Pressure on Prince Andrew mounts as new witness speaks out

A woman has claimed she saw the Duke of York dancing with his accuser Virginia Giuffre in a London nightclub.

Britain's Prince Andrew, the Duke of York

Britain's Prince Andrew. Source: EPA

A woman has come forward claiming she saw the Duke of York dancing with his accuser Virginia Giuffre and remembered the encounter because she stepped on the royal's foot.

Lawyer Lisa Bloom, who represents five women who say they were sexually assaulted by Jeffrey Epstein, revealed she has an unnamed sixth client who says she witnessed Prince Andrew with Ms Giuffre in London's Tramp nightclub in 2001.

Ms Giuffre, previously known as Virginia Roberts, claims she was trafficked by convicted sex offender Epstein and alleges the duke slept with her on three separate occasions, including when she was 17 - still a minor under US law.

Prince Andrew, who strenuously denies the allegations, is facing calls to talk to the FBI and US prosecutors.

Ms Bloom told a press conference in New York that the girl stepped on Prince Andrew's foot by mistake while dancing next to him and a friend pointed out who he was.

She said: "She thought to herself 'oh my God, I'm in the presence of a royal'. It was a very big moment to her.

"She says that she gawked at him because he was a prince.

"After she was done staring at him for quite some time, she looked at who he was with and it was a very young girl about her age.
"And in the photographs that she has seen since, she identifies that young woman, or girl, as Virginia Roberts."

Ms Bloom said the woman came forward because she was "incensed" that Prince Andrew had denied meeting Ms Giuffre in his BBC Newsnight interview.

"Because he is a very powerful person, she is in fear of the repercussions to her," Bloom said, adding she had contacted the FBI on her behalf.

In an interview with the BBC's Panorama programme, Ms Giuffre told how she was left "horrified and ashamed" after an alleged sexual encounter with Andrew in London in 2001.

She claimed she danced with him in Tramp nightclub, adding he was "the most hideous dancer I've ever seen in my life" and "his sweat was... raining basically everywhere".
Disgraced late US financier Jeffrey Epstein
Disgraced late US financier Jeffrey Epstein. Source: New York State Sex Offender Register
During his Newsnight interview, the duke said the alleged encounter in 2001 did not happen as he spent the day with his daughter, Princess Beatrice, taking her to Pizza Express restaurant for a party.

He also said he does not recall meeting Ms Giuffre and had a medical condition at the time, after suffering an overdose of adrenaline in the Falklands War when he was shot at, that meant he did not sweat.

Prince Andrew stepped down from royal public life in November after the fallout from his disastrous Newsnight appearance.

He was accused of showing a lack of empathy for Epstein's victims and of failing to show regret over his friendship with the disgraced US financier.

Ms Bloom held a joint press conference with a spokesman for the family of Harry Dunn, who are calling for the US to extradite Anne Sacoolas, who was given diplomatic immunity after being charged with causing the teenager's death in a road crash.

She said Prince Andrew needs to "answer questions about Jeffrey Epstein and his own behaviour", adding: "In both countries everyone is equal in the eyes of the law."


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Published 6 February 2020 6:56am
Updated 6 February 2020 7:19am

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