The moment Jeffrey Epstein’s twisted love affair with Ghislaine Maxwell is captured for the first time, as the starry-eyed couple are seen at Trump’s Plaza Hotel gala

It was the twisted, toxic relationship at the heart of the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. 

Ghislaine Maxwell’s affair with the pedophile wasn’t just love – it was also wealth, power and security. And for Epstein, it meant access to her elite network of royalty, billionaires and influential figures. 

And it appears it all began in 1991 at then real estate magnate Donald Trump’s Plaza Hotel, when the starry-eyed couple, Epstein, 38, and Maxwell, 30, sat side-by-side at a gala event honoring socialite Maxwell’s scion father Robert and his wife Elisabeth DailyMail.com can exclusively reveal.

That was the first of many intimate photos of the couple, many released by prosecutors during her 2021 child sex trafficking trial showed them arm in arm as they lived a glamorous, jet-setting lifestyle.

But other photos hinted at the darker undercurrents to their relationship: in one Maxwell holds Epstein’s foot and massages it while her top is open, exposing much of her breasts.

In another shot, taken on Epstein’s plane known as the ‘Lolita Express’, Maxwell grins at the camera with his foot in her hand while he looks bored and chats with a friend.

Foot massages were how Maxwell and Epstein would start their victims down their path that led to sexual abuse and rape.

And the fact that Maxwell was giving them to her boyfriend illustrates the complicated dynamics that brought them together.

The Epstein case has returned to the headlines after the bombshell July 7 memo by the Trump administration claiming there was no signs of him blackmailing anyone and that nobody else would be investigated.

Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein made for an unlikely pair – he was a scrappy college dropout from South Brooklyn, she a polished Oxford grad from British high society. But when they met at Trump’s Plaza Hotel their sordid love story bloomed

The couple photographed together on what appeared to be a ski holiday with his arms around her belly. The photo prompted speculation she had become pregnant during her trial

The memo, from the Department of Justice and the FBI, also said that there was no ‘client list’ and no further evidence would be released.

Future disclosures could shed fresh light on Maxwell, 63, and Epstein, who was 66 when he died, but the public record already gives us plenty of insight into how they created an international sex trafficking operation.

They appear to have met at a time when Epstein was still making a name for himself.

In 1987, Epstein was hired to work at Towers Financial which would collapse six years later after being exposed as a $450million Ponzi scheme.

Epstein would walk away unscathed and fabulously wealthy. The co-founder of the company, Steven Hoffenberg, went to prison for 18 years.

By Hoffenberg’s account – he died in 2022 but gave numerous interviews before his death – Epstein and Maxwell were introduced by her father, Robert, the late publishing baron, as early as 1988.

A BBC documentary, House of Maxwell, alleged that Epstein helped Robert Maxwell hide hundreds of millions of dollars he had stolen from his company’s pension funds.

Maxwell and Epstein were an unlikely pair: he was rough around the edges, having grown up in South Brooklyn and dropped out of college.

Maxwell – convicted of procuring underage girls for the pedophile – was romantically entangled with Epstein before becoming his ‘madam,’ relying on his wealth after her mogul father’s sudden death left her family in scandal and financial turmoil

In photos, they embodied the essence of upper-class romance, affectionate and inseparable as they traveled the world. But beneath the surface, Epstein’s predatory desires made monogamy impossible, and Maxwell was all too willing to help fulfill them 

In one photo aboard Epstein’s infamous ‘Lolita Express,’ Maxwell flashes a grin while holding his foot with her shirt slip down to an almost scandalous degree – an eerie nod to the pair’s twisted tactic of using foot massages to lure young girls into their trap 

She was a British socialite who attended Oxford University and grew up in extreme privilege in a 56-room mansion.

But as Robert Maxwell’s biographer Tom Bower has put it, when Maxwell met Epstein her ‘fate was sealed’.

He has said: ‘She worshipped rich, domineering men.’

Whatever bond the couple had been cemented in 1991 when tragedy struck: Robert Maxwell died after falling off his yacht in the Canary Islands under mysterious circumstances.

Ghislaine was bereft: she was his father’s favorite, and he was said to be ‘unusually close’ to her, even naming his yacht, Lady Ghislaine, after her.

Public disgrace soon followed when it emerged $500million had been looted from the pensions of Robert Maxwell’s companies, which included numerous British newspapers and the New York Daily News.

Maxwell needed an escape, and she needed a protector – she needed Epstein.

