Prince Andrew appeared in good spirits today as he took a ride around the Windsor estate.
The Duke of York, 65, set out for an early morning ride on Monday, zipping up in a snug navy jacket to brace the early chill.
Accompanied by a female rider on a dapple grey horse, Andrew enjoyed a sunny ride dressed in navy jodhpurs and long black riding boots.
He was spotted grinning as he made his way through the estate, despite recent allegations made by a masseuse that she felt the way he behaved when she gave him a massage was ‘inappropriate’ and ‘an abuse of his privilege‘.
The claims were made in an upcoming memoir by masseuse Monique Giannelloni, 60.
According to Monique, she met Ghislane Maxwell in 2000, and visited her Belgravia home twice to give her massages. A man she now realises was Jeffrey Epstein present.
Maxwell was taken with Monique and said she had a high profile contact she wanted her to work for, hyping her by saying that her next booking would be with ‘somebody more famous than God’.
This turned out to be Prince Andrew – with the session to take place within his suite of rooms at Buckingham Palace.
Prince Andrew appeared in good spirits today as he took a ride around the Windsor estate – as further evidence emerges relating the the Jeffrey Epstein case
Monique was hired to give Andrew a massage at the palace despite ‘minimal vetting’.
But this was next to nothing compared to the shock that came next, with the therapist recalling how the prince, who remains 8th in line to the throne, undid his bathrobe and threw off his towel before climbing onto the massage table.
She felt his behaviour at their session was inappropriate: ‘He did not do anything or suggest anything untoward, but I was very uncomfortable and a bit shocked that he had acted like that.’
Monique added that she would have ‘expected more’ from a royal and that she was not ‘impressed’ by his behaviour.
It was during that summer of 2000 while she was working with both Prince Andrew and Maxwell that the latter suggested she might join her and Epstein for a lavish VIP party on a boat. Maxwell even leered: ‘What happens on the boat stays on the boat.’
It was an invitation that Maxwell would repeat several times.
And Monique now believes that Maxwell was attempting to recruit her to be a regular for sex games with Epstein at the parties he laid on for his wealthy friends in those years.
She recalled: ‘It wasn’t difficult for me to reject her offers. I just didn’t feel right about her boat parties.
The Duke of York, 65, set out for an early morning ride on Monday, zipping up in a snug navy jacket to brace the early chill
Masseuse Monique Giannelloni, 60, reveals how Prince Andrew booked her to massage him at Buckingham Palace
Ms Giannelloni believes that Ghislaine Maxwell attempted to groom her to attend what she now believes were Esptein’s sordid sex parties
Ms Giannelloni was one of the most sought after massage therapists in the UK, working for high profile clients
‘It was Andrew’s choice to be friends with those individuals Ghislaine and Epstein and somehow, I ended up in their world because of my work.
‘I have a lot of questions and a significant one is: was Ghislaine trying to involve me and Andrew in her sordid lifestyle?’
Ms Giannelloni told MailOnline that she remains distressed at belatedly realising how close she came to Epstein’s vile circle.
Speaking exclusively to MailOnline from her home in the south of France, she said: ‘I had some dark days after all the stuff about Ghislaine and Epstein and their terrible sexual predatory behaviour blew up. It shocked me to think she had tried to lure me into their circle. Andrew should never have been in contact with these people.’
Maxwell, 62, was found guilty in December 2021 of helping disgraced financier Epstein sexually abuse young girls.
The high society party girl, daughter of fraudster Robert Maxwell, was sentenced to 20 years in prison in June 2022.
Epstein, her former boyfriend, died by suicide in 2019 in a Manhattan jail cell, five weeks after he was arrested and charged with sex trafficking.
Mother-of-two Monique added: ‘Andrew’s reputation has been sullied by his friendships with those two people.’
The masseuse kept the £75 cheque which was signed by Andrew’s aide on his behalf after the massage session – in case he should try to later deny they had met.