Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Original poster

Ghislaine Maxwell Guilty.. What does this mean for Andrew?

140 replies

InkyPinkyParlezVous · 29/12/2021 22:11

Any thoughts?

OP posts:
Pollingbadly · 29/12/2021 23:06

She's been used as a scapegoat by powerful rich men. I mean she's guilty

The last four words of this are the only significant ones IMO. Deal with the other culprits separately by all means but GM is not the victim here, as you imply. She is responsible for victimising children with horrific consequences. By all means judge them all as they deserve but don't start pretending she's a victim of anything. She's a perpetrator.

sadpapercourtesan · 29/12/2021 23:08

I think it's perfectly possible to be pleased that a guilty woman has been found guilty while STILL being angry that the only person so far held to account - for what is obviously a massive organised ring - is a woman.

As a pp said - now go after the men.

VladmirsPoutine · 29/12/2021 23:14

Andrew going to jail would be chef's kiss.

WeeHaggisFace · 29/12/2021 23:14

100% agree sadpaper unfortunately I suspect the buck will stop with her.

PriamFarrl · 29/12/2021 23:17

@CoedenNadolig

She's been used as a scapegoat by powerful rich men. I mean she's guilty but funny how she's the only one who will probably die in prison having actually served a lengthy sentence for abhorrent crimes.
I agree. What she did was just dreadful but everyone is making us look at the evil woman while ignoring the men.
FrippEnos · 29/12/2021 23:32

CoedenNadolig

she is either guilty or a scapegoat she can't be both.

Theunamedcat · 29/12/2021 23:36

If they go after Andrew they have to go after their own too Clinton trump etc

BringMeTea · 29/12/2021 23:46

@Jouleigh I was saying the same! Had to switch to Sky immediately. wtf has happened to the BBC?

Shinychestnuts · 30/12/2021 00:00

I think it is possible to be a perpetrator and a victim.

Many sex abusers are.

If you listen to the John Sweeney podcast, it is clear that her father, Robert Maxwell, the corrupt media baron, was a terrifying bully, who alllegedly bullied his sons Kevin and Ian and allegedly favoured Ghislaine as the golden child (the yacht he jumped off/committed suicide from was called the Lady Ghislaine). John Sweeney hints that their relationship was close to an unhealthy degree.

Unfortunately, Ghislaine, having lost one bullying majorly corrupt domineering force in her life, switched her allegiance to another.

That's not to say she is not as guilty as hell and we all have free will of thought and action. But she would have grown up with a very skewed sense of right and wrong.

Epstein used Ghislaine and she allowed herself to be used. And she then went on to use and abuse others.

ItsDisneyBitch · 30/12/2021 00:37

I’m not sure what will happen to him after the Queen dies, I think he will quietly retire somewhere abroad when Charles takes over much like the Duke of Windsor, given a large sum of money not to come back.

William I imagine won’t have him anywhere near the family.

Cocoabutterformula · 30/12/2021 00:42

Yes agree, PA will quietly disappear

ilovetomatoes · 30/12/2021 01:30

@PriamFarrl how are they ignoring the men? They are actively pursuing Andrew but he is being protected by the wealth and power of the British establishment.

Women who actively engage in abuse should not have their role minimised. The presence of a woman was a powerful enabler for the abuse to happen.

LuluBlakey1 · 30/12/2021 01:39

I actually think Andrew could bring about the end of the monarchy- he seems to have no idea how awful his actions and the actions of his lawyers make him appear.
He should have:

  1. Never done the Emily Maitlis interview- he is too pompous and stupid to understand how little respect people had for him by then and how dismissive and disingenuous he sounded.
  2. Been prepared to speak to the American investigation rather than avoid doing so.
  3. Not played the evasion games his lawyers are playing - it makes him look like a maggot on a hook.
  4. Not ever put his mother, The Queen, in this invidious position.
edwinbear · 30/12/2021 01:47

The minute the Queen dies, Charles will cut him off. And that should extend to his ex wife and leeches of daughters. They are all an embarrassment and disgrace.

edwinbear · 30/12/2021 01:51

And everything @LuluBlakey1 said

edwinbear · 30/12/2021 01:59

@Peaseblossum22 I too am a survivor of awful domestic childhood abuse, as I think many people on MN are. But I manage not to traffic children as a result.

Blossom987 · 30/12/2021 02:07

It’s been a very weird trial from what I’ve followed and understand of it. I really hope there is no case for a mistrial or appeal.

GM is absolutely guilty but it’s not a coincidence that The Men are still going about their day and it’s the only woman that we know of who was involved that’s been convicted. Not saying she shouldn’t be, she absolutely should, but she shouldn’t be the only one. The Men involved need to be convicted too, not just GM.

Unfortunately I’m not hopeful they will be.

Blossom987 · 30/12/2021 02:09

Obviously Epstein isn’t going about his day but that’s all rather convenient for The Men who are still with us, isn’t it.

Pollingbadly · 30/12/2021 02:49

Edwin

I agree that his daughters shouldn't be in positions of influence because their parents would exploit it but in themselves they're harmless and well meaning.

Maskless · 30/12/2021 02:56

I think he is innocent.

Flickflak · 30/12/2021 06:07

This reply has been withdrawn

Message from MNHQ: This post has been withdrawn

MrsTerryPratchett · 30/12/2021 06:14

@Blossom987

Obviously Epstein isn’t going about his day but that’s all rather convenient for The Men who are still with us, isn’t it.
If multiple girls were trafficked and raped and the only person to serve time is a women, it doesn't make her innocent but it does mean the system's misogynist.
IncompleteSenten · 30/12/2021 06:18

Absolutely nothing will happen to him.
The reality is the royal family are above the law. He'll never be successfully prosecuted.

MintJulia · 30/12/2021 06:47

@Nat6999

Can he be extradited to face trial in America? Would the FBI be allowed to arrest him over here?
The FBI has no power to arrest anyone on British soil.

There are established procedures to be followed for extradition, but that requires legal thresholds of evidence to have been reached before an official request would even be made.

As far as I am aware, those thresholds haven't been reached.

CanIPleaseHaveOne · 30/12/2021 06:52

@Peaseblossum22

She’s guilty and should go to gaol but she’s the product of a deeply dysfunctional life. Her father was evil and cruel and abusive. I had some dealings with his companies in the 1980s , his staff were petrified of him as were his adult children and his wife , it was not normal at all.
She does not get a pass for a dysfunctional life, and a dominate, cruel and abusive father.

Her brothers and sisters did not fly his flag. They did not go about destroying young, vunerable girl's lives in order to live it up, and high fly around the world.

The stories from the witnesses are horrible.

The men who had sex with these young wome need to be brought to trial aswell.

Swipe left for the next trending thread