Epstein 'was planning to use Andrew to blackmail Queen'

JOHN BRYAN believes paedophile Jeffrey Epstein’s ultimate aim was to extort money out of the Queen by blackmailing Prince Andrew.

He claims Epstein, who lured hundreds of vulnerable young girls into his sex trafficking ring over a 30-year period, would befriend rich and powerful men, then blackmail them into paying him money to remain silent. ‘It was just an extortion plot,’ he claimed.

Mr Bryan, who has been involved in the world of finance his whole life and knows some of the men involved, said: ‘People always ask how Epstein made his money. He was supposed to be this tax wizard. But it was all a con.

‘He blackmailed rich men and then made them pay to avoid scandal. He made hundreds of millions of dollars this way.

‘Epstein tried to lure Andrew into his web, but I believe his ultimate mark was the Queen.

‘I believe Andrew is innocent. If he genuinely was involved in “orgies” as has been alleged, then Epstein would have used that to try and bribe the Queen into paying out millions to protect her family. Andrew has never had any money. The Queen was the one with money.

‘I truly believe Epstein was going after her but Andrew never gave him the ammunition to do so.’

During his disastrous Newsnight interview, Andrew told how he was introduced to Epstein in 1999 by the paedophile’s ex-girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell.

The Duke said he would see Epstein up to three times a year.

He admitted that he hosted him and Maxwell at Sandringham in December 2000 for ‘a straightforward shooting weekend’, and that he stayed in Epstein’s mansion in New York in 2010, when he visited to cut ties with the paedophile.

Epstein took his own life in a New York prison in 2019 before he could be put on trial for sex trafficking.

Maxwell was jailed in June for 20 years for procuring teenage girls for Epstein to abuse.