Prince faces new Virginia evidence in US
EXPLOSIVE new evidence undermining Prince Andrew’s claim that he did not know teenage trafficking victim Virginia Roberts will emerge in the US, her lawyer claimed last night.
David Boies said further evidence linking the the British royal with Ms Roberts will be made public as part of a string of civil lawsuits being brought in America by victims of serial paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
His comments came after it was last week revealed that a highly respected former royal protection officer has raised questions about Prince Andrew’s ‘alibi’ for the night he allegedly had sex with Ms Roberts in London.
Ms Roberts claims she was flown to London by Epstein in March 2001 when she was 17 and coerced into having sex with Prince Andrew. This was the first of three alleged sexual encounters with the Prince. Andrew, 60, has categorically denied the claims.
But Mr Boies, who with his colleague Sigrid McCawley is representing Ms Roberts and seven more Epstein’s victims, last night said: ‘There is other evidence that will come out that undercuts [Prince Andrew’s] assertion that he didn’t know Virginia, had not been with her,’ he said.
Mr Boies also claimed further evidence will emerge showing the prince visited Epstein’s notorious £13m New Mexico ranch where several women have said they were sexually abused.
He urged the Metropolitan Police to reopen an investigation into Ms Roberts’s claims and admitted lawyers still do not know the whereabouts of Ghislaine Maxwell, the socialite accused of recruiting girls for Epstein.
Prince Andrew faces the prospect of further damning revelations about his relationship with Epstein and claims about Ms Roberts being made public between now and June as part of a slew of civil cases against the multimilliondollar estate of the disgraced financier.
Last month, US Magistrate Judge Debra Freeman, who is overseeing lawsuits brought by 16 women against the Epstein estate, ordered a so-called ‘fact discovery’ before cases are brought to trial.
Mr Boies said: ‘I think the mistake that he [Prince Andrew] made was thinking that somehow this evidence wouldn’t dribble out and now, of course, that’s exactly what’s happening. Prince Andrew is sufficiently recognisable that more and more of this evidence comes out and I think it just puts him in a terrible position and one that could have been avoided, at least in part, if he had simply been more forthright initially.’
Buckingham Palace declined to comment last night.