Koo Stark defends ex- boyfriend Andrew over sex slave claims
PRINCE Andrew’s ex- girlfriend Koo Stark has leapt to his defence over allegations that he slept with a teenage sex slave.
The American- born actress, who dated Andrew for 18 months 32 years ago, described the Duke of York as a “nice man, a tender, loving and caring normal boyfriend” who was attractive to women.
“What need would he have for any women to be supplied for ‘ forced sex?’ ” she asked yesterday.
“My fi rst reaction was fury, then disbelief, at the lurid allegations being made against a man I have known well for more than 30 years,” she said.
Stain
“He was being accused of the very worst kind of behaviour. The stain on his reputation is spilling across his life like blood from a new wound.”
Koo, who has suffered intermittent money problems over the years and was declared bankrupt in 2011, has remained friends with Andrew since dating him after his return from the 1982 Falklands War. He is godfather to her daughter.
She said allegations made in legal papers fi led in the US by Virginia Roberts amounted to an “assassination of his character”.
Ms Roberts claims to have slept with Andrew three times when she was 17 on the orders of his billionaire paedophile friend Jeffrey Epstein,
Andrew, 54, vehemently denies the claims and Buckingham Palace has stated they are “false and without foundation” but there has been no explanation of how he came to know Ms Roberts who is now 31.
Koo, 58, said the court papers, which portray Andrew as a lecherous older man who took part in an orgy with young women, did not correspond with her knowledge of the Duke.
“I know too much about the media and the law courts to allow the disgrace of an innocent man,” she said.
“That is why I have decided to now reveal some of the details of my relationship with Andrew.
“Most people in this country have formed their own impression of him – either good or ill. My view is clear – I believe him to be a good man. I fi rmly believe I can help rebut, with authority, the allegations against him.
“I will use those details to challenge Virginia Roberts’s description of a man which does not tally with the person I have known for more than half my lifetime.”
In a newspaper article she said Andrew liked strongminded women with a sense of honour. “I’m not saying he would never be interested in a meek teenage blonde, I am just pointing out that he is attracted to the very opposite.”
The sex allegations in a Florida court case are the latest in a long series of controversies surrounding Andrew.
He has never explained why his ex- wife, the Duchess of York, told an undercover reporter that Andrew knew she was charging £ 500,000 for access to him in his role as a trade envoy.
Similarly, Andrew has proved unwilling to explain why a Kazakh businessman paid £ 15million – £ 3million over the asking price – to buy his house at Sunninghill Park and then left it derelict.
Unlike Spain’s monarchy, which withdrew the king’s sister and brother- in- law from offi cial duties when it emerged they were to face corruption charges, Britain’s Royal Family has continued business as usual.
The Queen has marked Andrew’s coming 55th birthday on Thursday by promoting him to vice admiral.