Prince Andrew has finally broken his silence about his relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in his first interview.
Sitting down with BBC’s Newsnight’s Emily Maitlis inside Buckingham Palace, the Duke of York, who is the Queen’s third child, answered some hard-hitting questions about his friendship with Epstein, a wealthy 66-year-old American who took his own life while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges.
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, of groping her breast while they sat on a couch in Epstein’s Manhattan apartment in 2001.
“There is no good time to talk about … all things associated,” Prince Andrew said when asked why he decided to do the interview.
When asked how he met Epstein, His Royal Highness responded: “I met through his girlfriend back in 1999…it would be a considerable stretch to say that he was a very close friend.”
In 2000, Epstein was a guest at Windsor Castle. He was later invited and attended Princes Beatrice’s 18th birthday.
“There was no indication to me, or anybody else, that that was what he was doing,” Prince Andrew insisted.
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.
When asked why he had met with the convicted ex-offender, Andrew replied he had only gone to see Epstein to tell him that “because he had been convicted, it was inappropriate for us to be seen together.”
WATCH: Sex Slave Virginia Roberts tells Prince Andrew to stop
“His house, I described it more as a railway station…there was people coming in and out of that house all the time…what they were doing…I really don’t know.
When asked whether he ever had a foot massage from a young Russian woman while visiting Epstein, the Duke was quick to respond: “No!”
Maitlis then asked whether he regretted his friendship with Epstein.
“Still not for the reason being, the people that I met and the opportunity I was given to learn, either by him or because of him, were actually very useful.
“We weren’t that close … Yes, I would go and stay at his house but that was because of his girlfriend, not because of him.”
WATCH: ‘Sex slave’ Virginia Roberts claims Prince Andrew ‘knows what he’s done’
Speaking of Virginia Roberts, Andrew said he has absolutely no recollection of being in the company of the “lady”.
Virginia previously described her encounter with the Prince leading up to her alleged first sexual encounter with him, 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,” she said.
“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.”
Virginia, now 35, has supplied a now infamous photo of her with the Prince that she says was taken the night she had sex with him.
In response, Prince Andrew said: “I have absolutely no memory of that photograph ever being taken.
“You can’t prove whether that photograph is faked or not because it’s a photograph of a photograph of a photograph. So it’s very difficult to be able to prove it but I don’t remember that photograph ever being taken.
“That’s me but whether that’s my hand of whether that’s the position but I simply have no recollection of the photograph ever being taken.”
Prince Andrew pictured inside Jeffrey Epstein’s mansion
Earlier today, the Duke’s ex-wife Sarah Ferguson took to Instagram to publicly declare her support for her former husband.
She wrote: “It is so rare to meet people that are able to speak from their hearts with honesty and pure real truth, that remain steadfast and strong to their beliefs.
“Andrew is a true and real gentleman and is stoically steadfast to not only his duty but also his kindness and goodness of always seeing the best in people. I am deeply supportive and proud of this giant of a principled man, that dares to put his shoulder to the wind and stands firm with his sense of honour and truth.
She continued: “For so many years he has gone about his duties for Great Britain and The Monarch. It is time for Andrew to stand firm now, and that he has, and I am with him every step of the way and that is my honour. We have always walked tall and strong, he for me and me for him.”
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