Ghislaine Maxwell stands accused of procuring young girls for the sexual gratification of Jeffrey Epstein and his ‘friends’.

Court documents say that she ‘facilitated Prince Andrew’s acts of sexual abuse by acting as a madam for Epstein’.

She was described in the court papers as a ‘primary co-conspirator in Epstein’s sexual abuse and sex trafficking scheme’.

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Ghislaine Maxwell with Jeffrey Epstein (left) at Sandringham in 2000 and at an event in New York in 2010

The documents said: ‘Maxwell persuaded Jane Doe #3 to come to Epstein’s mansion. Epstein then became enamoured with Jane Doe #3 and with the assistance of Maxwell converted her into what is commonly referred to as a sex slave.’

Miss Maxwell, the cherished daughter of crooked tycoon Robert Maxwell, is no stranger to scandal. Her world came crashing down in 1991 when her father plunged to his death from the deck of his £15million yacht, named Lady Ghislaine in her honour.

Shortly afterwards it was revealed that the notorious newspaper tycoon had stolen £440million from the Mirror Group’s pension fund.

Miss Maxwell and her family were disgraced, and she fled to New York to escape the furore in Britain. It was in America that she met Epstein, becoming his girlfriend for a time and attending celebrity events with him. He provided her with a champagne lifestyle of luxurious holidays and palatial apartments that she could never have afforded on the £80,000-a-year her father left her.

In return, she used her contacts to introduce Epstein to leading lights of the world of showbusiness, politics and royalty, including Prince Andrew.

But in recent years she has also faced accusations that she procured girls for Epstein – claims she has always denied.

Ghislaine Maxwell, left, with her parents, Robert and Elizabeth, in 1987 - four years before Robert's death

Miss Maxwell, now 53, was educated at Marlborough College and Oxford University.

In 2000 she and Epstein were seen on holiday with Prince Andrew at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida. That same year, she took the prince to a ‘hookers and pimps’ themed party in New York, which was hosted by the former lingerie model Heidi Klum.

There were once rumours that Miss Maxwell would marry Epstein, but their relationship reportedly ended because he wanted to see other women.

However, it is alleged that the services provided by Miss Maxwell to the wealthy financier extended to finding attractive girls for him and his friends.