A director for the Council on Foreign Relations and a Victoria’s Secret model were among the revolving door of visitors during Prince Andrew’s fateful weekend stay at the mansion of convicted pedophile, Jeffrey Epstein, DailyMail.com can exclusively reveal.
Valerie Brazill-Post and Lana Zakocela are among a number of potential witnesses who were present at the time and who could help the ongoing FBI probe into the billionaire’s activities.
In his ‘car crash’ Newsnight interview last week, Prince Andrew likened the $75 million property to a ‘railway station’ on account of the sheer volume of visitors.
Until now, the royal’s five-day, New York sojourn in December 2010 — that proved key to his downfall this week — has largely been shrouded in secrecy.
His Royal Highness’s trip took place 17 months after Epstein’s release from jail for child sex offences.
Prince Andrew claimed he ‘never saw’ anything there which aroused his suspicions, although there were six women and three men photographed entering and leaving during his stay who could corroborate or disprove his account.
Valerie Brazill-Post was seen leaving Epstein’s 71st Street townhouse on the Upper East Side at 3.35pm on Monday, December 6. She has been the Director of Events at the Council on Foreign Relations, a prestigious, non-partisan think tank on foreign policy, for two decades
At 3.46pm on December 6, Lana Zakocela arrived at the property. Zakocela, 32, is a Latvian-born model, who is signed to New York Model Management, has been a Maxim cover girl and worked on campaigns for Dior, Thierry Mugler and Cartier
On December 6 2010, pedophile Jeffrey Epstein was seen outside his home on New York’s East 91st Street before Prince Andrew was also spotted inside
The Duke of York and Epstein are pictured during their infamous Central Park walk, during which Prince Andrew claims he ended their association on December 5, 2010
Brazill-Post was seen leaving Epstein’s 71st Street townhouse on the Upper East Side at 3.35pm on Monday, December 6.
The 55-year-old has been the Director of Events at the Council on Foreign Relations – a prestigious, non-partisan think tank on foreign policy – for two decades, according to LinkedIn. Members of the organization include former Secretary of States Condoleeza Rice and Colin Powell, Angelina Jolie, philanthropist David Rockefeller and Robert Rubin, secretary of the Treasury under Bill Clinton.
She is married to Joel S Post, First Vice President of Wealth Management, for UBS.
Brazill-Post told DailyMail.com today that she had visited Epstein’s home for a luncheon where a Nobel-prize winning scientist was speaking but declined to name him.
She told DailyMail.com: ‘It was just a luncheon with a scientist that was there speaking about something that I was very interested in, that I’m involved in the field of. It was a Nobel Prize-winning scientist. And there were a number of people that went to hear him speak.’
When asked if Prince Andrew was present at the lunch Ms Brazill-Post asked to be called back and hung up. She did not respond to further messages seeking comment.
Lane married long-time boyfriend Justin Etzin, 41, a Seychelles diplomat for the United Nations and son of hotel magnate Bernard Etzin, in a lavish four-day ceremony in Florence Italy. Etzin filed for an uncontested divorce in February 2017
Brazill-Post told DailyMail.com today that she had visited Epstein’s home for a luncheon where a Nobel-prize winning scientist was speaking but declined to name him
Epstein was a member of the Council on Foreign Relations for 15 years from 1995 until 2009 and gave the organization $350,000 over a decade of membership as a top donor, the Washington Post reported in September.
It is not clear whether Brazill-Post attended the luncheon, held after Epstein’s membership was revoked, in a private or professional capacity. CFR did not respond to DailyMail.com’s request for comment.
In his interview with the BBC’s Emily Maitlis, Prince Andrew made no mention of the luncheon, at which time he would have been present in Epstein’s home, as video shows him in the doorway an hour after Brazill-Post left.
Whether he attended the afternoon luncheon is unclear but Prince Andrew is a known supporter of academics and has met with Nobel-prize winning scientists as part of his official Royal duties, according to Manchester Evening News.
