The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Andrew accuser says he played a guessing game about her age
The Duke of York’s accuser claimed Andrew played a guessing game about her age when they first met, and compared her to his daughters.
Virginia Giuffre, in a new documentary series, Surviving Jeffrey Epstein, says she was 17 when she was introduced to the Queen’s second son in London, and described him as an “abuser” and “not the prince from the fairy tale stories you read”.
Ms Giuffre, who says she was trafficked by paedophile financier Epstein, alleges the duke had sex with her on three separate occasions, including when she was 17, still a minor under US law.
Andrew has categorically denied he has had any form of sexual contact or relationship with her.
The duke’s friend, British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, is awaiting trial in the US after being charged with procuring teenage girls for Epstein to abuse. She denies the charges.
In a clip released ahead of the programme, Ms Giuffre said of Andrew, who is the father of Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie: “Before he abused me, when we just met, Ghislaine does this guessing game and he guessed right, I was 17 and he compared me to his daughters, saying, ‘Oh, my daughters are a few years younger than you’.”
She added: “Prince Andrew is not the prince from the fairy tale stories you read. Andrew deserves to be outed. He deserves to be held accountable. He’s an abuser.”
Lady Victoria Hervey, formerly friends with Andrew and Maxwell, told the programme that friendship with Epstein offered the duke a form of escapism.
Christopher Mason, a journalist and also a former friend of Maxwell, said he once bumped into Andrew and Maxwell while walking in Madison Avenue in New York.
Mr Mason said: “He told me he was staying at Jeffrey’s townhouse. That kind of fascinated me. It just seemed like a kind of perfect instance of the kind of people that Jeffrey was hanging out with.”
Surviving Jeffrey Epstein will be screened on the Crime+investigation channel with a double episode tonight at 9pm, followed by parts three and four tomorrow at 9pm.