FBI examines image of Duke with accuser
Picture allegedly showing Prince Andrew with young Epstein victim was taken away by US agents in 2011
The FBI has seized a photograph showing the Duke of York with a victim of Jeffrey Epstein. US investigators are now thought to be examining the picture after supporters of the Duke claimed it was a fake. The image, said to have been taken in 2001, shows the Duke with his arm around Virginia Roberts, who has repeatedly accused him of having sex with her when she was 17. Documents seen by The Daily Telegraph reveal that FBI agents seized the original photograph from Ms Roberts, along with 19 other images, during an interview with her at her home in Australia in 2011.
THE FBI has seized a photograph showing the Duke of York with a victim of Jeffrey Epstein, it can be revealed.
US investigators are now thought to be examining the notorious picture after close supporters of the Duke claimed it was a fake. The image, which is said to have been taken in 2001, shows Prince Andrew with his arm around Virginia Roberts, who has since repeatedly accused him of having sex with her when she was 17.
Sources close to the Duke claimed earlier this week that the picture must have been tampered with because his actual fingers are “much chubbier”.
Lawyers for the Prince demanded that Ms Roberts’ defence team hand over the original photo so that it can be checked for signs of manipulation.
However, documents seen by The Daily Telegraph reveal that FBI agents seized the original from Ms Roberts, along with 19 other images, during an interview with her at her home in Australia in 2011.
The photograph is now thought to be part of the ongoing criminal investigation into Epstein’s alleged co-conspirators, and it threatens to draw the Duke further into the scandal.
Investigators are also understood to be examining computers, seized from Epstein’s private Caribbean island, which may contain emails sent between the Duke and the convicted paedophile who committed suicide in prison on Aug 10 while facing fresh charges.
A friend of the Duke said last night that he would “welcome” a forensic examination of the photo to prove its veracity or otherwise. Meanwhile, lawyers for Ms Roberts, now known as Virginia Giuffre, threatened to launch a civil lawsuit against the Duke, claiming that his insistence not to have known about Epstein’s paedophile lifestyle was “very hard” to sustain.
David Boies, representing the 36-year-old, warned the Duke against delaying or obfuscating, adding that there is simply “too much evidence”.
The Prince was “very comfortable” at Epstein’s home and “knew that there were young women coming and going”, Mr Boies told Sky News.
Regarding the picture of the Duke with Ms Roberts, Mr Boies said: “That has to have an explanation. He can’t say he didn’t know her. He can’t say he wasn’t friendly with her – I think it’s hard to look at that picture and say that you had no idea that she was young.”
The walls of Epstein’s Manhattan home were covered with pictures of nude young women, he added.
He said: “There were frequent ‘massages’ that were obviously sexual massages … I think it’s very hard to take the position that you were close and friendly and treating the mansion as your home-away-from-home and yet you were totally unaware of what was going on there.”
The original picture in question is said to have been taken at the London home of Ghislaine Maxwell, the British heiress accused of acting as Epstein’s madam.
The source close to the Duke claimed he always believed the photo to be a fake, but had long kept his silence.
All allegations against the Duke were struck from the record in 2015 after a judge called them “immaterial and impertinent”. He has always consistently and emphatically denied any sexual contact or relationship with Virginia Roberts.
The FBI told The Telegraph they were unable to comment on any ongoing investigations.