PRINCE Andrew’s cousin claims Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell were “grifters” who viewed the royal as a “hapless sap.”

Christina Oxenberg, 56, who is the Duke’s second cousin once removed, has written about her experiences with the peadophile in a new tell-all memoir.

Christina Oxenberg claims her cousin Prince Andrew was seen as a 'hapless sap' by Jeffrey Epstein Credit: Rex Features

Oxenberg, the daughter of Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia, says she met Epstein’s alleged fixer Maxwell in the 1990s and attended dinner parties at the financier’s home in New York.

In an excerpt from her book, posted on Patreon, she claims the pair viewed her cousin Andrew as “low-hanging fruit.”

According to Town and Country, she wrote: “They were grifters and he was low-hanging fruit. He really was a hapless sap.

'THEY WERE GRIFTERS'

“But he’s my cousin so I love him, and I understand that being a dummy doesn’t make you a bad guy.”

Prince Andrew has been sacked from royal duties following a car crash BBC interview in which he said he did not regret his decade-long friendship with paedo Epstein.

Andrew denies all allegations of sexual misconduct made against him.

Oxenberg, who is estranged from her mother, is related to Andrew through her grandmother who is first cousins with Prince Philip's mother.

'LOW-HANGING FRUIT'

She claims Maxwell – whose father was shamed media mogul Robert – gained “pleasure” through “controlling” people.

The writer said: “If I saw her she would say, ‘You're my poorest friend.’ And she'd laugh, it gave her pleasure, made her feel in control perhaps."

Oxenberg, an accomplished author who has written several books, claims Maxwell - who strongly denies all allegations made against her - once asked to ghost write a novel for her.

Prince Andrew was snapped strolling through a New York park with paedo pal Jeffrey Epstein in 2010 Credit: Jae Donnelly

Andrew and Maxwell grew close in the 1990s Credit: Rex Features

Christina Oxenberg, left, pictured with Maxwell and Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia in 2013 in New York Credit: Getty - Contributor

Her mother and New York fashion tycoon father Howard, who died in 2010, divorced after a difficult six year marriage.

In her memoir, she claims her mother had an affair with US President John F Kennedy and that her dad travelled to Washington with a gun when he found out.

She said Kennedy “died believing that I was his child, the poor thing.”



ROYAL BLOOD

After her parents divorce, Christina and her sister Catherine – who is a Hollywood actress best known for her role in TV soap Dynasty – moved to England with their mother.

And it was in the UK that she got to know the Windsors.

She writes: “I met the Queen at Buckingham Palace for tea.

“Her husband [Prince Philip] is Greek, and my grandmother [Princess Olga of Greece and Denmark] is Greek, so they are very closely related.

'But how I was brought up, everybody I was ever introduced to had a title. It was completely par for the course. In fact, movie stars were spoken of so disparagingly—it was like they were showgirls.”

Oxenberg says that her new book is filled with stories told to her in confidence – but now that she’s in her 50s “the gloves have to come off.”

Her sister Catherine, whose daughter was recruited into New York sex cult NXIVM, slammed her sibling’s new memoir.

She told Town and Country: “Tina’s comments sadden me. I won’t say anything disparaging about my sister. I do not consider my sister a reliable or truthful source.”