As journalist and Epstein chronicler Vicky Ward has put it: ‘He saved her. When her father died, she was a wreck; inconsolable. And then Jeffrey took her in. She’s never forgotten that – and never will.’

For wealthy financier Epstein, their relationship meant access to Maxwell’s network of royals, billionaires and powerful figures. He is pictured walking alongside Ghislaine (in green) and Prince Andrew at the 2000 Royal Ascot  

Just 19 days after Maxwell’s father’s death, she was photographed at the Plaza Hotel in New York at a memorial for him – with hungry eyes locked on Epstein.

Few others in the room seemed to matter to Maxwell, who was in a blue silk jacket while Epstein was in a white bow tie and with a large grin on his face.

What followed was a romance that allowed Maxwell to retain her life of privilege and luxury and, through her contacts, gave Epstein access to the world’s elite.

She and Epstein traveled around on his fleet of private jets to his lavish homes in Palm Beach, Florida, New Mexico, New York and later his private island in the US Virgin Islands.

During Maxwell’s later trial for sex trafficking, Juan Alessi, the house manager at Epstein’s Palm Beach home from 1992 to 2002, called Maxwell the ‘lady of the house’.

He said: ‘From the day she came to the house, she right away took over, and she mentioned to me she was going to be the lady of the house. Also, she was in charge of other homes, other properties.’

From the outside, their life must have seemed impossibly glamorous.

Maxwell was in need of a ‘protector’ and an escape after her father Robert Maxwell died after falling off his yacht in the Canary Islands under mysterious circumstances in 1991

Epstein and Robert weren’t just partners in crime – they allegedly propped up each other’s Ponzi schemes, with Epstein reportedly helping Robert Maxwell conceal hundreds of millions looted from his company’s pension funds which came to light upon his mysterious death

Photos from this time show them partying with the likes of Donald Trump: a video from 1992 shows Epstein doubling over while the President says something about a woman while the pair were at Mar-a-Lago, his Florida estate.

Bill Clinton flew numerous times on Epstein’s planes including a bizarre trip to Africa 2002 for humanitarian work with Maxwell on board, along with Kevin Spacey and the comedian Chris Tucker.

Britain’s Prince Andrew visited Epstein multiple times including visits in 2010 when he allegedly had sex with 17-year-old victim Virginia Giuffre.

The photos released during Maxwell’s trial showed the couple photographed together at Balmoral, the late Queen Elizabeth II’s residence in Scotland, in 1999, after being invited there by Andrew.

Others showed them on what appeared to be a ski holiday: he is in a red jumpsuit while she is in a thick sweater.

In one such photo, Epstein appears to put his hand on Maxwell’s belly, which during her trial prompted speculation she had become pregnant.

Another photo could – with a different set of models – be a Ralph Lauren advert as it shows Epstein in a tweed jacket and Maxwell sitting next to him, a large dog between them.

Other photos show Maxwell sitting on the back of a 4×4 with Epstein driving and another showing her nuzzling her nose into the cheek of Epstein, who is wearing a black tie.

Staff inside Epstein’s mansion said Maxwell proudly dubbed herself ‘the lady of the house’ – even going so far as to hang a close-up sketch of herself and a nude beach photo in the bathroom 

The photos released during Maxwell’s trial showed the couple photographed together on vacation, with Maxwell nuzzling her face into Epstein’s cheek 

The two even showed off their royal connections by traveling to Balmoral, the late Queen Elizabeth II’s residence in Scotland, in 1999, after being invited there by Andrew (pictured)

In October 2002, Maxwell wrote a love letter about their relationship which was used as evidence by prosecutors.

Speaking in the third person, she wrote: ‘Jeffrey and Ghislaine have been together, a couple for the last 11 years. They are, contrary to what many people think, rarely apart – I almost always see them together.

‘Jeffrey and Ghislaine share many mutual interests and they have a lot of fun together. They both have keen searching and inquisitive minds.

‘She grew up amongst scientists and in an academic and business environment. Jeffrey and Ghislaine complement each other really well and I cannot imagine one without the other. On top of being great partners, they are also the best of friends.’

During this time, the sky, it seemed, was the limit – but there were no limits to Epstein’s appetite for underage girls.

Maxwell’s job was to find them for him.

Speaking in 2020, Epstein survivor Maria Farmer, described how Maxwell would hunt for children while driving through the streets of New York.

Farmer said: ‘Who would think this woman would be a British witch? She was so nice.

