Prince Andrew accuser speaks out in 'devastating' broadcast for royal family
Virginia Roberts, who claims she was trafficked by Jeffrey Epstein and forced to have sex with Prince Andrew on three occasions nearly 20 years ago, tells her story in a BBC News interview. Spectator USA's Dominic Green reacts to the fallout.
With aftershocks from Prince Andrew’s nuclear TV interview still reverberating, a new explosive tell-all is expected to further rock Buckingham Palace.
Virginia Roberts, who claims she was trafficked by convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein and forced to have sex with the fallen British royal on three occasions nearly 20 years ago, is expected to appear in a BBC interview scheduled to air Monday. The broadcaster tweeted out a 20-second preview of the interview on Thursday.
In the clip, Roberts, now known as Virginia Giuffre, responded to the 59-year-old’s denial of her allegations by saying: “He knows what happened, I know what happened, and there’s only one of us telling the truth.”
Roberts claimed Epstein paid her to have sex with the prince on three occasions starting in 2001, including one time in London. Roberts said she was 17 when they first had sex.
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Roberts did not immediately respond to Fox News’ request for comment in regards to her upcoming interview.
In a Nov. 14 TV interview with Prince Andrew, the second son of Queen Elizabeth II struggled to defend himself about his relationship with the late disgraced financier, who was accused of sex trafficking. Andrew claimed he had “no recollection of ever meeting” Roberts, “none whatsoever.” The Duke of York also implied that a now-famous photograph showing him with his hand around Roberts’ waist was doctored.
"I have absolutely no memory of that photograph,” the prince insisted. “I’m afraid to say that I don’t believe that photograph was taken in the way that has been suggested."
The interview has been widely considered a public relations disaster for Andrew, who announced shortly after it aired that he would be stepping down from all of his royal duties.
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Photo from 2001 that was included in court files released last week shows Prince Andrew with his arm around the waist of 17-year-old Virginia Giuffre who says Jeffrey Epstein paid her to have sex with the prince. Andrew has denied the charges. In the background is Epstein's girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell. (U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals)
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Epstein died Aug. 10 after being found unconscious in a Manhattan jail cell, where he was awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges. His death has been ruled a suicide.
U.S. officials are still looking into the case, and a number of civil lawsuits against Epstein’s estate are in progress.
Royal expert and writer Leslie Carroll, author of “Royal Pains: A Rogues’ Gallery of Brats, Brutes, and Bad Seeds,” previously told Fox News it’s undoubtedly a difficult time for Queen Elizabeth, who is faced with one of the worst scandals for the royal family in its modern history.
“I feel a bit sad that at this stage in her life… the queen can never relax her hands on the reins of the monarchy and completely trust the younger generation to carry on,” Carroll told Fox News. “[She] is said to be ‘disappointed’ by Andrew… He’s always been a wild one, but he went off the rails by associating with Epstein, to begin with.
Britain's Queen Elizabeth II attends the Remembrance Sunday ceremony at the Cenotaph on Whitehall in central London, on November 10, 2019. (Photo by Tolga AKMEN / AFP) (Photo by TOLGA AKMEN/AFP via Getty Images)
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“The queen will continue to ‘neither complain nor explain’ because she was raised to do so; and with ‘duty first’ as a core belief,” Carroll continued. “[She]… needs to keep the country together as its moral spine, demonstrating the ‘there will always be an England’ sentiment that has kept Britain’s monarchy the longest-running show in history — still going after over a millennium.”
Royal historian and blogger Marlene Koenig told Fox News that Andrew’s brother Prince Charles, 71, who is next in line for the throne, was involved in the decision to have Andrew step back from public duties “for the foreseeable future."
“I think there is only so much that the queen can do,” Carroll explained. “Charles is the future king and he has been involved in all the conversations about Andrew. There is no doubt that his voice was heard in the decision to have Andrew step down as a working royal. I won’t be surprised if more decisions follow after he returns from New Zealand… We do not know how this story will end… more legal issues for Andrew? Or will he be further pushed gently into the good night?”
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Prince Andrew (right) is dealing with harsh backlash from critics and media personalities over an interview about his relationship with now-deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and the numerous sexual assault allegations against the British royal. (Getty)
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Melissa Cronin, an investigative journalist who is also the executive producer of a podcast titled “Epstein: Devil in the Darkness,” also told Fox News Andrew’s woes are far from over.
The podcast features exclusive interviews with members of Epstein’s inner circle, including his longtime chauffeur, his jail mate – who claims to have witnessed his first suicide attempt three weeks before his death – as well as a woman who claimed she helped recruit “Epstein’s stable of young massage therapists at his New Mexico compound.”
Cronin has been reporting on the billionaire New York financier since 2014 and was one of the first to uncover new revelations about how he used his connections to “shield his predatory behavior with young girls.”
According to one royal expert, Prince Andrew's older brother Prince Charles (right) was actively involved in the royal stepping back from his formal duties. (Getty)
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She believes Andrew isn't being truthful with the press.
“He may not have known at the beginning of their friendship [about Epstein’s perversions],” Cronin said. “[But] he absolutely continued to have a relationship with Epstein after it was public knowledge that he had these underage women… They were photographed together walking in Central Park after Epstein’s plea deal in Palm Beach, in which he pleaded guilty to procuring with an underage prostitute. He was sentenced to prison for that… After all became public, Prince Andrew was still seen with him in New York walking through Central Park, deep in conversation, like two close friends.”
Cronin alleged that based on her investigation, Giuffre may not have been the only "young woman" from Epstein’s circle that Andrew was involved with.
“We know of at least one other incident where he spent with a young woman who was not Virginia Roberts,” claimed Cronin. “We spoke exclusively with a staffer at the New Mexico property who told us that she personally served Andrew during a three-day visit, in which he was given a young woman as his companion. And, while the staffer that we talked to had seen Virginia Roberts at the ranch before, she said that this woman that spent time with Andrew was not Roberts.”
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Prince Andrew, Duke of York leaves the headquarters of Crossrail at Canary Wharf on March 7, 2011, in London, England. Prince Andrew is under increasing pressure after a series of damaging revelations about him surfaced, including criticism over his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, an American financier. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)
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"But, there’s still more to be revealed,” Cronin continued. “[Reports suggest] that there’s a lot more information that the world still doesn’t know about Andrew and Epstein that could be released… There are a lot of possibilities and a lot of questions about what’s to come. It’s hard to say what [the palace] would do in the face of additional evidence…. As I said, there are so many files that have yet to be leaked, to be released. There’s still a lot of secrets that are uncovered.”
Fox News’ Nate Day contributed to this report.
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