How Ghislaine Maxwell's Father May Have Led Her To Jeffrey Epstein

Nearly three decades before Jeffrey Epstein was found dead in a Manhattan jail, Ghislaine Maxwell mourned the death of another powerful man under mysterious circumstances: her father, Robert Maxwell. In both cases, she alleged foul play. Epstein, she claimed, was murdered; her father was pushed from his yacht.

Ghislaine, before making it to the inner circles of Epstein, was known as the glamorous youngest daughter of the British media tycoon. And if it weren't for the influence her father wielded, his daughter, many say, might not even have made it to Manhattan's high society, and decades later, to a courtroom in New York.

In November 1991, Maxwell vanished from the deck of his private yacht, the 'Lady Ghislaine', named after his favourite child. The 50-metre vessel was cruising the Atlantic when he disappeared. A few hours later, the Spanish coast guard found his body floating naked off the coast.

The official ruling was heart attack, followed by accidental drowning. But some believed he had jumped to avoid financial ruin. Others, including Ghislaine, were certain it was murder. "Ghislaine is the baby of the family and the one who was closest to her father," her mother, Betty, told Vanity Fair. "The whole of Ghislaine's world has collapsed, and it will be very difficult for her to continue."

Those onboard said they never saw him fall. The last confirmed sighting of the media tycoon was at 4:25 am. By afternoon, he was gone.

What followed was a chain reaction: his companies imploded, and the family was plunged into bankruptcy.

Not long after, Ghislaine Maxwell reappeared in New York City. And by the mid-1990s, she was deeply entwined with Jeffrey Epstein, a financier whose wealth and connections rivalled those of her late father.

It is widely believed that the connection between Epstein and Ghislaine did not emerge by chance. Robert Maxwell sent her to New York in 1991 to oversee operations after acquiring the 'New York Daily News'. Reports suggest Epstein may have already been in Robert's orbit, possibly helping to manage or shield funds from Maxwell's increasingly unstable businesses.

Some claim the pair knew each other before Robert's death.

Sources believed Epstein may have laundered Maxwell's money, and then, when Ghislaine turned up in New York, she became very chummy with him almost overnight.

Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, Ghislaine was a fixture of elite Manhattan society. Her guest lists included royalty and political royalty: Prince Andrew, Chelsea Clinton, Donald Trump and more. Behind the scenes, she was becoming more than Epstein's partner. She was his recruiter, and, ultimately, his alleged accomplice. From the mid-1990s onward, she was described as the "lady of the house" at Epstein's estates. Later court proceedings would accuse her of actively aiding in the trafficking of underage girls.

Ghislaine Maxwell, currently serving a 20-year sentence, is set to be questioned by both the US Department of Justice and Congress about her ties to Jeffrey Epstein and potential accomplices in his sex trafficking network. Her lawyer has said that she is willing to cooperate and "will testify truthfully."