Prince Andrew is facing his time in the barrel as the Jeffrey Epstein scandal slowly unfolds, with a judge ordering thousands of secret documents relating to an alleged Epstein “sex slave” who was allegedly forced to have sex with the British royal to be released.
About 2,000 files from a defamation case involving Virginia Roberts, an alleged trafficking victim, are due to be unsealed following a ruling by the US court of appeal this month.
Roberts, now 35, claims she was forced by Epstein to have sex with Prince Andrew in London, New York and the Caribbean.
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Andrew, the Duke of York, was photographed with his arm around the then 17-year-old’s waist at the home of Ghislane Maxwell – a personal aide to Epstein – in London in 2001 but has strongly denied the claims.
The mum-of-three accused Epstein of recruiting her as a “sex slave” – and said she had been “procured for sexual activities” by Maxwell.
Roberts then successfully sued Maxwell for defamation after she branded her a “liar” and the documents were sealed following a legal argument.
But the ruling earlier this month at the US Court of Appeal heard how public’s right to know outweighed the privacy rights of people who wanted to keep secrets.
EPSTEIN CHARGES
The Sun report: The Duke of York, 59, has previously faced criticism over his relationship with the child abuser and was pictured walking in Central Park with him in December 2010.
That snap was taken during Andrew’s four-day stay at Epstein’s $77m mansion in Manhattan – shortly after the banker had been freed from prison after a previous child sex trafficking conviction in Florida.
It has also emerged he holidayed with Epstein in Thailand in 2001 and invited him to stay at Windsor Castle and the Queen’s Sandringham estate.
Epstein’s mansion on the Upper East Side of Mahattan, where the party reportedly took place, was raided by cops last weekend.
Officers found pictures of naked women some of whom appeared to be underage, prosecutors said.
The billionaire hedge fund manager is accused of maintaining a “vast network of underage victims” – some as young as 14.
He faces 45 years in jail if found guilty on all counts.
The palace said: “It is emphatically denied that [Andrew] had any form of sexual contact or relationship with Virginia Roberts. Any claim to the contrary is false.”
