American financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein asserted that he had accompanied Princess Diana to several events, as per a new book by US journalist Michael Wolff "Too Famous" as cited by the Daily Mail.
The book sheds light on a previously unpublished interview with Epstein, in which he claimed to have gone out with Princess Diana when asked by Wolff.
"I escorted her on occasion", he responded.
He, however, omitted the details, never revealing the time or the place of their alleged outings. Diana never claimed being friends with the financier, and there are no photos of the two together.
The Daily Mail also noted that, according to some speculations, the two could have met in New York, where Epstein owned a £37 million ($50 million) townhouse.
A convicted sex offender, Epstein was found dead in his prison cell in 2019, with his death ruled to be a suicide. Princess Diana died in a car crash in 1997.
Ties to the late sex offender have already damaged the reputation of one member of the UK Royal Family, Prince Andrew, who is currently facing accusations of sex abuse by Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who was 17 at the time of at least one incident. Giuffre is one of the alleged victims of Epstein's sex trafficking circle. The Duke of York has vehemently denied any wrongdoing, but his comments on his friendship with Epstein in a 2019 interview with the BBC prompted a strong backlash. Shortly after the interview, Prince Andrew had to give up his royal duties.
According to US District Judge Lewis Kaplan, the civil trial hearing on Giuffre's allegations could possibly occur between September and December 2022.