PRINCE Andrew went on vacation with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell in which he reportedly visited red light district clubs and had fun with topless women.
The Duke of York, who was 40 at the time with two young children, was infamously photographed partying with topless women on a yacht in Phuket, Thailand.
Ghislaine Maxwell is also reported to have accompanied them on the trip, and it was reported that she was staying at the same hotel as the Duke at the time.
Andrew and Epstein were reportedly seen at bars around the island resort town of Patong, including one staffed by semi-naked go-go dancers.
The seedy holiday offers a window into the relationship between Andrew and the pedophile couple.
It is said that he became increasingly close to them around this time, which was only a few months before he allegedly sexually abused Virginia Roberts.
The Duke denies any inappropriate behavior in his relationship with Epstein and Maxwell, and denies ever knowing Virginia.
In December 2000, Andrew allowed his close friend Maxwell to celebrate his 39th birthday at the Queen's Sandringham estate in Norfolk, where Epstein was a guest.
Maxwell's American financier and on-and-off boyfriend was allowed to land his private jet at the nearby RAF Marham base, while Andrew spent £20,000 organizing a pheasant-hunting weekend to impress his friends.
And then, just after Christmas, on December 27, Andrew reportedly flew to Thailand with Ghislaine, where they met up with Epstein again.
The couple stayed at the luxurious Amanpuri hotel on the party island of Phuket, where the Duke stayed in a £4,000-a-night private villa with a red and gold bedroom and a black-tiled private pool.
Lana, a Canadian journalist based in Phuket, told The Sun Online: "The Amanpuri is an ultra-exclusive resort - it's where celebrities and people who need a high level of luxury and privacy go."
In a strange coincidence, this was the same hotel that the Duchess of York Sarah Ferguson first traveled to with her financial adviser John Barry when she was still married to Andrew, before the image of him sucking on her toes surfaced. St Tropez.
It was on this trip that the infamous photos of Andrew aboard the hotel yacht surrounded by topless women surfaced.
And in the evenings, the duke and Epstein would go out to the notorious Patong resort, about an hour's drive south of the hotel, and reportedly visit the city's local red-light district.
Among the entertainment in store for the couple was Banana Disco, whose website features videos of scantily clad young women.
Lana, who runs the gophuket.net travel blog, said: "Banana Disco is a popular nightclub with tourists, nothing exclusive, just DJ music, cocktails and a dance floor."
Reports say that Epstein and the Queen's son also visited an adult bar called Crazy Girls by Rock Hard.
His Facebook page promises that visitors will find "the craziest, sexiest ass-licking bar with the best vibe and friendly atmosphere."
The manager at the time told The Sunday Mirror: "I was surprised to see the Prince here.
"But he wasn't fazed at all and seemed pretty relaxed until people realized who he was."
One of the regulars said: “You certainly wouldn't find a member of the Thai royal family in a place like this.
"The area is very raunchy and many of the girls are prostitutes."
The manager added that he asked the duke, "Are you Prince Andrew?" to which he replied, “Yes, I am. How did you know that?
He said the duke came in with four friends and a bodyguard, and they ordered some Absolut vodkas.
"One of the girls went to talk to the Prince and flirted a bit," he said. «He was very polite, but there was nothing, just a short talk.
“We have hundreds of dancers and it was no different that night. When I recognized Andrew, his bodyguard put his finger to his lips indicating that I shouldn't draw attention to him.
"They stayed for about half an hour until other guests began to notice who he was."
Maxwell was in Thailand with the couple, although he did not appear on the yacht with Andrew.
The Thai jaunt was arranged by Andrew's business partner, Johan Eliasch, a Monaco-based Swedish sports magnate who met the duke at an event at Buckingham Palace and reportedly agreed to foot part of the bill for the The queen's son will stay.
At the time, Andrew was receiving £240,000 a year from taxpayers to help finance his life, as well as a salary of £60,000 as a Royal Navy Commander, a role he stepped down in the summer of 2001 when he took up his role. as a traveling ambassador of British business.
While on the yacht, Andrew was photographed trying to throw Tara Palmer-Tompkinson's blonde bikini-clad friend Normandie Keith, 28, into the sea.
Also on the yacht was Atomic Kitten star Jenny Frost, 22, who was photographed topless with the Duke aboard the £1million yacht.
She told The Sunday People at the time: "I didn't hesitate to go topless in front of Prince Andrew, why should I? Fact is, I didn't want strap marks on my body while sunbathing.
"I don't mind sticking my breasts out in front of anyone."
