Prince Andrew is set yo break his silence on his good friend Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted paedophile who died by suicide in August, in a “no holds barred” BBC interview.
WATCH: Prince Andrew denies knowing that Jeffrey Epstein was a paedophile in BBC interview
Speaking to BBC Newsnight’s Emily Maitlis in an interview recorded at Buckingham Palace on Thursday, Queen Elizabeth II’s 59-year-old son will discuss their relationship and the sexual assault accusations against him. The interview will air on BBC Two at 21:00 GMT on Saturday in the UK.
One of Epstein’s accusers, Virginia Roberts said she was forced to have sex with Prince Andrew three times between 1999 and 2002, in London, New York and on a private Caribbean island owned by Epstein. At the time she was under-age according to Florida state’s law.
Another woman called Johanna Sjoberg has accused Andrew, father to Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, or groping her breast while they sat on a couch in Epstein’s Manhattan apartment in 2001.
Buckingham Palace as well as Andrew have strongly denied all allegations.
Andrew first met Epstein in 1999 and they saw each other on several occasions after that. In 2010, Andrew was photographed walking with Epstein in New York’s Central Park – two years after the financier’s first conviction for child molestation.
Earlier this month, Virginia Roberts Giuffre spokes out about being Epstein’s sex slave in an interview with 60 Minutes, and called on Prince Andrew to “stop with the lame excuses”.
In the explosive TV interview, she spoke of her life as Jeffrey Epstein’s sex slave and described in detail how she was “trafficked” to the Duke of York when she was 17.
During the interview, Virginia, now 35, pulled out the infamous photo of her with the prince that she says was taken the night she had sex with him.
While Andrew has consistently said the photo is fake, Virginia disagreed.
“This photo has been verified as an original and has since been given to the FBI and they’ve never contested that it’s a fake,” she said.
“I know it’s real and he needs to stop with all of these lame excuses, we’re sick of hearing it.
“This is a real photo. That’s the very first time I met him.”
In August, Prince Andrew’s legal team cast doubt over the photograph saying he has “absolutely no recollection” of it being taken, with sources close to the prince questioning whether the photo was real, pointing out that his fingers “don’t look right”.
Virginia went on to describe the events leading up to her alleged first sexual encounter with Andrew, which she said started when she was taken to a club in London.
“We went to Club Tramp, he danced with me, and he sweats a lot and he smells funny.
“And then we get in the car and Ghislaine [Epstein’s partner] tells me in the car that I have to do what I do for Jeffrey for Prince Andrew.
“And that’s when I learned what was going to happen.”
Veronica claims she had sex with Andrew three times, once in London, another time at Epstein’s New York City mansion, and again at Epstein’s private island in the Caribbean.
During one occasion she claimed about eight other young girls were also present.
