Explosive new pictures show Prince Andrew with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein and his alleged pimp Ghislaine Maxwell at the UK races. Video / BBC
What a difference a year can make.
Ghislaine Maxwell, once known only in the top tiers of posh society, is now one of the most talked-about names in the world.
The ex-girlfriend of convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, whose close friendship with Prince Andrew helped kickstart the royal's descent into disgrace, went into hiding months ago as the high-profile sex scandal began to unravel, news.com.au reports.
In July, Epstein was arrested on charges of sex trafficking but killed himself in a New York federal prison just weeks later before he could answer to his alleged crimes – and, crucially, name accomplices.
Chief among those under a cloud of scrutiny is British heiress Ghislaine Maxwell, 57, who had been a constant companion of Epstein's for decades and whom many of his young alleged victims have accused of acting as a "madam" and even participating in the abuse.
Ms Maxwell has repeatedly denied accusations against her and has never been charged.
But in recent years, she has struck confidential settlements in civil court with two of the women who say she participated in Epstein's sexual exploitation of them, according to the The New York Times.
Prince Andrew with Virginia Roberts and Ghislaine Maxwell. Photo / Supplied
Epstein was spared from a heavy prison sentence on similar allegations a decade ago as part of a controversial non-prosecution agreement, binding only on federal prosecutors in Florida, where the deal was made, not on authorities in New York.
That unusual deal, initially filed in secret, went as far as to bar the federal government from charging "any potential co-conspirators of Epstein".
Just a week after the new charges brought by New York federal prosecutors against Epstein became public, Ms Maxwell's environmental non-profit organisation involved in protecting the world's oceans, the TerraMar Project, shut down. The website posted a message saying it was "sad to announce that it will cease all operations".
And just like that, Ms Maxwell also disappeared.
With Epstein dead and Prince Andrew effectively crawling underneath a rock to wait out his disgrace after being sacked by the royals, Ms Maxwell has, in effect, become the key witness to the whole dark affair.
Her last-known whereabouts was reportedly a mansion in Manchester-by-the-Sea in Massachusetts, in the US, where she was said to be holed up with tech executive Scott Borgerson and eventually tracked down by the Daily Mail.
However, the last time she was actually seen in public was at a yacht party in Monaco on June 9, where she was photographed rubbing shoulders with the likes of Paris Hilton.
Ms Maxwell was allegedly spotted at an In-N-Out Burger in Los Angeles shortly after Epstein's death, but the picture has been widely discredited as staged and photoshopped.
It's been reported in recent weeks that Ms Maxwell is in talks with a US network for an exclusive TV interview to defend her friend Prince Andrew, but that's yet to be confirmed.
Jeffrey Epstein with Ghislaine Maxwell in 2005. Photo / Getty Images
In the meantime, given the number of prominent figures linked to Epstein, conspiracists have been running wild with their ideas about where Ms Maxwell could be.
Piloting a submarine, hiding in the south of France or living an alternative life in the witness protection program – here are some of the most interesting theories as compiled by social media intelligence agency Storyful.
WITNESS PROTECTION
A popular post on Reddit's conspiracy forum in late November, typical of many posted there since August, claimed Ms Maxwell was being protected by the US Department of Justice and is in a witness protection program because she has evidence of celebrities engaging in sexual acts with underage girls.
In November, a lawyer representing several Epstein accusers told The Sun he believed the FBI was closely monitoring Ms Maxwell's whereabouts.
"There's only two possible places where she might be, and that's England – or the UK somewhere — or in the States," the lawyer said. "And if she's in the States, she's going to be in New York or California."
SECRET UNDERWATER LOCATION
Several posts on Reddit and 4chan claimed Ms Maxwell, who is alleged to hold a submarine licence, is hiding underwater in "secret locations". A post last month on theRedditthread r/Epstein asked "Where is Ghislaine Maxell?" In response, one user claimed "dead or in a submarine".
A 4chan user posted in October that they had a "gut feeling" Ms Maxwell was operating a "secret sub hub". "Many homes in Long Beach with boat house that could be used to surface without any other people seeing," the poster commented.
According to Sky News, Ms Maxwell has spent some time in the Brazilian Riviera since Epstein's arrest in July.
BBC Newsnight's Emily Maitlis during an interview in London with Prince Andrew. Photo / AP
The media outlet claims she was accompanied by former French modelling agency boss Jean-Luc Brunel, another person of interest in the sordid case, who has also been accused of helping procure females for the paedophile billionaire.
A former US police officer told Sky News that Brunel's phone was traced to a resort in Santa Catarina, an up-market area popular with wealthy tourists. Ms Maxwell's phone was reportedly also connected to the area.
THE SOUTH OF FRANCE
Claims about Ms Maxwell hiding in the south of France, where her sister Christine lived, have also circulated in mainstream media publications, as well as online fringe forums, based mostly on her family's connections to the area and her ability to speak French.
However, The Telegraph reported in August that Ms Maxwell and her husband sold their property in Aix-en-Provence in 2015.
ISRAEL
Another popular theory is that Ms Maxwell is working with Mossad, Israel's intelligence service, and has gone into hiding because she has evidence of celebrities and politicians engaging in sexual acts with underage girls.
This unsubstantiated theory has gained renewed attention in recent weeks with the publication of a book by Dylan Howard, an entertainment journalist.
Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who says she was trafficked by sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, holds a news conference outside a Manhattan court. Photo / AP
A post on Reddit's conspiracy forum on December 1 claimed the photo of her at an In-N-Out Burger was a "diversion" and Ms Maxwell had fled to Israel. This poster also claimed that she initially fled to France.
A post earlier this month on the Reddit thread r/worldnews said "she's Mossad like her dad", referencing Robert Maxwell, the disgraced newspaper tycoon, who was also accused of being an Israeli spy.
The claim that Ms Maxwell, along with Epstein, worked as a spy for Israel gained momentum in October when, in a series of interviews, Ari Ben-Menashe, a former Israeli intelligence official, said the pair worked for Israel.
In an interview with The Sun newspaper in December to promote his new book on the subject, Ben-Menashe claimed, without providing evidence, that Ms Maxwell and Epstein were both Israeli spies who captured photo evidence of powerful men having sex with underage girls to blackmail them.
There is no evidence that supports the claim Ms Maxwell was a secret agent for Israel.
"No one knows where she is," a lawyer for one of Epstein's victims said recently.
"She's done the greatest disappearing act known to man – or woman."
But if reports of Ms Maxwell's dealings with a US TV network are true, we could finally be hearing her side of the story sooner rather than later.
As a US source close to her lawyers reportedly told The Sun earlier this month: "Ghislaine is preparing to speak – whether by talking to the FBI or giving a statement to the media. She has to defend herself. She has no option. She will have to address this guilt by association."