At the center of his new circle of friends at the time was Ghislaine, daughter of the late media mogul and MP Robert Maxwell. In 2001, Andrew was reported to have taken at least eight trips with her.
In an ITV documentary this week, a friend of the couple sensationally claimed that Andrew and Ghislaine could have dated around this time.
Speaking about 'Ghislaine, Prince Andrew and the pedophile', British investment banker Euan Rellie said: "I had a feeling that Prince Andrew and Ghislaine had probably been boyfriend and girlfriend in the past. They had an easy warmth with each other."
Concerns arose at the time about the circles Andrew was moving in.
The People quoted an old friend of the prince as saying: "It's time for him to wake up and smell reality.
“Andrew has no idea what he is getting into with these people. He knows almost nothing about most of them ».
His wacky New Year came just a few months after the duke attended a notorious "Prostitutes and Pimps" party with Ghislaine for Halloween in 2000, hosted by supermodel Heidi Klum.
Also in Andrew's orbit at the time was Goga Ashkenazi, the glamorous Kazakh socialite who was still a student at Oxford University.
The amazing Goga was in Phuket for a New Year's Eve party hosted at her boyfriend Dino Lalvani's house when she met the Duke.
Eliasch brought Andrew to Goga's party, and the pair became great friends, Goga being one of the Duke's most loyal allies.
Rumors of an affair between the pair spread, something Goga didn't appear to deny entirely when she, in 2011, told the Evening Standard: "We've known each other for 10 years, we're good friends and I like to think he's in love with me." ».
A "crazed" Andrew introduced Goga to The Queen at Ascot in 2007.
Goga herself was photographed in 2002 topless on a yacht with Italian businessman Flavio Briatore, moving into her yacht for three months after finishing her final university exams.
Her own rise to money and power was truly remarkable, as she grew up the daughter of a communist boss in Kazakhstan when it was part of the Soviet Union. She was later sent to boarding school in England before entering Oxford.
But by her own admission, studying took a backseat to partying and she got a third, preferring to spend her nights in London's posh Chinawhite and Tramp nightclubs, which would also figure prominently in Andrew's life.
In March 2001, just two months after he was seen with a "group" of half-naked women on a yacht in Thailand, Prince Andrew is alleged to have met 17-year-old Epstein, Maxwell and Roberts at the exclusive meeting. for members. club, before returning to Maxwell's London home.
This was the night the notorious photo of Andrew with his arm around Virginia was allegedly taken before the teenager was paid $10,000 (£8,000) for having sex with the Duke.
Andrew has denied having sex with her and claims he was at a Pizza Express branch in Woking, Surrey, the night he was allegedly at Tramp.
Thailand would prove to be a central part of Virginia and Andrew's lives later on.
In September 2002, aged 19 and "too old" to continue giving Epstein massages, he flew to Thailand after Maxwell bought the tickets for him.
They told him to meet a specific Thai girl that Epstein had "bought" and that she would be sent back to the United States, but instead, Virginia escaped to Australia.
Meanwhile, Andrew would return to Thailand in 2007, once again to see Goga. Prince Andrew and Goga met at the exact same hotel in Amanpuri to discuss a deal for Sunninghill Park, the mansion built for him and Fergie that hadn't happened. been loved and had struggled to sell for years.
On the trip between January 31 and February 5, 18 people descended on the luxury resort. Among them were Goga and Arvind Tiku, a wealthy Indian businessman and Timur Kulibayev's business partner.
Kulibayev is the son-in-law of former Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev and also had two children with Goga while he was married to the president's daughter.
There was also Marianna Belchanskaya, a Russian lawyer; Kairat Boranbayev, chairman of the Russian-Kazakh oil company Kazrosgaz, which is owned by Kazakhstan and the Kremlin.
They were joined by a mystery man who stayed at Goga's private villa and used the alias "John Smith" on his resort booking record.
Later that year, Goga facilitated the sale of Andrew's Sunninghill to Kulibayev for £15m, a whopping £3m more than the asking price.
At the time, Andrew was Britain's traveling trade ambassador.
Despite the dirty money accusations, Goga has dismissed speculation about the property.
In 2013, he said: "I can't believe all the fuss over this stupid house. I introduced them, so what? I am not a real estate agent. All the speculation on the price.
"I think they just didn't want to barter with royalty."
At the time, Buckingham Palace released a statement about the sale of the house, saying "it was a direct business transaction between the trust that owned the house and the trust that purchased it."
He added: "There were no side agreements and absolutely no agreement by the Duke of York to otherwise benefit from or commit to any other trade agreement."
