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Socialite defends Duke of York and recalls feeling ‘watched’ at Epstein’s flat

Lady Victoria Hervey briefly dated Andrew.

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Lady Victoria Hervey has defended the Duke of York and confessed she felt like she was being watched by hidden cameras when she stayed at Jeffrey Epstein’s apartment in New York.

The socialite, who once briefly dated Andrew, insisted the duke would not have done a television interview if he was guilty.

Lady Victoria also spoke about her friend of 20 years Ghislaine Maxwell and admitted she believed she would not be found again, describing her as a “James Bond character”.

Lady Victoria Hervey
Lady Victoria Hervey, right, recalled feeling uncomfortable in Epstein’s apartment (David Mirzoeff/PA)

Lady Victoria told ITV’s Good Morning Britain she met Epstein through Ms Maxwell, who organised her stay in his apartment in New York.

“I did feel very uncomfortable staying there at the time,” she revealed.

“I cut my trip short, I felt like I was being watched, like there were cameras, hidden cameras. I left after about 10 days or so and moved in with a friend of mine.”

She recounted a dinner party for 14 she attended with Donald Trump, Bill Clinton and Andrew.

Lady Victoria said: “I was very young and very impressionable. Jeffrey was a very charismatic man. He would walk into a room and people would take notice.

“With him and Ghislaine it was kind of like team work. He had the finance, she had the black book. They were a great pair together and, kind of together, they were taking over the world.”

Lady Victoria, who was an “it girl” of the late 1990s, when asked about dating Andrew, said: “It was not really (dating). We had a couple of dinners together. That was around the same time, ’99 to 2000.”

Of the duke’s Newsnight interview, she said: “I watched it and I thought first of all, there is no way if he is guilty that he would go onto television and do an interview like that. There’s no way.

“I think the public already made their decision a long time ago and thought he was guilty … he didn’t really give the public what they wanted in respect to, you know, actually having any kind of remorse about these girls and things. That’s why there has been a backlash.”

She told the programme that Ms Maxwell, who is in hiding, would not be found.

“I think she’s gone far away. I mean it’s obvious. Ghislaine is a little bit like a James Bond character. She’s quite a unique person. I don’t think anyone is going to find her,” she said.

Convicted sex offender Epstein took his own life in jail while facing sex trafficking charges.

Ms Maxwell is accused of procuring victims for the disgraced financier.

One of Epstein’s victims Virginia Giuffre alleges the duke had sex with her on three separate occasions, twice while she was underage.

The duke has strenuously denied the claims, and told Newsnight he has no recollection of meeting Ms Giuffre.

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