Ghislaine Maxwell was apparently determined to marry her boss – Jeffrey Epstein.
Christina Oxenberg, a cousin to the British royal family who briefly knew the socialite, made this claim during the Ghislaine Maxwell trial.
"Jeffrey paid her very well," the 58-year-old told Fox News. "She started working for him pretty much immediately after her father died. I think she saw him as her savior. She wanted everyone to believe they were a couple. She wanted to marry Jeffrey. I have no idea if Jeffrey knew about this. My suspicion is that he did because he [wasn’t] a dummy."
Oxenberg is the daughter of Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia – Prince Andrew’s second cousin. Oxenberg has previously detailed her upbringing in a serialized memoir on Patreon. And most recently, she wrote a book titled "Trash: Encounters with Ghislaine Maxwell."
The two women first met in 1990, according to Oxenberg, but fast forward to 1997, Maxwell attempted to hire her as a ghostwriter for an autobiography. This was after she wrote a book titled "Royal Blue."
"She told me that her motivation for getting that book made was for Jeffrey to see her in a different light," Oxenberg alleged. "It would elevate her status. She actually said, ‘This will elevate me in Jeffrey’s eyes. And this way, he will marry me. I want him to marry me.'"
Ghislaine Maxwell, 59, has pleaded not guilty to charges that prosecutors say show that she and Epstein were "partners in crime" in the sexual abuse of teenage girls. The pilot who worked for Jeffrey Epstein testified that Ghislaine was, in fact, the reigning #2 in the operation, however, one of their victims claims, Maxwell was actually the mastermind.
The defense has countered by claiming she’s being made a scapegoat for 66-year-old Epstein, who killed himself in his New York City jail cell in 2019 as he awaited his sex trafficking trial.
Maxwell spent the first half of her life with her father Robert Maxwell. But in 1991, the billionaire fell off his yacht – the Lady Ghislaine – in the Canary Islands and died in what some saw as an accident, some believe is a suicide, and others believe should be considered an unsolved murder.
Investors later discovered his wealth was an illusion: He had diverted hundreds of millions of pounds from his companies’ pension funds to prop up his empire.
Soon after her father’s death, Maxwell was photographed sitting next to Epstein, an American financier, during a memorial at the Plaza Hotel.
Maxwell’s brother Ian said his sister’s relationship with Epstein developed after the family advised her to remain in the U.S. because the Maxwell name was "in the dirt" at home. Amid the family’s reputational and financial woes, she had to make her own way in New York and forge new friendships, he said.
One of those was with Epstein, a onetime teacher who built his fortune on the back of contacts like the former CEO of the parent company of lingerie retailer Victoria’s Secret.
"I felt sympathetic toward her," Oxenberg admitted. "I knew she had lost her father. But quite simply, she is very arrogant. She was bombastic. She was full of herself and she was rude."
Oxenberg alleged that during their meeting in 1997 to discuss the potential autobiography, Maxwell "went into detail" about "getting girls for Jeffrey" to satisfy his sexual appetite.
"She told me he had been diagnosed by doctors as having a sex drive that required him to have three orgasms a day," Oxenberg alleged. "And so, she couldn’t be expected to keep up with this. I’m using her words… I had a really bad feeling about this… Had I known she was talking about children I would have lost my mind and have gone straight to the police… I responded very negatively, but I thought she was talking about consenting adults."
"At this crazy meeting was a woman who was obsessed with a man," Oxenberg continued.
"Ghislaine was obsessed with Jeffrey Epstein. Her telling me his biological needs was way too much for me. Nobody needs to hear that stuff. But she’s boasting about how to deal with this problem… But this was from one single meeting. So my feeling was she’s delusional, she’s trying to marry Jeffrey and she’s providing women for him. She’s doing anything to meet his demands… She wanted to be in full control. I just got angry because the whole thing was very outlandish."
According to court documents, one accuser would make a similar allegation about Epstein, noting "it was biological, like eating."
Oxenberg alleged Maxwell referred to the women as "trash," which left her feeling "disgusted." She also alleged that Maxwell told her she would recruit "three girls a day."
"She was talking about humans as if they were disposable, for the purpose of sex," said Maxwell. "I was just furious. And I was fed up. I did not spot the red flags, but I did react very negatively. The fact that she was speaking about human beings in this horrible way was very offensive to me. But again, I thought she was discussing consensual adults here."
In sworn testimony for an earlier civil case, Maxwell acknowledged that she had a romantic relationship with Epstein but said she later became his employee tasked with things like hiring staff for his six homes.
But in 2005, Epstein was arrested in Palm Beach, Florida, and accused of hiring multiple underage girls – many students at a local high school – to perform sex acts. He pleaded guilty to a charge of procuring a person under 18 for prostitution and served 13 months in jail.
Oxenberg said her last interaction with Maxwell took place in 2013 during her book signing party in New York City.
"I wasn’t thrilled about [her showing up], but since it was a very busy event, you have to deal with it," said Oxenberg. "She took up more oxygen than necessary."
In an attempt to "get rid of her," Oxenberg told Maxwell she would call her. And she did.
"She invited me over," Oxenberg explained. "I asked that she send her chauffer but she refused. She told me he had gone to bed but it was only 6 p.m. I didn’t need her to send a chauffeur. I was pulling her leg. But her instinct was to lie for a reply. She was always odd. I took a taxi and went for a visit."
Oxenberg said she headed to Maxwell’s Manhattan townhouse. It would be the last time the women saw each other.
"I asked her, ‘How are things with you and Jeffrey?’" Oxenberg recalled. "I said that to be provocative, just to see how she took it. Sure enough, she squirmed, looked down and said,
‘Everything’s fine.’ Then she started talking about how she’s volunteering, had a new boyfriend named Ted who’s a billionaire and how she had done a Ted Talk about her marine foundation."
When asked what justice would like for her today, Oxenberg replied, "Whatever satisfies the survivors."
"She (Ghislaine Maxwell) was far more sinister than just a bit odd," she said.