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Ghislaine may be “tempted” to give up Prince Andrew
A friend of accused sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell says incarceration and the threat of prosecution may lead her to give damning evidence to the American authorities about Prince Andrew’s involvement with Jeffrey Epstein.
“In a way, I can’t imagine her ever giving up Prince Andrew, but if it’s life imprisonment with no hope of parole, it might be tempting,” Maxwell’s friend Christopher Mason told the New York Post. “She of all of those people knew who slept with whom and [which young girl] was assigned to whom.”
Mason said Maxwell had access to potentially incriminating tapes of who did what in Epstein’s properties. The tapes have all disappeared, Mason said. “I’m sure she has access to the videos,” he added.
Mason, a friend of Maxwell’s since the 1980s, said that he was concerned Maxwell could be in danger in jail. “There is too much power involved if she really talks.”
However another of Maxwell’s friends told the BBC’s Today program that Maxwell had often told her she would “never say anything about [Andrew].”
Laura Goldman, a former New York stockbroker who has known Maxwell since the 1990s, said she “felt that [Andrew] was her friend... she really felt that in the 90s when her father [the publisher Robert Maxwell] died, that Prince Andrew was there for her in many ways.”
The Telegraph reports meanwhile that the U.K. Government hopes that Andrew will talk to the FBI directly, without the need for ministers to intervene. The FBI has made a formal request to speak to Andrew through the filing of a Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) to the Home Office—the official route by which the US seeks help from the British authorities in a legal or criminal matter.
Game of thrones
British newspapers have been dominated in the past few days by a startling image of Ghislaine Maxwell and Kevin Spacey, clearly having a great lark, posing on the thrones in the Buckingham Palace Throne Room.
The newly revealed photo was apparently taken in 2002.
Attentive readers of The Daily Beast may have been less surprised by the images than some others however.
On March 2 of this year we reported a source saying that Prince Andrew made a habit of seating his potential conquests on the queen’s throne at Buckingham Palace as part of a routine to woo them, after a friend of the model Caprice Bourret said Andrew allowed her to sit on the throne as part of a date.
Another woman told The Daily Beast in 2019 that when invited to dinner with Andrew in his private quarters (a modest one bedroom apartment) at Buckingham Palace she was invited to sit on the throne and also led on to the balcony where she was encouraged to wave to imaginary crowds.
The U.K. Sunday Times’ royal correspondent Roya Nikkah writes today that Prince Andrew’s “no recollection” defense when it comes to whether he met Virginia Roberts Giuffre—who alleges the prince had sex with her—is “wearing thin.”
Nikkah recalled his people said the same thing to her when she reported that Spacey had sat on one of the thrones during a private tour of Buckingham Palace with Andrew.
A source told Nikkah: “Going anywhere near the thrones is a total no-no. If a member of staff did, there would be disciplinary action. The queen would not have been amused.”
Archie is “just about walking” and “loving life in LA”
Kids are becoming more and more precocious. Not only do we learn—aww—that Harry and Meghan’s baby Archie is “just about walking,” but also that he is “loving life in LA.” If 1 seems very young to be getting into juicing and sunrise hiking, then perhaps this is just how L.A. babies, ummm, roll.
Royal expert Katie Nicholl told Entertainment Tonight: “I think he is just about walking. He’s a very happy little boy, he’s loving life in L.A. and they are still staying at Tyler Perry’s house. I’m told they haven’t found their forever home yet, they’re still looking.”
Nicholl added, “They really do love that family time and they’ve had a lot of that recently. They both feel very grateful for that time they’ve had at home with Archie, watching him achieve all of those milestones.”
Less rosily, Nicholl noted it was time for Harry and Meghan to earn some cash. “They do need to make money. They've been in L.A. since March, they left the royal family at the end of March, and as yet, they haven’t actually earned anything.”
As previously reported, they’ve signed up with a speaking agency that also represents the Obamas and other high-profile clients. But the question remains is what money-earning activities will marry both their social and cultural interests and desire to be high-profile but not utterly public.
More signals for what Harry and Meghan want to do come with the Daily Mail’s report that the couple have applied to trademark the name of their company Archewell, for “television shows,” “motion picture films,” “digital entertainment content,” “providing a website featuring information in the field of physical fitness,” and a site “featuring information in the field of nutrition, general health and mental health.”
