From her Florida prison cell, where she is serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking, Ghislaine Maxwell continues to vehemently deny the authenticity of the infamous 2001 photograph showing Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor with his arm around a 17-year-old Virginia Giuffre. In multiple interviews, including a 2023 jailhouse discussion with TalkTV and a more recent 2025 transcript from meetings with the U.S. Department of Justice, Maxwell has labeled the image “literally a fake” and a “sophisticated fabrication.”
“It’s a fake. I don’t believe it’s real for a second—in fact, I’m sure it’s not,” Maxwell stated in 2023. She emphasized that she has “never seen an original,” only photocopies, suggesting no genuine print exists. In her latest remarks, released in August 2025, she reiterated: “I believe it’s literally a fake photo.” Maxwell also dismissed related allegations, claiming Giuffre’s account of events at her London home was “mind-blowingly not conceivable” due to the property’s layout.
The photograph—depicting Mountbatten-Windsor smiling with his hand on Giuffre’s waist, Maxwell grinning in the background—has long been central to Giuffre’s accusations. Giuffre alleged she was trafficked by Jeffrey Epstein and Maxwell, forced into sexual encounters with the then-prince on three occasions, including one that night in March 2001 after a visit to Tramp nightclub. Before her tragic death in April 2025, Giuffre insisted the photo was authentic, stating she handed the original to the FBI in 2011.
Mountbatten-Windsor has echoed doubts, famously claiming in his 2019 BBC Newsnight interview no recollection of meeting Giuffre and questioning the image’s validity—citing his alleged aversion to public displays of affection and unusual “travelling clothes.” He settled Giuffre’s 2021 civil lawsuit in 2022 for a reported multimillion-pound sum without admitting liability, leading to his withdrawal from royal duties and eventual stripping of titles by King Charles in late 2025 amid ongoing Epstein fallout.
Yet evidence supporting the photo’s genuineness persists. Photographic experts have found no signs of doctoring. A date stamp on the back reportedly shows development at a U.S. Walgreens on March 13, 2001—just days after the alleged events. Newly unsealed Epstein documents from late 2025, including emails and additional images of Mountbatten-Windsor with Epstein and Maxwell at royal venues like Balmoral and Sandringham, further contextualize their close ties, undermining claims of complete fabrication.
Maxwell’s insistence aligns with her broader denials of Epstein’s trafficking ring, despite her conviction. Critics argue her claims lack credibility given her role. The photo remains a potent symbol in the Epstein scandal, fueling debates over power, accountability, and truth. As fresh Epstein files emerge—even in December 2025—revealing more royal connections, Maxwell’s assertions appear increasingly isolated against mounting documentary evidence.
In an era demanding justice for trafficking victims, her dismissal of this key image as a “fabrication” raises questions about deflection versus reality. Giuffre’s voice, preserved in her posthumous memoir Nobody’s Girl, counters such denials, reminding the world that survivors’ truths endure beyond powerful attempts to discredit them.
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