Prince Andrew could have been dishonest regarding how long ago he met convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a new claim by a former beauty queen alleges.

The allegations imply that the tainted royal's association with Epstein started years earlier than his documented timeline suggests.

According to RadarOnline, Swiss model and ex-beauty pageant queen Beatrice Keul claimed Epstein talked of meeting the Duke of York in 1993, well before Andrew's version of their meeting in 1999.

In an interview with The Sun, Keul remembered encountering Epstein at a beauty pageant that year, where he introduced himself by bragging about his influential connections.

"Straight away, he told me, 'I'm Don's best friend,'" she said, referring to Donald Trump. "So I trusted him."

She added that Epstein attempted to lure her to an event at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort. "He was trying to invite me to a dance party in Florida and trying to convince me to come, saying, 'I will take care of you. Flights, hotels, I'll sort everything, just come because Don likes you'"

Keul stated she grew suspicious of Epstein's actions early on. "I didn't like the way he talked to me. He was very slimy... He wasn't my type at all," she described.

Keul said when she was hesitant, Epstein started boasting of having a connection with the British royal family to get her trust.

"He kept saying he had very rich and powerful friends and knew the Royal Family. And then I said, 'The Royal Family?' And he said, 'Prince Andrew.' He said he could facilitate the contact."

She continued, "I was shocked because he wasn't the kind of guy that you'd think would be in the Royal Family's society. But he wanted to put me in touch with Prince Andrew. Then he told me, 'You've got the calibre for this league.'"

These revelations contradict Prince Andrew's claim during his infamous 2019 BBC Newsnight interview, where he stated he first met Epstein in 1999.

Andrew's longstanding relationship with Epstein has done extensive harm to his public reputation.

His association with the deceased financier resulted in losing his royal responsibilities, strained personal relationships within the royal household, and a civil suit brought by Virginia Giuffre, whom he was accused of sexually assaulting while she was 17 years old. The suit was settled during early 2022 for a sum of $16 million.

As the news outlet pointed out, Keul's allegations bring fresh controversy to Andrew's already questionable reputation, placing further doubt on his widely criticized timeline.

Tags
Prince Andrew, Jeffrey Epstein, Prince andrew scandal