prince andrew hosted epstein, maxwell and weinstein at royal lodge

Jeffrey Epstein (centre) pictured at the Royal Lodge with masked Ghislaine Maxwell,and Harvey Weinstein (Picture: The Sun/News Licensing)

Prince Andrew reportedly welcomed Jeffrey Epstein,Ghislaine Maxwell and Harvey Weinstein to his Windsor residence,where he lived rent-free.

Andrew allegedly hosted the trio at his publicly owned Royal Lodge in Windsor for his daughter Beatrice’s 18th birthday,the BBC reports.

Prince Andrew hasn’t paid rent at the Royal Lodge for 22 years,but he is now thought to be preparing to move out following the publication of Virginia Giuffre’s posthumous memoir.

The reported visit in 2006 is said to have taken place two months after US officials had issued an arrest warrant for Epstein for the sexual assault of a minor.

Prince Andrew has lived at the Royal Lodge for free for more than two decades (Picture: Getty Images)

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Start your day informed with Metro's News Updates newsletter or get Breaking News alerts the moment it happens.It had previously emerged that the financier,Maxwell and the movie mogul Weinstein had set foot in the residence,but it was not known until now that the trio was hosted there.A picture,thought to be snapped in the garden or on a terrace of the Royal Lodge,shows a tuxedo-clad Weinstein next to Epstein,who is wearing a Navy SEAL uniform as a fancy dress. Maxwell stands close to Epstein,wearing a Venice-style mask and a sheer blouse.Epstein was arrested in Florida eight days after the July 15 birthday party.The following year,Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution from a minor. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison,but was released after 13 months on probation.The 30-room Royal Lodge in Windsor Park (Picture: Shutterstock)He faced a spate of allegations from more women over the next decade and was arrested on sex trafficking charges in 2019. He then died in his New York prison cell.Prince Andrew is said to have his eyes set on the 5,089 sq ft Frogmore Cottage as his new pad.The Windsor cottage was previously the home of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle,who spent around £2.4million renovating it.Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell reportedly attended Princess Beatrice’s 18th birthday at the Royal Lodge just months before the financier’s arrest (Picture: Patrick McMullan/Getty Images)The disgraced Hollywood film producer Harvey Weinstein has been in jail since March 2020 (Picture: Getty Images)Princess Eugenie,Andrew’s daughter,lived at Frogmore for around two years with her husband,Jack Brooksbank.The former Duke of York,who gave up his titles this month,is reportedly willing to move out of the Royal Lodge if he can relocate to Frogmore,while his ex-wife,Sarah Ferguson,is said to be keen to move into nearby Adelaide Cottage,according to The Sun.Frogmore Cottage,where Prince Andrew is reportedly moving (Picture: PA)A source claimed that works are being carried out at the cottage ‘day and night.’The Palace is said to be ‘cranking up the pressure’ to try to get Andrew to leave the Grade II listed mansion.He cannot be legally evicted due to a ‘cast iron’ lease.