2021 (Picture: Peter Foley/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)
‘I genuinely believe that if Epstein were alive he would be incarcerated and she would be free,’ he said.
Epstein died in his New York cell in 2019 in an apparent suicide while awaiting trial for sex trafficking charges.
He had amassed luxury properties around the world along with a network of well-connected friends. He invited them to his private Caribbean island dubbed ‘Epstein island’ and on board the private ‘Lolita Express’ jet, which is now at the heart of a police investigation in the UK.
Many of Epstein’s powerful friends were not put off staying in touch with the financier despite his 2008 conviction for soliciting sex from a 14-year-old girl.
Virginia Giuffre holds up a photo of herself as a teenager, when she was allegedly groomed by Epstein and Maxwell (Picture: Emily Michot/TNS via ZUMA Press)
The public scandal around Epstein deepened in 2011 when Virginia Giuffre first claimed that Epstein ran a trafficking operation of girls and women, and that she had been sent to have sex with Andrew when she was 17.
She was pictured in a now-famous photograph showing Andrew’s hand around her waist with Ghislaine in the background when she was in her teens.
Andrew has consistently denied any accusations of wrongdoing and having any knowledge of Epstein’s illegal actions.
Giuffre, who went on to advocate for survivors of sexual abuse, died by suicide last year.
But her posthumous book, Nobody’s Girl, came to haunt both Andrew and Ghislaine, whom she accused of grooming for Epstein and being an ‘apex predator.’
An undated photo released as part of the Epstein files shows Ghislaine Maxwell giving Jeffrey Epstein a footmassage, thought to be on board his private jet (Picture: US District Court for the Southern District of New York / AFP))
Ian Maxwell said: ‘I know who the monster is here and it’s not my sister, it’s Virginia Giuffre and her falsehoods that have had devastating ramifications for Ghislaine.
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‘I didn’t shed a tear when she died.’
Giuffre’s family welcomed the arrest of Andrew. They said the news lifted their ‘broken hearts’ and showed that ‘no one is above the law, not even royalty.’
It comes after King Charles issued a statement on the day of Andrew’s arrest on Thursday, with the monarch appearing to distance himself from his brother.
He said the authorities have the palace’s ‘full and wholehearted support and cooperation’ and that the ‘law must take its course.’
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