Prince Andrew accuser slams ‘ridiculous excuses’
LONDON (AFP) — An American woman who claims she was trafficked by Jeffrey Epstein to have sex with Prince Andrew criticized the royal’s “ridiculous excuses” in an interview aired on Monday.
The interview was recorded before Andrew’s own BBC interview, which prompted him to stand down from public duties because of a backlash at his defense of his friendship with Epstein.
But Virginia Giuffre called on the British public to support her as she dismissed claims initially made by the prince’s backers that a photograph apparently showing him with his arm around her might not be genuine.
“The people on the inside are going to keep coming up with these ridiculous excuses like his arm was elongated or the photo was doctored,” she told the BBC’s Panorama program.
“I’m calling BS (bullshit) on this. He knows what happened, I know what happened. And there’s only one of us telling the truth,” she said.
“It’s a real photo. I’ve given it to the FBI for their investigation.”
Andrew himself doubted the authenticity of the photograph during his badly received interview, saying “nobody can prove whether or not that photograph has been doctored.”
Giuffre has alleged she was trafficked to have sex with friends of Epstein when she was 17. Epstein was found dead in a New York prison in August awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
She described how Epstein preyed on her once he knew she came from a vulnerable background, having already suffered sexual abuse.
The financier initially lured her with an offer as a job as a masseuse, but soon began abusing her, according to Giuffre.
She accused Epstein of bringing her to London in 2001, where she was introduced to Andrew and Epstein’s socialite girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell.
The prince asked her for a dance at a nightclub, she recalled, telling Panorama he was “the most hideous dancer I’ve ever seen in my life.
“His sweat was like it was raining basically everywhere,” she added.