Despite Ghislaine Maxwell’s privilege and wealth, her childhood was allegedly far from harmonious. Ghislaine’s attorneys painted a grim picture in their 2022 pre-sentencing report. They claimed she struggled with anorexia as a toddler and was desperate for her parents’ attention. “At age three, she stood in front of her mother and said simply, ‘Mummy, I exist,'” they alleged. Her father, Robert Maxwell, was claimed to be an overbearing and controlling figure. Despite the newspaper tycoon ditching his family after becoming an MP in 1964, he continued to wreak havoc in his children’s lives with abusive tirades during Sunday visits home, according to the report.
Attorneys claimed the billionaire pitted the kids against each other in mock trials. If any fell short of his expectations, he would verbally eviscerate them. “Mr Maxwell, a man of large physical stature with a booming voice, would explode, threaten and rant at the children until they were reduced to pulp,” lawyers alleged. “Mr Maxwell was relentless, with children ending up in tears, punishments being doled out, and the whole family in utter distress.” Robert’s abuse continued into the physical realm as he “employed corporal punishment on his children.” It’s claimed he once attacked Ghislaine’s hand with a hammer.
Ghislaine’s attorneys also asserted there was a link between her upbringing and later crimes. “She had a difficult, traumatic childhood with an overbearing, narcissistic, and demanding father,” they alleged. “It made her vulnerable to Epstein, whom she met right after her father’s death.”