Prince Andrew told the BBC that he had attended ‘a small dinner party’ at Epstein’s home during his December 2010 visit.
Maitlis asked: ‘He threw a party to celebrate his release and you were invited as the guest of honour.
He replied: ‘No, I didn’t go. Oh, in 2010, there certainly wasn’t a party to celebrate his release in December because it was a small dinner party, there were only eight or 10 of us I think at the dinner. If there was a party then I’d know nothing about that.’
At 3.46pm on December 6, Zakocela arrived at the property.
Zakocela, 32, is a Latvian-born model, who is signed to New York Model Management. She took part in a campaign for Victoria’s Secret, the company owned by Epstein’s only known financial client Les Wexner.
In 2015, she married long-time boyfriend Justin Etzin, 41, a Seychelles diplomat for the United Nations and son of hotel magnate Bernard Etzin, in a lavish four-day ceremony in Florence Italy.
Among the guests were Lindsay Lohan, singer Craig David and British aristocrat, Edward Spencer-Churchill, according to Tatler.
Etzin filed for an uncontested divorce from Zakocela in February 2017, according to the New York Post.
Zakocela told DailyMail.com that she was introduced to Epstein by her agent, Jean-Luc Brunel at MC2, who had close ties to the financier.
She had not long moved to the U.S. and was around 21 years old when she attended the afternoon soiree at Epstein’s home on December 6, 2010.
Zakocela said that she had been invited to a small party with other models around her age from her agency and said that there was also a number of older people present.
She said that she remembered no one being at the party who was younger than herself. ‘If there were models from my agency, they were older than 18 because they wouldn’t have been allowed to come to the US if they were younger.’
She added: ‘There were a couple of Epstein’s friends that he knew from somewhere. I remember there was a chef girl who could cook.’
The cover girl said that she made very little conversation, as at the time, she barely spoke English. She said that she would not have recognized Prince Andrew and no one was making any introductions at the party.
As she understood it, Zakocela told DailyMail.com, ‘everyone was somebody and nobody would tell who is who’.
Zakocela, pictured with her ex husband, and Brazill-Post were in Epstein’s home at the same time at the Duke of York. At 4.30pm, on the same day, a video of Andrew waving to Katherine Keating, the daughter of former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating, was filmed
Lana Zakocela, Justin Bieber, Marissa Montgomery and Jamie Reuben attend a Vanity Fair party in 2014. Zakocela told DailyMail.com that she was introduced to Epstein by her agent, Jean-Luc Brunel at MC2, who had close ties to the financier. She had not long moved to the U.S. and was around 21 years old when she attended the afternoon soiree at Epstein’s home
Zakocela said that she had only met Epstein a few times, once in Paris and once in New York, and didn’t know much about him but had ‘weird vibes’ about the whole situation.
Brunel is accused of providing underage girls to Epstein and of drugging and raping models himself. Brunel denied both of these charges.
Zakocela said that she came to realize that things were not right at Brunel’s agency and subsequently moved to a different model agency and went on to have a very successful career, appearing in Vogue, Maxim and working on campaigns for Dior, Thierry Mugler and Cartier.
She has not been contacted by the FBI, she said, because she barely knew Epstein. ‘I’m following the story now but I really had no idea and I’m glad that I left that agency. It’s such a dark, terrible thing.’
Zakocela and Brazill-Post were in Epstein’s home at the same time at the Duke of York. At 4.30pm, on the same day, a video of Andrew waving to Katherine Keating, the daughter of former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating, was filmed.
The Duke smiles and waves as Miss Keating, dressed in a long black coat with a large black bag over her arm, steps out of the 15ft-high oak doors.
As she goes to hail a taxi, Andrew peers furtively round the door before disappearing inside.
By this point, no fewer than six women and three security officers had been seen arriving or leaving Epstein’s house during Andrew’s stay. All potential witnesses for the FBI case.