Archewell, a source told the Mail, would be “a global organization with international ambitions.”
In another sign of changing times, People reported that Harry’s environmental tourism initiative Travalyst has removed references to His Royal Highness as a prefix to Harry’s name.
Giving up such titles was part of the deal struck when Harry and Meghan officially gave up their “senior royals” status earlier this year, although Harry is still known as the Duke of Sussex.
Buzzed
We last saw James Middleton, the hot, outdoorsy brother of Kate and Pippa, when he was shaving his beard off in the garden of his parents’ idyllic home in Bucklebury, Berkshire.
Now, in an article for the Daily Mail, he has revealed his love of beekeeping.
“The hum and murmur of worker bees inside the hives, mixed with the incessant buzz of activity in the wildflower meadow close by, is breathtaking—a connection with nature that’s balm for the soul,” Middleton writes.
He reveals he has half a million bees in eight hives at Bucklebury Manor, his parents’ home. He has spent “many happy hours with them” during lockdown.
“I’m in awe of these incredible insects,” we learn. “They perform a little waggle dance, an insect version of sat-nav, to signal to each other where the best flowers are.”
James, so often seen not wearing that much, is photographed in clothing, alongside fiancée Alizee Thevenet, both in very cool beekeeping duds.
Middleton is quite the buzzed-up advocate: He emphasizes bees’ industriousness, the many qualities of honey (as long-lasting foodstuff and as a medicine), and bees’ role as a planet protector. He makes clear he is in good celebrity beekeeping company, alongside David Beckham, Leonardo DiCaprio, Morgan Freeman, and Scarlett Johansson.
Middleton also clearly spends a lot of time studying the sociology of the hives: Queen bee, worker bees, and all—and says something must be done to protect bees as they become more endangered.
James’ interest was sparked when Kate, Pippa, and his parents got together to buy him his first 1,000 bees for his 24th birthday in 2011. He links beekeeping to helping alleviate the depression he wrote about powerfully in 2019. “I see it as an active form of meditation, a chance to escape from mental tumult. When I’m with my bees it’s as if someone’s pressed the mute button on everything that’s worrying me.”
His bees have not—yet at least—been made into a business. The piece ends with a passionate plea to the public to—if not become beekeepers—then to cultivate the flora that bees love. “If you don’t want to or can’t keep them yourself then at least plant some flowers. You don’t need a swathe of open green space. A simple window box will do. Choose plants with open flowers and easy access to pollen and nectar.”
Meghan wins award for special ‘Vogue’ magazine
The Meghan Markle guest-edited issue of Vogue featuring “Forces of Change” has won a top British magazine award.
Last September’s issue of the magazine, whose editor-in-chief is Edward Enninful, won the Diversity Initiative of the Year Award at the Professional Publishers Association (PPA) Awards. Enninful also won ‘Editor of the Year.’
“I’m honored to have this very special issue recognized,” Meghan said in a statement to Town & Country. “Creating ‘Forces for Change’ with Edward was an opportunity to have the September issue of Vogue reflect the world as we see it—beautiful and strong in its diversity. Huge congratulations to Edward who helped bring this to light, and for his additional honor of being awarded ‘best editor’ by PPA.”
The issue itself, as The Daily Beast’s Alaina Demopoulos wrote at the time, celebrated Meghan’s idea of the worthy and worthwhile.
This week in royal history
One of the strangest moments in modern royal history—and worst security breaches—happened on July 9, 1982 when Michael Fagan broke into Buckingham Palace, and came face to face with Queen Elizabeth II while sitting on her bed.
He had scaled the perimeter fence, climbed up a drainpipe, and made his way into the queen’s bedroom at 7.15 a.m. A presumably, quite naturally terrified queen ran out of the room for help. A maid brought Fagan, then 32, cigarettes and a footman poured him a whisky before cops removed him. And this was his second Palace break-in.
In this Independent interview from 2012, Fagan recalled: “I was scareder than I’d ever been in my life.” He pulled back the curtains to see the queen staring up at him. “Then she speaks and it’s like the finest glass you can imagine breaking: ‘Wawrt are you doing here?!’”
Unanswered questions
Is it time up for Prince Andrew? Will Ghislaine tell all? Will the FBI finally speak to him? Are Harry and Meghan planning big TV and movie deals?
