A significant piece of evidence in Giufre’s civil suit against the royal, a complaint setting out her allegations says the image ‘depicts Prince Andrew, [Giuffre], and Maxwell at Maxwell’s home prior to Prince Andrew sexually abusing [Giuffre]’.
According to the Times, the royal’s lawyers are seeking to obtain the original copy of the photo from Giuffre, prompting speculation that they will seek to argue the image is a fake. They have requested that she produce the original in the course of the discovery process (when each side obtains and discloses evidence and legal information).
A source described as ‘familiar with the proceedings’ told the news outlet: ‘There are concerns about the authenticity of the photograph… The duke’s legal team requested the original and it has not been provided to them.’ His lawyers are also expected to look to a photographic expert to challenge the authenticity of the image.
Giuffre has claimed that the photo was taken by Jeffrey Epstein using her own camera, in March 2001. Back in 2011, when Epstein was jailed for sex offences, a Mail on Sunday journalist asked Giuffre if she had evidence to support her claim that he trafficked her to powerful men, to which she replied that she had a photo of herself with Andrew.
In a 2016 deposition interview with Maxwell’s lawyers, during the course of a defamation suit she filed against Maxwell, Giuffre disclosed that she was paid $140,000 by the Mail on Sunday to publish the image, plus $20,000 for two interviews she gave the tabloid. On being challenged by Laura Menninger, Maxwell’s lawyer, as to where the original photograph was, Giuffre replied that she had lent it briefly to the FBI in 2011, but hadn’t seen it since 2015.
