PRINCE Andrew’s name was blanked out of dynamite papers released on Ghislaine Maxwell’s alleged child sex trafficking links.
The court documents detail his alleged relationship with paedo Jeffrey Epstein’s under-age sex slave Virginia Giuffre.
Prince Andrew’s name is thought to have been blanked out 75 times in the explosive court files.
Ghislaine Maxwell’s 465-page testimony was finally released despite her desperate attempts to block it.
Andrew’s name was redacted as he was not part of the legal tussle.
Maxwell was quizzed for seven hours about Andrew’s link to Virginia Roberts Giuffre, the Epstein sex slave he denies sleeping with.
A key passage about an alleged night out at London’s Tramp club with Virginia, Andrew and Epstein in 2001 was mysteriously redacted.
Maxwell is asked: “Do you recall going to dinner with (name redacted), Jeffrey Epstein and Virginia Roberts in London, at any time?” Maxwell said: “I do not.”
The lawyer then asks: “Do you recall going to a place called (two names redacted) Jeffrey Epstein and yourself and Virginia Roberts?”
Maxwell then says: “I would just like to state for the record…” The next five lines are blacked out.
Maxwell also insisted Virginia and Andrew could not have had sex in the bathtub of her London home because it was too small.
And she appeared to confirm Andrew had visited Epstein’s Paedo Island home in the Caribbean.
Maxwell admitted her own relationship with Epstein was intimate, adding: “There were times when I would have liked to think of myself as his girlfriend.”
Last night an Epstein victims’ lawyer challenged Andrew to “be a man” and explain his relationship with the disgraced billionaire.
‘HE SHOULD STEP FORWARD’
Spencer Kuvin said: “I can’t draw any assumptions from who is redacted. But it is clear within the context of the deposition who it appears to be.
“The court of public opinion has drawn its own conclusion in respect to Prince Andrew and the information that’s released.
“He should step forward, be a man, talk about what he did or didn’t do. And if he did something wrong then he should be held accountable. He should come here to the US and answer for his actions.”
Virginia’s lawyer David Boies said there were yet more revelations to come.
He added: “As the evidence comes out, it will be clear why Ms Maxwell and others who enabled Epstein are fighting so hard to keep it concealed. As our client bravely asserts they didn’t act alone.”
Maxwell’s testimony, released in New York, was taken from a 2015 civil lawsuit brought by Virginia.
The mum of three, who claims she was forced to sleep with Andrew three times when a teenager, had sued Maxwell for defamation and the case was later settled.
Maxwell fought to prevent the documents becoming public.
She is currently in a New York jail on charges that she groomed girls for Epstein, who died in a New York jail in August last year.
In her testimony Maxwell was evasive on many claims — including Virginia’s 2001 trip to London.
Quizzed by Virginia’s lawyer Sigrid McCawley, Maxwell said: “I do not have any recollection of it and I doubt it actually happened.
“Her entire ludicrous and absurd story of what took place in my house is an obvious lie.
‘TUB IS TOO SMALL’
“The entire characterization of what took place in my house in London would’ve been impossible.”
Virginia has claimed that after the trip to Tramp she was forced to have sex with Andrew – including foreplay in a bath, with the royal said to have licked her feet.
But Maxwell retorted: “The tub is too small for any type of activity.”
Maxwell, 58, was also shown the picture of Andrew with his hand wrapped around Virginia’s waist, allegedly taken during that trip. She would not confirm whether the picture was even snapped in her house.
Maxwell said: “I have no idea what (sic) this picture was taken. I know what she (Virginia) purports it to be. But I’m not going to say that I do.
“I don’t know if that’s true, if that’s a real picture or not.”
She even suggested the photograph may be faked because of Virginia’s “strange” outfit.
She added: “I took her shopping into Burberry and bought her a very expensive dress and if this photo were real…I would never…the outfit doesn’t work at all so.”
Maxwell also claimed she did not know who took the photo.
Quizzed if it was Epstein, she replied: “You can come up with 50 names. I still don’t know.”
In an apparent reference to Andrew, Maxwell was asked: “Did you observe (redacted name) go into a room with Virginia alone in your town home?”
She replied: “I cannot recall. As I have said, no”.
‘ANOTHER OF VIRGINIA’S LIES’
The heiress was then asked: “Did (redacted name) ever tell you he had sex with Virginia Roberts?”
She replied: “He did not.” She also said Epstein did not tell her that either.
Maxwell said that the mystery person had called Virginia’s story “lies”.
Maxwell was also asked if a person, whose name was redacted, had ever visited Epstein’s home on Little St James in the US Virgin Islands.
She said: “I am aware of that, yes.” But she said she was not aware if the man visited the island while Virginia was there.
Maxwell said she too had visited the island when the man was present “once” — and claimed there were no girls there at the time. Virginia alleges that Andrew took part in an orgy on the island.
Maxwell was also quizzed over whether she had ever given a man, whose name was again redacted, a puppet that looked like him.
Virginia has claimed that Andrew used a Spitting Image puppet of himself to grope her.
Maxwell said: “There was a puppet…not a puppet…a caricature of (redacted name) in Jeffrey’s home.”
She could not recollect if it was used to fondle anyone’s breasts.
She also denied she introduced a man, thought to be Andrew, to Epstein.
Maxwell said: “That would be another of Virginia’s lies.”
She also denied introducing the mystery person to anyone under the age of 18.
Maxwell branded Virginia a liar 28 times in the testimony, denying she had ever dressed the American up as a schoolgirl.
She added: “She has lied repeatedly and is an awful fantasist.”
She also denied there were kinky latex costumes or laundry baskets of sex toys lying around Epstein’s six mansions.
During the testimony, Maxwell lashed out against Virginia’s lawyers at one point pounding her fist on the table.
Afterwards, she said: “Can we be clear, I didn’t threaten anybody.”
Maxwell batted away claims she acted as a recruiter, or pimp, for Epstein, and tried to characterise herself as his building contractor.
Maxwell said Epstein had given her a loan to buy a mansion.
When she left working for him in 2009 — after he was convicted of soliciting an underage girl for prostitution — she had a salary of “less than $500,000” (£381,000).
A snap of a naked woman believed to be Ghislaine was found by police at Epstein’s home.
Representatives for Andrew declined to comment. The Duke has always denied claims of wrongdoing.
