‘She’s a very sick girl’
What Prince Andrew said about accuser Virginia Roberts when this photo emerged
PRINCE Andrew described his accuser Virginia Roberts as a ‘very sick girl’, leaked emails revealed yesterday. In comments made shortly after the emergence of a photograph of the Duke of York with his arm around the waist of the then-teenage Miss Roberts, the duke seemed unperturbed by press coverage and vowed to ‘shrug and move on’.
Miss Roberts alleges she was forced to have sex with Andrew when she was 17 after being trafficked by millionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein in 2001.
Asked by a business associate in 2011 whether news of the scandal Andrew replied: was ‘getting ‘Not at him all!... down’, She is a very sick girl apparently. ‘The innuendo is the problem. But there is nothing that one can do for that! Shrug and move on.’ The insensitive comments, seemingly questioning the mental health of Miss Roberts, now 36 and known by her married name Giuffre, were yesterday criticised by lawyers representing Epstein victims. One said: ‘Until Andrew talks to the FBI about his relationship with Virginia – and what he knows about the other victims and wrongdoers – it’s his credibility at stake, not hers.
‘Virginia’s mental health is excellent and has been throughout, although it has been severely tested by Andrew and Epstein.’
Miss Roberts has alleged that she had sex with the duke three times – in London, New York and on Epstein’s private Caribbean island.
She said she was flown on Epstein’s private jet to London to meet the duke and the pair were photographed together in the Belgravia home of the paedophile billionaire’s alleged ‘madame’, Ghislaine Maxwell.
Andrew has consistently denied the allegations and in a disastrous Newsnight interview which forced him to step back from royal duties, claimed he had no recollection of ever meeting Miss Roberts.
In further exchanges, obtained by The Mail on Sunday, the duke told his friend, businessman Jonathan Rowland, that he was ‘keeping his head below the parapet’ as the scandal unfolded.
‘ Been trying to engage with the media on all fronts but they won’t listen to sense at the moment,’ he said. ‘Hopefully HMG [Her Majesty’s Government] will, finally, swing in today.’
The leaked emails emerged as four alleged victims of Epstein signed an open letter calling on Andrew to cooperate with the US authorities ‘for your family... so that they may be proud that you have taken the decent and moral path’.
Last week, New York attorney Geoffrey Berman said the duke had provided ‘zero co- operation’ with the US inquiry into Epstein’s crimes. Andrew denied the claims, with a source insisting he ‘ hasn’t been approached yet’.
The letter requesting co-operation begins: ‘Prince Andrew, the world is watching.’ It asks the duke to ‘help the US authorities within anything you may have observed in your time spent with Jeffrey Epstein’.
Buckingham Palace last night declined to comment and referred questions to Prince Andrew’s legal team, but did not identify the firm.