A week ago the first release of unredacted files linked to Jeffrey Epstein made headlines across the world with a whole host of celebrity and politicians’ names being swept up in the coverage.
But one name that rose above others is Prince Andrew with transcripts of depositions issued from alleged sexual abuse victim Virginia Guiffre and massause Johanna Sjoberg, both providing uncomfortable accusations for the Duke of York.
Ms Guiffre claimed she was paid $15,000 dollars to have sex with Prince Andrew, while Ms Sjoberg said the royal touched her breast in a bizarre alleged incident with the pair posing for a photograph with a puppet of him.
As the fifth, and final, batch of documents was released this week, other details have emerged such as Epstein’s former assistant refusing to answer questions on Prince Andrew plus a housekeeper alleging the royal stayed at Epstein’s house for weeks where massages were provided to guests as a “treat”.
Prince Andrew has been the focus of many headlines over the release of legal papers linked to Jeffrey Epstein— (AFP via Getty Images)
Prince Andrew has always denied all allegations made against him. Many of the names mentioned in the papers had no direct connection to Epstein and there is no suggestion of them committing any wrongdoing.
Epstein was found dead in his cell at a federal jail in Manhattan, New York, in 2019 while he awaited trial on sex trafficking charges. His death was ruled a suicide.
Here are the references to Prince Andrew in the release of the papers, which were part of a civil defamation case against Ghislaine Maxwell brought by Ms Guiffre which was settled in 2017.
The picture of Prince Andrew and Virginia Guiffre
Epstein’s ex-partner Ghislaine Maxwell’s legal team said journalist Sharon Churcher’s publication was the first to use the “now widely publicised picture” of Virginia Guiffre and Prince Andrew, with Ms Guiffre being paid $100,000 for the picture along with a “false story” by the Daily Mail.
Virginia Guiffre was paid $100,000 for her story and this picture with Prince Andrew by a media outlet, Ghislaine Maxwell’s legal team claimed— (US District Court - Southern Dis)
The team said that despite requests, Ms Guiffre had not provided the original version of the picture, or said when it was taken. They added that as she had worked with the FBI to provide information, and itwas likely she knew of its source.
The date and information on where it was taken was relevant to a civil defamation case taken by Ms Guiffre against Maxwell, which was filed in 2015, the team said.
Epstein ‘paid me $15k to have sex with Prince Andrew’
In a recorded disposition from 2016, Ms Giuffre claimed she was paid $15,000 (£11,800) by Jeffrey Epstein to have sex with the Duke of York. She also alleged she was trafficked to the south of France to have intercourse with an unnamed foreign prince.
She was asked: “Were you paid 10 to $15,000 by or on behalf of Jeffrey Epstein for having sex with Prince Andrew?”
She replied: “I did receive 15,000 dollars. I do not know the equivalent to what that is in pounds.” She was then asked if she paid taxes on the money to which she replied “no”.
Ms Guiffre, who named Prince Andrew as one of her alleged abusers, also recalled meeting the royal at Club Tramp in Mayfair London where the pair she said spent an hour and had a couple of drinks.
She said she assumed Prince Andrew was drinking alcohol, but couldn’t be sure.
Johanna Sjoberg’s claim Prince Andrew touched her breast
Long known to be one of Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged victims, a released testimony by his former masseuse Johanna Sjoberg revealed an allegation against Prince Andrew during a bizarre incident at Epstein’s New York home where Ghislaine Maxwell is alleged to have presented a puppet caricature of the royal to himself at.
Virginia Guiffre, speaking at a press conference in 2019, alleged to have been paid $15,000 to have sex with Prince Andrew— (Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)
She said: “They decided to take a picture with it, in which Virginia [Guiffre] and Andrew sat on a couch. They put the puppet on Virginia’s lap, and I sat on Andrew’s lap, and they put the puppet’s hand on Virginia’s breast, and Andrew put his hand on my breast, and they took a photo.”
In a document released by Maxwell’s legal team as part of the civil case, they said Ms Sjoberg’s evidence contradicted Ms Guiffre’s “fabricated story”. They said Ms Sjoberg did not observe anyone asking Ms Guiffre to do anything sexual, or did she tell Ms Guiffre anything sexual had occurred despite being asked.
The team say Ms Sjoberg only saw Ms Guiffre with one famous person, that being Prince Andrew.
Buckingham Palace denied Prince Andrew sexual allegations
Maxwell’s legal team, while defending her on the defamation civil case brought by Virginia Guiffre, said Ms Guiffre, in making sexual abuse allegations against Jeffrey Epstein in 2011, did not initially say Prince Andrew had engaged in any improper sexual contact with her.
However, after other women came forward with allegations, the legal team claimed her story changed in 2015 to say she had been involved in sexual allegations with Prince Andrew.
Messenger said: “The press comes calling and asked my client... and Prince Andrew and everyone else whether any of the allegations contained in this legal pleading are true.”
She continued: “Buckingham Palace said her claims were absolutely untrue.”
Maxwell quizzed over Prince Andrew
In 2016, as part of the civil case brought by Virginia Guiffre, Ghislaine Maxwell gave a videotaped desposition in which she was asked about Prince Andrew and allegations made against the royal.
Epstein’s Little James Island, where Maxwell said Prince Andrew visited— (Reuters)
When asked if she knows him, Maxwell said she had for “a very long time”, but did not know how or when they first met. She then said she had never introduced Prince Andrew to anyone who was under the age of 18 other than friends of hers with children.
And she stated she had no recollection when asked if she introduced Prince Andrew to Ms Guiffre in London, before adding that she would not remember if Ms Guiffre had stayed at her London home.
She was asked a list of questions about Prince Andrew, and his alleged presence in the company of Ms Guiffre and Ms Sjoberg - but replied she had no recollection to most. When asked about the Prince Andrew puppet, included in Ms Sjoberg’s testimony, she said she remembered the caricature, but nothing of it being used in anyway.
She said Prince Andrew visited Epstein’s Little St James Island on one occsaion when she was there, but said no girls aside from friends and family under the age of 18, apart from staff at the house, on the island at the time.
Epstein’s housekeeper says Prince Andrew ‘spent weeks’ at the home
Jean Alessi, Jeffrey Epstein’s New York housekeeper was brought forward as a witness during the civil case against Maxwell. When asked about Prince Andrew, he said both the royal would visit the house, on one occasion with his former wife Sarah, Durchess of York.
He said Prince Andrew recieved daily massages when at the house, adding he “spent weeks with us”, staying in the main guest bedroom called the Blue Room. He said he could not remember if Virginia Guiffre was ever there when Prince Andrew was present.
Prince Andrew, he said, would visit four or five times a year, staying typically for two to three days. A massage for guests was “like a treat”, Mr Alessi said.
Jeffrey Epstein’s refusal to answer any questions on Prince Andrew
Epstein declined to answer almost all of the questions, also known as pleading the fifth amendment in the US, during his interview under oath as part of Ms Giuffre’s civil claim against Ghislaine Maxwell.
‘I refuse to answer’ - Epstein’s former assistant when asked if Prince Andrew had been involved with underage girls
Model Adriana Ross was Jeffrey Epstein’s former assistant and was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in his 2008 plea deal where the billionaire admitted soliciting and procuring a minor for prostitution.
In a disposition in 2008, Ms Ross was asked if she’d ever met Prince Andrew, and if the royal had been involved with underage females. She replied to both questions: “I refuse to answer.”
