Prince Andrew's ex-girlfriend says she met Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein around 20 years ago. Photo / Getty Images
Prince Andrew's ex-girlfriend says she met Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein around 20 years ago. Photo / Getty Images
Prince Andrew's ex-girlfriend Lady Victoria Hervey says she was used as "bait" to find girls for sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Hervey says Ghislaine Maxwell used her to entertain Epstein's friends, and that he "kind of sat back and sort of waited for her to sort of go fishing" for girls, according to the Sun.
The 44-year-old socialite told a new TV documentary that she met Maxwell and Epstein 20 years ago when she was "really young and naive".
She said the pair were a "double act" like "Batman and Robin".
"Jeffrey was really the frontman and Ghislaine was the accomplice ... I don't think Jeffrey could have done any of it without Ghislaine."
Doco presenter Ranvir Singh asked, "And Ghislaine was crucial to getting those girls, was she, do you think to those dinners?"
Hervey replied that "he just kind of sat back and sort of waited for her to sort of go fishing and go find however many girls were needed, you know, to entertain his friends. I think I was pretty much used as bait".
"You know, looking back at, you know I was really young and naive, and she's entertaining these, you know, big businessmen. So I didn't realise it of course at the time, but looking back …"
It comes as a long-awaited documentary on Andrew's relationship with the pair is set to air today in the UK.
He will now face his accuser Virginia Giuffre in a US court later this year. He was also stripped of his royal title and honorary military titles by the Queen.
His ex told UK chat show host Lorraine that Maxwell herself was one of Epstein's victims.
"She is a scapegoat right now, so unfortunately for her, she is being taken down for what he has done as well. Some might argue is not quite as fair as it could be," she said.
"I think Ghislaine was a victim and is a victim.
"She was a victim that then became the accomplice as her role changed in that relationship when they were no longer together. She kind of switched sides. I do see her as a victim as well."
Maxwell has been convicted of facilitating the sexual abuse of minors for Epstein and could face up to 65 years in prison.
Prince Andrew's ex-girlfriend says she met Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein around 20 years ago. Photo / Getty Images
The documentary shows Singh go through Epstein's "black book" of contacts. He finds Andrew's cellphone number and calls it, receiving the Prince's voicemail.
It comes amid rumours Maxwell and Andrew may have been dating. Close friend Euan Rellie suspected the pair had been "girlfriend and boyfriend" in the past.
"She described Andrew as being her friend, not Jeffrey's," Rellie said.
"I got the sense that Prince Andrew and Ghislaine had probably been girlfriend and boyfriend in the past. They had an easy warmth around each other."
Former royal bodyguard Paul Page also suspected the pair were lovers, claiming she came and went from Buckingham Palace constantly - sometimes up to four times in one day.
Page, who was himself jailed for fraud in 2009, previously claimed Andrew's female friends rarely signed in when they visited.
"From the way she was allowed to enter and exit the palace at will, we suspected that she may have had an intimate relationship with Prince Andrew.
