Contrary to his moniker “Captain Bob”, Robert Maxwell was the first to leave the sinking ship. In 1991, the newspaper publisher’s body was discovered floating in the Atlantic Ocean having fallen off his luxury yacht, the Lady Ghislaine, as it navigated the Canary Islands.

He left the family’s reputation in tatters: a £460m black hole in the company pension scheme, and his wife and seven children facing the incoming storm.

Scandal, to varying degrees, has dogged the Maxwell name ever since. This week Ghislaine, the youngest child, namesake of his superyacht and by all accounts her father’s favourite, has become further embroiled in the events surrounding the disgraced US financier Jeffrey Epstein - found dead in his prison cell on Saturday, while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

The New York socialite stands accused (in civil court documents unsealed last week) of conspiring with Epstein to recruit and groom under-age girls for sex. Virginia Roberts – who alleged she was forced to have sex with the Duke of York in 2001, then aged 17, and two further times under Epstein’s unspoken orders – has alleged that Maxwell acted “as a madam”. Then, this week, Jennifer Araoz filed a law suit against Epstein’s estate and Maxwell, claiming that she was a co-conspirator in his trafficking network.