‘I’d seen her drive up half of Central Park, tell the driver to stop the car, she would jump out. She would get a phone number, write it down, and give it to the kids. Everybody always loved her because she seemed so trustworthy.’

Giuffre, who tragically committed suicide in April aged 41, had said that Maxwell ‘had a knack for it’, referring to recruiting girls.

She said: ‘She would be able to figure out what that possible victim wanted or needed.

‘Because she looked like a nice Mary Poppins figure you had to trust her.’

At one point, Maxwell even berated Giuffre for not doing a good enough job.

According to Giuffre, Maxwell told her: ‘I just can’t believe how bad you are at it. Pick any girl in the square.’

Giuffre said: ‘There was no sorrow or even you’re doing something wrong you shouldn’t do it, there was nothing like that, it was just a game to her.’

Part of what made Maxwell able to do it was that she viewed Epstein’s victims as beneath her, as one report put it, that they were ‘trash’.

One photo, if not for the subjects, could pass for a Ralph Lauren ad, as the couple embodies Americana with Epstein in a tweed jacket and Maxwell sitting by his side in a chic hunting jacket as a Golden Retriever lounges between them 

Maxwell’s devotion to the deceased pedophile extended so far that she would drive by Central Park and pick out girls for him to satiate his desire to have sex at least three times a day

During Maxwell’s trial ‘Kate’, one of the four women who testified against her, said that Maxwell asked her to find others to give oral sex to Epstein ‘because it was a lot for her (Maxwell) to do’.

Kate said Maxwell told her: ‘You know what he likes: cute, young, pretty, like you.’

According to Maxwell, Epstein needed to have sex three times a day, hence the need to schedule dozens of ‘massages’ every week.

The stress appears to have gotten to her at times and Epstein’s former housekeeper in Palm Beach, Juan Alessi, has claimed that Maxwell once told him: ‘I hate him (Epstein) but I can’t leave.’

Not that Maxwell was suffering – or broke.

She was living in a Manhattan mansion with 12 rooms, eight fireplaces and 7,000 square feet of space that Epstein bought in 2000 for just under $5million.

Maxwell later took ownership of the property, which was six blocks from Epstein’s home, and sold it in 2016 for $15million.

During Maxwell’s trial the jury was shown financial records which showed Epstein moved more than $30million to Maxwell’s accounts from 1999 to 2007.

For Maxwell, crime certainly paid.

Epstein and Maxwell appear to have sought distance from each other in 2006 when he was investigated by police in Palm Beach, Florida.

That led to his sweetheart plea deal in 2008 where he admitted soliciting a minor for prostitution and served 15 months in prison.

Maxwell began dating Ted Waitt, the billionaire co-founder of Gateway Computers but Epstein kept her close and he helped to found her do nothing ocean conservation nonprofit, TerraMar, in 2012.

By 2013, Maxwell had moved on to Scott Borgerson, a dashing former US Coast Guard officer, whom she would later marry.

In the first known and only photo of them together, Maxwell, who was 14 years Borgerson’s senior, smiles broadly. 

Her future husband’s wedding ring from his first marriage was clearly visible.

By all accounts, Maxwell lived what appeared to be a normal life, becoming a stepmother of sorts to Borgerson’s two children while she fought off a growing wave of civil lawsuits from her victims.

Maxwell would slip away from Epstein’s grasp after his 2006 legal trouble and marry former US Coast Guard officer Scott Borgerson, who she would play house with for his two kids until she was swooped up by the FBI in 2019 after Epstein was arrested

Maxwell went on trial in 2021 and was found guilty of conspiracy to entice and transport minors for sex acts, as well as sex trafficking of a minor

They lived in a $2.4million waterfront home in Manchester-by-the-Sea in Massachusetts where Maxwell, a keen jogger, would go for runs and enjoy swimming in the Atlantic Ocean.

All of that changed in August 2019 when Epstein was arrested.

Inexplicably, Maxwell, who has citizenship in France, a country that does not have an extradition treaty with the US, decided to stay put in America.

That meant she became target number one for the FBI after Epstein’s suicide in September 2019.

Maxwell went on trial in 2021 and was found guilty of conspiracy to entice and transport minors for sex acts, as well as sex trafficking of a minor.

She is currently serving her 20 year sentence at a federal prison in Florida, where she reportedly has become friends with a double murderer.

In hindsight, Epstein’s final act wasn’t just a middle finger to his victims, it also sealed the fate of the woman who had once deeply loved him.