The Duke of York has since admitted it was a mistake to visit the billionaire playboy’s home 17 months after Epstein’s release from jail for child sex offences.
Following his resignation from public duties this week, the Prince signalled he would speak to FBI detectives investigating Epstein as he readied himself for a subpoena from U.S. lawyers demanding he gives evidence under oath.
When asked if Prince Andrew was present at the lunch Ms Brazill-Post, left, asked to be called back and hung up. She did not respond to further messages seeking comment. She is married to Joel S Post, First Vice President of Wealth Management, for UBS
Our new pictures could help investigators identify potentially vital new witnesses and establish whether the American paedophile was committing offences following his release from prison.
They could also help the beleaguered royal clear his name of alleged wrongdoing. A former head of Scotland Yard’s royalty protection squad, retired Met Chief Supt Dai Davies, said agents must now take statements from protection officers who accompanied Prince Andrew during his numerous trips to see the disgraced American financier, who died in an apparent suicide in a New York City federal jail in August.
Our exclusive pictures also show what are believed to be three male American protection officers. A closer look shows badges worn by the U.S. diplomatic security detail; their role would most likely have been to protect the visiting royal.
An eyewitness account describes a total of five protection officers that kept a polite distance from Andrew and Epstein as they passed the sealions attraction at the Central Park Zoo.
All of them could provide important testimonies for the investigation.
Zakocela, pictured in May, is among a number of potential witnesses who were present at the time and who could help the ongoing FBI probe into the billionaire’s activities
Here, with the help of our gallery, including previously unpublished photographs, we set out in detail the comings and goings during the Prince’s visit nine years ago. We retraced the pair’s steps during their infamous Central Park walk, during which Andrew claims he ended their association.
Our picture dossier includes close-ups of their intense exchange and a new photograph of them on the glamorous designer shopping street, Madison Avenue.
There is a distinctly frosty atmosphere as the now eighth in line to the throne appears to tap anxiously at his phone while Epstein frowns at his side.
Prince Andrew and Epstein seen after leaving the late financier’s home in Manhattan at around 2.06pm on December 5, 2010
THE TIMELINE
Thursday, December 2, 2010
The Prince spent at least five days at Epstein’s 21,000 sq ft mansion on this occasion.
It began with him being guest of honour at a dinner party organised by New York party planner Peggy Siegal. It was to celebrate Epstein’s release from an 18-month prison sentence for having sex with underage girls. No doubt it was an attempt to cleanse Epstein’s image and re-integrate him into Manhattan society.
The guest list included film director Woody Allen and his wife Soon-Yi, Katie Couric, then the highest-paid female TV anchor in America, George Stephanopoulos, a former White House communications director under President Bill Clinton, comedian Chelsea Handler and TV news host Charlie Rose.
Mr Allen and Mr Rose have both been accused of sexual misconduct, unrelated to the Epstein case.
Miss Handler told the New York Times recently that ‘it was just one of those strange nights’.
She said Miss Siegal had not really made clear who was hosting the event, adding: ‘The invitation was positioned as, ‘Do you want to have dinner with Prince Andrew?’
Until now, the royal’s five-day, New York sojourn in December 2010 — that proved key to his downfall this week — has largely been shrouded in secrecy. He is pictured with Epstein during the trip. The royal claimed he ‘never saw’ anything at Jeffrey Epstein’s £60 million mansion that aroused his suspicions
Sunday, December 5, 2010. 11.30am: Woody Allen and his wife Soon-Yi Previn are seen leaving Epstein’s mansion
Another attendee was Eva Andersson-Dubin, the wife of financier Glenn Dubin, who has been accused of having sex with Epstein’s alleged victims — he has strongly denied any wrongdoing.
Asked by Newsnight interviewer Emily Maitlis about the party, Andrew said: ‘No, I didn’t go. Oh, in 2010, there certainly wasn’t a party to celebrate his release in December because it was a small dinner party, there were only eight or ten of us I think at the dinner. If there was a party, then I’d know nothing about that’.
Miss Maitlis challenged Andrew: ‘You were invited to that dinner as a guest of honour.’
He replied: ‘Well I was there so there was a dinner, I don’t think it was quite as you might put it but yeah, OK I was there for… I was there at a dinner, yeah.’
Andrew continued his stay at Epstein’s house on Friday, December 3. In the Newsnight interview he downplayed his contact with Epstein: ‘Actually the truth of it is that I actually only saw him for about, what the dinner party, the walk in the park and probably passing in the passage.’
This is what our picture dossier reveals…
Sunday, December 5
11.30am: Woody Allen and his wife Soon-Yi Previn are seen leaving the East 71st St property, the largest residential home in Manhattan.
11.42am: Susan Hamblin, a long-time confidante of Epstein, is seen leaving. She wears a blue puffer jacket and clutches her mobile phone to her chest, a black designer bag hooked on her arm.
12.07pm: A security guard — wearing sunglasses, grey trousers and a dark jacket — thought to be from the American Diplomatic Security Service, responsible for protecting visiting foreign dignitaries, arrives at the house.
Around 1.40pm: Andrew and Jeffrey Epstein leave the property and head west, entering Central Park on 72nd Street followed by five guards.
Sunday, December 5, 2010. 11.30am: Woody Allen and his wife Soon-Yi Previn are seen leaving Epstein’s mansion
A witness told the Daily Mail that the protection officers assumed a star-shaped pattern at a distance to give Epstein and Andrew privacy to talk, instead of staying close as they normally do with dignitaries. Our pictures show Andrew making a claw-like motion with his hand as if trying to reason with Epstein, who is striding forwards ahead of him.
Their body language is striking, suggesting Epstein in dominance and Andrew with a more conciliatory stance.
The two men walk south past a children’s playground and through the Central Park Zoo, where they would have passed the viewing area for sealions, an unlikely venue for a confidential discussion.
They leave the park at 62nd St and head east to Madison Avenue, which they walk up back to 71st St. Our previously unpublished photograph shows them at 2.06pm passing designer fashion store Chloe with Andrew seemingly texting on his phone.
11.42am: Susan Hamblin, a long-term confidante, seen leaving. Later, a man wearing dark glasses arrives at Epstein’s home
11.42am: Susan Hamblin, a long-term confidante, seen leaving
12.07pm: Man wearing dark glasses arrives at Epstein’s home
Around 2.15pm: They arrive home, making their total walk nearly half an hour. By that time, according to Andrew, he had ended their friendship.
Addressing the conversation in the Newsnight interview, Andrew said: ‘We had an opportunity to go for a walk in the park and that was the conversation coincidentally that was photographed which was when I said to him, I said, ‘Look, because of what has happened, I don’t think it is appropriate that we should remain in contact’.
‘And by mutual agreement, during that walk in the park, we decided that we would part company and I left, I think it was the next day.
‘And to this day I never had any contact with him from that day forward.’
Asked by Miss Maitlis how Epstein took it, Andrew said that ‘he was what I would describe as understanding’.
He added: ‘He didn’t go into any great depth in the conversation about what I was . . . what he was doing, except to say that he’d accepted, whatever it was, a plea bargain, he’d served his time and he was carrying on with his life if you see what I mean.
‘And I said, ‘Yes, but I’m afraid to say that that’s as maybe but with all the attendant scrutiny on me then I don’t think it is a wise thing to do’.’
9.45pm: Epstein emerges from the front door with a dark-haired woman who appears to be in her 20s wearing a black jacket and an orange scarf. Epstein, wearing a white winter jacket with a fur trim, hugs and kisses her as they walk along.
Monday, December 6
12.39pm: The first picture of the day shows an older security agent with a dark moustache and slicked-back greying hair leaving.
2.06pm: An unidentified brunette woman leaves in dark glasses. She appears to be in her 20s and wears a black leather jacket, a grey beanie hat and carries a large black shoulder bag.
2.09pm: Another security guard, a younger man with dark hair, enters the home.
Monday, December 6, 12.39pm: Man believed to be security guard leaves the mansion; 2.06pm: A brunette woman carrying a large shoulder bag leaves
Monday, December 6, 12.39pm: Man believed to be security guard leaves the mansion
2.06pm: A brunette woman carrying a large shoulder bag leaves
3.11pm: A second unidentified woman with long dark hair, seemingly in her 20s, leaves. She wears a red woollen hat and a long grey puffer jacket. She also carries a large black shoulder bag.
3.35pm: Valerie Brazill-Post, a director with the Council on Foreign Relation, leaves. She wears a white shirt under a dark brown sheepskin coat with fur trim.
3.46pm: The arrival of Victoria’s Secret model Lana Zakocela.
At some point in the afternoon Epstein came out of the house in his white winter jacket. His confidante, Miss Hamblin, also came out and spoke to the driver of a waiting Bentley and appeared to ask him for something.
She returned to the front door, rang the bell and, as it opened, Sarah Kellen, a long-time Epstein associate who has been accused of recruiting young girls for him, left with a smile to Miss Hamblin.
2.09pm: A dark-haired man believed to be a security guard arrives at the house; 3.11pm: A woman in a red hat carrying a large shoulder bag leaves.
2.09pm: A dark-haired man believed to be a security guard arrives at the house
3.11pm: A woman in a red hat carrying a large shoulder bag leaves
4.30pm: This is when the now infamous video of Andrew cheerily waving to Katherine Keating, the daughter of former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating, was filmed.
The Duke smiles and waves as Miss Keating, dressed in a long black coat with a large black bag over her arm, steps out of the 15ft-high oak doors.
As she goes to hail a taxi, Andrew peers furtively round the door before disappearing inside.
By this point, no fewer than six women and three security officers had been seen arriving or leaving Epstein’s house during Andrew’s stay. All potential witnesses for the FBI case.
Newsnight’s Emily Maitlis challenged Andrew about whether he saw any suspicious activity.
‘During that time, those few days, witnesses say they saw many young girls coming and going.
‘There is video footage of Epstein accompanied by young girls and you were there staying in his house, catching up with friends.’
Andrew said: ‘I never… I mean if there were then I wasn’t a party to any of that. I never saw them.
‘I mean you have to understand that his house, I described it more as almost as a railway station if you know what I mean in the sense that there were people coming in and out of that house all the time.
‘What they were doing and why they were there I had nothing to do with. So I’m afraid I can’t make any comment on that because I really don’t know.’
4.30pm: Katherine Keating, the daughter of former Australian PM, departs
Tuesday, December 7
4.30pm: Katherine Keating, the daughter of former Australian PM, departs
A further young female guest was seen leaving the house in the afternoon.
Her suitcases were loaded into a waiting car and the tag from her incoming flight could still be seen on them.
She apparently came from Russia as the tag said Aeroflot, the Russian national airline, and the date was November 19.
What was apparently intended to be a low-key visit by Prince Andrew to his long-time friend Epstein was blown apart weeks later when the now defunct News of the World printed a picture of them walking together through Central Park.
The circumstances in which the picture was taken, proving beyond any doubt the closeness of their friendship, still puzzles the Duke.
He was asked during the BBC interview about suggestions by his friends that Epstein wanted the photo to be taken and ‘perhaps he’d even set it up’.
Andrew replied: ‘Again, new information coming out since his suicide has made us reappraise that walk in the park.
‘We can’t find any evidence — or my staff and my people and I can’t find any evidence — to suggest that that was what he was doing.
‘I mean you can look at it in so many different ways.
‘The fact of the matter is that somebody very cleverly took that photograph. It wasn’t as far as I remember — nor do my security people remember — anybody being present or close because there were enough security around.’
And so the mysteries surrounding Andrew’s visit to his paedophile friend, and the questions over what he told Newsnight, continue to deepen.